The Scottish Government

Key Points

• Women in Scotland have a longer life expectancy, and longer healthy life expectancy than men, but have higher rates of poor self reported health.
• For women and men in Scotland, rates of poor self-reported health are higher in the most deprived areas compared with the most affluent areas.
• For both men and women the risk of developing a mental health problem is greater among those in deprived areas. This is replicated across the UK: adults in the poorest one-fifth are twice as likely to be at risk of developing mental illness as those on average incomes (Palmer et al, 2003).
• Poverty, unemployment and social isolation are associated with the first incidence and prevalence of schizophrenia. First admission rates to specialist psychiatric care for people with schizophrenia are higher among those resident in deprived areas ( ISD, 2001).
• In the UK, people with mental health problems are almost three times more likely to be unemployed than all other disabled people (Smith and Twomey, 2002). The Disability Rights Commission ( DRC) estimates the national unemployment rate for people with mental health problems to be around 72% ( DRC, 2001).
• In Scotland, as in the rest of the UK (Palmer et al, 2003) mental health problems affect more women than men.
• Women experience higher rates of depressive disorders than men; studies in the US have pointed to the link between poverty, inequality and discrimination as sources of depression (Belle and Doucet, 2003); there is a clear link between abuse by a partner and depression among women (Hegarty et al, 2004).
• In Scotland twice as many suicides occur among people from the most deprived areas (Blamey et al, 2002).
• Suicide is the leading cause of death among young men in Scotland, and is twice the rate in England. The rate for young men aged between 10-24 is higher among those from deprived communities compared with those from affluent communities (Scottish Executive (2003d).
• A study in Edinburgh found that the young gay and bisexual men in their sample were 4.1 times more likely to have seriously considered suicide than men in the general population (Hutchison et al, 2003).
• For both women and men, the experience of childhood sexual abuse can have implications for mental health in adulthood (Scottish Executive, 2004j).
• Across Great Britain, children of families in Social Class V are approximately three times more likely to have a mental health problem than those in Social Class I
  (Melzer et al, 2000).
• A Scottish study of children looked after and accommodated by the local authority found rates of depression and conduct disorder five times higher than the average rates (Dimigen et al, 1999).

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