Talking therapy: impacts of a nationwide mental health service in England

Oparina, Ekaterina ORCID: 0000-0002-1544-8751, Krekel, Christian ORCID: 0000-0001-5960-3891 and Srisuma, Sorawoot (2024) Talking therapy: impacts of a nationwide mental health service in England. CEP Discussion Papers (CEPDP1982). London School of Economics and Political Science. Centre for Economic Performance, London, UK.

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Abstract

Mental health problems impose significant costs, yet healthcare systems of-ten overlook them. We provide the first causal evidence on the effectiveness of a nationwide-scaled mental health service in England for treating depression and anxiety using non-experimental data and methods. We exploit over-subscription and resulting exogenous variation in waiting times across areas and time for identification, based on a novel dataset of over one million patients. We find that treatment improves mental health and reduces impairment in work and social life. We provide suggestive evidence that it enhances employment. Impacts vary across patients and services. Nevertheless, the programme is highly cost-effective.

Item Type:	Monograph (Discussion Paper)
Official URL:	https://cep.lse.ac.uk/_new/publications/discussion...
Additional Information:	© 2024 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Centre for Economic Performance Psychological and Behavioural Science
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine
JEL classification:	I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I18 - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health D - Microeconomics > D6 - Welfare Economics > D61 - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis D - Microeconomics > D0 - General > D00 - General
Date Deposited:	19 Feb 2025 17:39
Last Modified:	19 Feb 2025 17:48
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/126829

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