摘要：At present six million people are suffering from clinical depression or anxiety
disorders, but only a quarter of them are in treatment. NICE Guidelines
prescribe the offer of evidence-based psychological therapy, but they are not
implemented, due to lack of therapists within the NHS. We therefore estimate the
economic costs and benefits of providing psychological therapy to people not now
in treatment. The cost to the government would be fully covered by the savings
in incapacity benefits and extra taxes that result from more people being able
to work. On our estimates the cost could be recovered within two years – and
certainly within five. And the benefits to the whole economy are greater still.
This is not because we expect the extra therapy to be targeted especially at
people with problems about work. It is because the cost of the therapy is so
small (£750 in total), the recovery rates are so high (50%) and the cost of a
person on IB is so large (£750 per month). These findings strongly reinforce the
humanitarian case for implementing the NICE Guidelines. Current proposals for
doing this would require some 8,000 extra psychological therapists within the
NHS over the next six years
