A group of leaders at the National Health Service (NHS) England has reported that doctors have been seeing a rise in patients with severe mental health issues.
During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a 30% drop in referrals to mental health services. However, recently, there has been a surge in cases of mental health issues by nearly 20%.
The NHS Confederation said people who needed mental health support should come forward.
The NHS group said in a report that mental health services required “intensive support and investment” so it can continue to help those who are in need of it.
Prof. Sean Duggan, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Network of the NHS Confederation, said that people stayed away from mental health services when coronavirus cases were at their highest.
He said, “A&E numbers were down, GP numbers were down. The same occurred in some of our mental health services,” as people tried to ease the burden on the health service in order to avoid catching the COVID-19 infection.
“The concern is, if you leave problems, they can get worse,” added. Prof. Duggan, which explains why there has been a recent surge in severe mental health cases.
The NHS report said, “As well as people whose conditions deteriorated during the lockdown, NHS services also expect an increase in demand for mental health services as a direct result of the pandemic itself.”
The recent cases include isolation, substance use, domestic violence, and economic uncertainty, which should be addressed.
There are also “particular concerns that the stark inequalities in accessing services and recovery rates that black and minority ethnic communities face will be exacerbated,” the report added.
Mental health providers have reported a high number of patients who are receiving the service for the first time.
Prof. Duggan said he did not want to “medicalize everything… It’s perfectly normal to feel uneasy and anxious” at such an uncertain time.
However, he added, there was a “real” increase in people needing mental health services.
Last week, NHS England acknowledged that “mental health needs may increase significantly,” in their response to COVID-19.
The public health organization plans to expand Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services in order to treat mild to moderate mental health issues.
NHS also said that people with serious mental illness should address their problems and receive more therapy and support.
NHS England has also stressed the importance of mental health and wellbeing service that is launched for its staff. Globally, the virus has affected more than 20 million people and killed over 747,000.
