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Healthy Surrey

Common mental health problems

Information and resources about common mental health problems

Last updated 21 February 2024.

Everyone can feel stressed, low, anxious at some point in their lives, often in reaction to negative situations or circumstances. But if these feelings become so frequent or severe that they negatively affect our ability to go about our every day lives, our sleep and relationships, then they may have become a mental health problem.

The majority of mental health problems are called 'common' because combined, they affect more people than other more severe/enduring mental health problems. Around 1 in 6 people report experiencing a common mental health problem (like anxiety and depression) in any given week in England.

The most frequently occurring mental health problems are mixed anxiety and depression, generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and phobias.

Most people recover from common mental health problems, – especially after accessing help or support. Your symptoms may never return or may return from time to time, but when you've discovered which self help techniques, services and treatments work best for you, you're more likely to feel confident in managing them.

Anxiety is when we feel worried, tense or afraid, usually about things which are about to happen or we think may happen in the future. Anxiety is a normal and healthy response experienced by everyone at one time or another when we think we are under threat.

The symptoms of anxiety can include:

  • Physical ones like difficulty breathing, feeling faint, racing heart, chest pains, numbness, headaches, the need to go to the toilet or feeling sick. Some of these are the body preparing for action in the face of a threat (for example, to run away or fight)
  • Thoughts and feelings like poor concentration, circling thoughts, fears, unhelpful thinking, and loss of self-confidence
  • Behaviours like avoiding doing things or avoiding social or certain situations.

Common mental health problems

Medication

There are many types of medication you can take to improve mental illness. It is important to know about your medication and what the side effects may be. For more information visit the Surrey Choice and Medication website.

The Mind website provides more information on psychiatric medication. Explaining what psychiatric drugs are, what to know before taking them, information on side effects and details on coming off medication

Useful Contacts

There are various self help techniques, resources and tools that can help you manage common mental health problems.

There are a range of services in Surrey that can help you with support and treatment for common mental health problems – including NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression.

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