Increasing access to low intensity psychological intervention.

Narrative

Depression and anxiety are common, cause significant disability and are costly to the individual, the NHS and wider society. UK management of depression and anxiety has been revolutionised as a result of our research at the University of Manchester (UoM) on low intensity psychological interventions (cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) based Guided Self-Help (GSH)) which is the primary form of care for hundreds of thousands of people with depression and anxiety disorders (including generalised anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder) through the “Improving Access to Psychological Therapies” (IAPT) scheme. Between 2009 and 2012 more than one million people used the new services, recovery rates are in excess of 45% and consequently 45,000 people have moved off benefits.

Impact date	2014
Category of impact	Health impacts
Impact level	Benefit