Rise in mental illness 'fuelled by pandemic and cost-of-living crisis'

More people in Leeds are living with depression since the Covid pandemic, according to figures published last year.

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Statistics from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities show more than 6.6 million people in England were living with depression in 2022-23, the highest figure since records began in 2012.

A spokesperson for the charity Rethink Mental Illness said the "unsurprising" increase may have been fuelled by the pandemic and cost of living crisis.

In Leeds there were 94,800 adults with depression in 2022-23, making up 12.5% of adults in the area registered with a GP.

This was a slight increase on the year before, when it was 12%, and more than in 2019-20, before the Covid pandemic, when it was 10.9%.