West Cumbria Opportunities & Challenges 2025 58 59 % of working age people receiving Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for mental health related conditions (January 25) 0.00% - 2.05% 2.05% - 2.71% 2.71% - 3.48% 3.48% - 4.74% 4.74% - 16.02% England: 3.62% 3 areas with highest % of people: Moss Bay and Moorclose: 8.43% Kells & Sandwith: 7.33% Maryport South: 7.2% SELF-HARM, ADDICTION AND SUICIDE Increasing demand places pressure on mental health services and in West Cumbria has resulted in growing waiting lists to access diagnostic, assessment and treatment services visible in both public and VCSE services. Often such delays result in people turning to alternative methods to ease their distress, including self-harm, substance misuse and suicide. Cumberland currently has high rates of selfharm, addiction and suicide, with drug-related deaths and suicides substantially higher than the England average. The latest available data for Allerdale and Copeland suggested that in 2021/2022, emergency hospital admissions for intentional self-harm per 100,000 people, stood at 197.9 in Allerdale and 258.3 in Copeland, significantly worse than the England average of 163.9.38 By 2022/2023 the rate for Cumberland was 190.7.39 In 2023/2024 rates of hospital admission for alcohol-related conditions were slightly higher than national averages.40 Deaths related to drug poisoning, including drug misuse, are also substantially elevated across Copeland and Allerdale and as the following graph shows, deaths are rising. 31This section covers adult mental health only. The mental health of children and young people is discussed on page 18. 32What is “normal”, anyway? De-medicalising Mental Health and Neurodiversity: Cumberland Public Health Annual Report 2023/2024: Cumberland Council, 2024, https://www.cumberland.gov.uk/publications/cumberland-public-health-annual-report-20234 33See also: https://www.itv.com/news/border/2023-05-18/mps-say-theyre-deeply-concerned-about-poor-mental-health-in-countryside and https://fcn.org.uk/blog/2021/11/18/new-studycalls-for-culture-change-in-farming-to-address-loneliness-isolation-and-mental-ill-health/ 34What is “normal”, anyway? De-medicalising Mental Health and Neurodiversity: Cumberland Public Health Annual Report 2023/2024: Cumberland Council, 2024, https://www.cumberland.gov.uk/publications/cumberland-public-health-annual-report-20234 35What is “normal”, anyway? De-medicalising Mental Health and Neurodiversity: Cumberland Public Health Annual Report 2023/2024: Cumberland Council, 2024, https://www.cumberland.gov.uk/publications/cumberland-public-health-annual-report-20234 36NHS North Cumbria includes the majority or Cumberland and the former Eden District which is now part of Westmorland and Furness. 37What is “normal”, anyway? De-medicalising Mental Health and Neurodiversity: Cumberland Public Health Annual Report 2023/2024: Cumberland Council, 2024, https://www.cumberland.gov.uk/publications/cumberland-public-health-annual-report-20234 38What is “normal”, anyway? De-medicalising Mental Health and Neurodiversity: Cumberland Public Health Annual Report 2023/2024: Cumberland Council, 2024, https://www.cumberland.gov.uk/publications/cumberland-public-health-annual-report-20234 39Fingertips Public Health Data: Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, 2022/2023, https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/search/self%20harm 40https://www.cumbriaobservatory.org.uk/health-social-care/reports/#/view-report/1835e7ef70a748c79aa478f386581700/E06000063/G3 41Fingertips Public Health Data: Office for Health Improvement and Disparities,2020-2022, https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/search/self%20harm 42There is a time-lag in the reporting of suicide data as often many cases are referred to HM Coroner Cumbria. Across England, the number of people recorded by GP’s as having a diagnosis of depression has nearly doubled in ten years. Deaths relating to drug poisoning (including drug misuse) All persons (Age-standardised rate per 100,000) Suicides Persons 10+ years (DSR per 100,000) Suicide rates have also continued to climb in Allerdale and Copeland particularly since 2019. Across a number of different indicators that are published on suicide, Cumberland has worse rates than elsewhere in England. In 2021–2023 Cumberland had the second highest suicide rate (15-74 years) of all local authorities in England standing at 19 per 100,000, compared to England at 10.7 per 100,000. Similarly, the suicide rate for women 15-74 years’ in Cumberland in 2021-2023 was the second highest in England at 11.2, compared with the England rate of 5.4. The rate for men was 27.5 for Cumberland (or the fourth highest in England) compared to 16.4 for England. In addition, the age standardised rate for suicide by age and sex for persons aged 25-44 was the highest in England (31.2 in Cumberland versus 12.6 in England), with the rate for women being the highest in England (Cumberland at 17.1 and England at 6.1) and the rate for men being the second highest in England (Cumberland at 45.7 and England at 19.6). Data on the age-standardised rate for suicide for all other age categories (where published) was also higher in Cumberland than England.41 In 2023, 27% of all recorded suicides in Cumbria occurred in West Cumbria.42
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