Up to half of adults suffer from mental illness

Britain's National Health Service (NHS) suggests that up to half of adults have suffered from some form of mental illness at some stage in their life. Data from the Health Survey for England reveals that 25 per cent of all adults have been diagnosed with a mental health problem, while a further 18 per cent believe they have suffered from one but have not seen a doctor for diagnosis. Mental health expert Andy Bell said more needed to be done for people to get the help they need: Mr Bell said: "[These] figures are another wake-up call for the NHS to ensure that mental health support is available for people who need it when they need it. Timely access to effective mental health treatment saves lives."

Researchers questioned 5,000 adults about their experiences. They found that 26 per cent of people said they had received a mental health illness diagnosis. According to the survey, depression was the most common form of mental illness, with 19 per cent of people saying they had suffered from the condition. Women are more likely to suffer from mental health problems than men. Over 40 per cent of middle-aged women have been diagnosed with an illness at some point in their life. A spokeswoman from the mental health charity Sane bemoaned the survey's findings. She said: "These are shocking figures…because the scale of mental illness is already known but too often ignored."

1. MENTAL ILLNESSES: What do you know about these illnesses and what can be done about them? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	What I know	What to do
Depression
Schizophrenia
Paranoia
Bulimia
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

2.SYNONYM MATCH

1.	reveals	a.	period
2.	stage	b.	care
3.	form	c.	illness
4.	available	d.	shows
5.	treatment	e.	disregarded
6.	questioned	f.	kind
7.	common	g.	lamented
8.	condition	h.	asked
9.	bemoaned	i.	accessible
10.	ignored	j.	prevalent

3.ROLE PLAY

Role  A – Medicine You think medicine is the best way to help someone with a mental health problem. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their ways aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why): exercise, therapy or a lifestyle change.

Role  B – Exercise You think exercise is the best way to help someone with a mental health problem. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their ways aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why): medicine, therapy or a lifestyle change.

Role  C – Therapy You think therapy is the best way to help someone with a mental health problem. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their ways aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why): exercise, medicine or a lifestyle change.

Role  D – Lifestyle change You think a lifestyle change is the best way to help someone with a mental health problem. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their ways aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why):  exercise, therapy or medicine. OR Education Friendship Talking about the problem Join a support group

4.MENTAL ILLNESS DISCUSSION

1)	What did you think when you read the headline?
2)	What springs to mind when you hear the term 'mental health'?
3)	What do you think about what you read?
4)	Do you ever worry about your mental health?
5)	Should more money be spent helping people with mental health problems?
6)	What other mental health conditions do you know about?
7)	How can we stay healthy mentally?
8)	How does depression affect people's lives?
9)	How do you know if you have a mental illness?
10)	"Mental health needs a great deal of attention. It's the final taboo and it needs to be faced and dealt with." (Adam Ant) What do you think?

12)	Why do governments ignore mental health?
13)	How serious are mental health issues?
14)	Why are women more likely to develop mental health problems?
15)	What everyday things can affect our mental health?
16)	Why are older people more likely to develop mental health problems?
17)	What is the care like for people with mental health in your country?
18)	How would improving mental health care improve a country?
19)	"Mental health is often missing from public health debates even though it's critical to wellbeing."(Diane Abbott) What do you think?
20)	What questions would you like to ask a mental health expert?

5.SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	eerusffd from some form of mental illness
2.	25 per cent of all adults have been adogsndie
3.	Mental health pxeret
4.	baevlaali for people who need it
5.	timely access to fitvfeeec…
6.	mental health teaetnmtr saves lives
Paragraph 2
7.	esrehrrecas questioned 5,000 adults
8.	odicgrnca to the survey
9.	rdenopessi was the most common form
10.	the mental health ychairt
11.	These are shocking gsriufe
12.	too often genirdo