Mental health: data in Scotland & international comparisons

Scotland

ScotPHO publish mental health data that are nationally comparable and available at local level for council areas as mental health profiles.

The Scottish Burden of Disease Study publishes mental health data by Disability-Adjusted Life Year (DALY), Years of Life Lost (YLL), and Years Lived in Disability (YLD), at national, regional, NHS Board, and local authority levels. In 2019, the age-standardised DALY rate for mental health disorders in Scotland was 2,494 per 100,000 population. The Scottish Burden of Disease Study forecasts that, by 2043, the annual number of DALYs attributable to mental health disorders will increase to 140,918.

Public Health Scotland also publishes information on mental health inpatient activity including time trends for Scotland, NHS boards and local authorities, and statistics by patient age, gender, deprivation level, urban rural status and diagnosis.

Updated sets of national mental health indicators for adults and for children and young people were published by Public Health Scotland in March 2022. These indicator sets refresh and build on the 2007 indicator sets. More information is available at the Public Health Scotland Mental Health Indicators page and on the Mental Health: Adults page on ScotPHO.

International comparisons

The Global Burden of Disease study provides international estimates, including estimates at Scottish level, for the prevalence of mental health conditions. Although there are a wide range of assumptions used to make these comparisons, this is one of the few sources of comparable data. 

A 2004 European Union report The State of Mental Health in the European Union (2.54MB) concluded that although many surveys which include mental health measures have been conducted across Europe, the differences in survey techniques and research methods make real comparisons almost impossible.

Two European-level surveys, the Eurobarometer survey (which includes a set of questions relating to mental health problems and mental wellbeing) and the European study of the Epidemiology of Mental Disorders/Mental Health Disability (ESEMeD), do provide information for comparisons across most EU countries. However, neither of these surveys provide Scottish or UK-level data: Great Britain did participate in the Eurobarometer survey, but a low response rate meant that this data was excluded from analysis (Lehtinen et al 2005).

The Health at a Glance: Europe (2020) found that Ireland had the lowest reported prevalence of psychological distress symptoms in adults aged 16 or over (5%), while Portugal had the highest (23%). The study found that prevalence of psychological distress symptoms in the UK was 10%.