The defeat depression campaign and trends in sickness and invalidity benefits for depressive illness

Abstract

Sickness and invalidity benefits, awarded to those who are temporarily absent from work or the work market due to ill health, have been rising over the last decade. Psychiatric conditions are an important cause of this absence. In this study Department of Social Security statistics on the number of days of 'incapacity' (the condition for which these benefits are paid) were analysed for different medical disorders. The data available reflected primarily long-term periods of illness lasting at least four months. Changes in incapacity due to affective and neurotic disorders were examined with particular attention to the period before and after the launch of the Defeat Depression Campaign (DDC). It was found that incapacity due to depressive and neurotic disorders accounted for around three-quarters of all psychiatric-related incapacity, and showed a marked and steady increase since 1984. This mirrored increasing trends in all major causal categories of incapacity. Incapacity due to depressive and neurotic disorders increased by a similar amount before and after the launch of the DDC. The scale of the increases in incapacity suggest the importance of social and economic factors. Although incapacity due to depressive disorders increased in line with other conditions, it is disappointing that the DDC and the increased prescription of antidepressants have not influenced this aspect of long-term morbidity.