Psychosis referrals rising in England: Could you recognise the symptoms?
A quarter of 18–34-year-olds hadn’t heard of psychosis
Last updated 1st May 2022
A campaign has been launched by the charity Rethink Mental Illness to increase awareness of psychosis symptoms and support as Mental Health Awareness Week approaches.
It comes after a rise in referrals in England for suspected first episodes of psychosis during the Covid-19 pandemic, and research finding a quarter of 18–34-year-olds hadn’t heard of psychosis and wouldn’t know the symptoms.
The Rethink Mental Illness campaign ‘From psychosis to…’ seeks to improve awareness of symptoms and emphasise the importance of accessing treatment as quickly as possible.
Raising awareness of Psychosis
Kat Allin has worked with the charity on the campaign launch, ““Our campaign is to increase awareness of psychosis and help people recognise the symptoms”, she says.
She told us, “But it’s also to promote a message of hope. It is a severe thing for people to experience, we want people to know it is possible to recover and receive support.
“It really is all about increasing awareness around recognising the signs and symptoms and getting treatment as quickly as possible, because early intervention can make a big difference.
“It’s important for everyone to be more aware, it’s perhaps more common than people think, it’s really important just generally for us all to have a bit more awareness.
Rethink Mental Illness says, “Lived experience of psychosis is at the heart of our campaign, what it feels like, how it affects people, and how people have learned to live with it, we want to encourage young people to seek the support they need and deserve.”
Psychosis research and findings
Rethink Mental Illness is a charity that set up to support people severely affected by mental illness.
Kat Allin told us, “We often look at topics which are maybe not discussed as much, maybe still a bit stigmatised.
“Psychosis is something we were interested in looking at because after looking at the rates and suspected first episodes during the pandemic we noticed there was an increase.
“It’s still so stigmatised as well when compared to other conditions, maybe it’s less well known and understood as other symptoms of poor mental health.”
The campaign launch coincides with the YouGov polling survey with 2172 participants, the charity also collated findings from the NHS.
YouGov survey findings:
- A quarter of 18–34-year-olds (24%) say they have not heard of psychosis before.
- Suggests young people aged 18-34 have the lowest levels of awareness of psychosis (76% compared to 84% for those aged 35+).
- One in three (31%) full time students say they hadn’t heard of psychosis, compared to 18% for people of working status.
- One third (34%) of GB adults said they don’t know how confident they would be that they could spot symptoms of psychosis.
- Less than half of those polled (48%) say they believe psychosis is something you can recover from, even though accessing early treatment can be life changing.
NHS findings:
- Over 9,000 referrals for suspected first episode of psychosis were made in November 2021, compared to an average of just over 8,000 in 2019-20.
- Of the 9,000 in November 2021, 13% were from Greater London.
- Over 9,440 referrals were made in April 2021, a 29% increase compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
- More than a 26% increase in referrals to mental health services in May 2021 compared to same month in 2019, while in June 2021 referrals remained over 21% higher.
- More than three-quarters of men and two-thirds of women experience their first episode before the age of 35.
- Around 1 in 100 people will experience psychosis in their lifetime.
Currently, NICE guidelines and the NHS say people experiencing a suspected first episode of psychosis should receive an assessment within two weeks.
Brian Dow, Deputy Chief Executive of Rethink Mental Illness, said: “Swift access to treatment is vital to prevent further deterioration in people’s mental health which could take them years to recover from.
“The increased number of suspected first episodes of psychosis are cause for alarm. Dedicated additional funding for mental health and social care must go to frontline services to help meet the new demand, otherwise thousands of people could bear a catastrophic cost.”
READ MORE: Research finds British people have worst mental health in Europe
What is Psychosis?
Psychosis is a term used to describe when people lose some contact with reality.
Common symptoms:
- Hallucinations: Where someone sees, hears, smells, tastes or feels things that do not exist outside of their mind.
- Delusions: An unshakeable belief in something untrue.
- Confused and disturbed thoughts: could include rapid and constant speech, disturbed speech, sudden loss of train of thought.
It can be a symptom of mental illness or be a one-off experience, potentially triggered by a traumatic experience, extreme stress, and drug or alcohol misuse, environment, genetics, physical and mental health can all play a part.
“Getting support early means a better chance of recovery”
Imogen, 27, lives in London and started experiencing psychosis as a teenager.
“This campaign is really important as it's about asking people to speak up so they can get help early, it would just be great to have more awareness to make it less scary to talk about and easier for people to seek the support they need.”
Alika, 31, lives in London, he told us, “The Early Intervention Centre really helped me, but it would have changed my entire trajectory if I’d received treatment for psychosis earlier.
I might not have needed to go to hospital, and it would have helped me to understand what I was going through, we need more awareness about psychosis because getting support early means a better chance of recovery.”
Support services for Psychosis?
Rethink Mental Illness: Psychosis support and advice.
Contact your GP if you are experiencing any symptoms of concern or a suspected first episode of psychosis, they will be able to access and make a referral to an Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) service if required.