A leading mental health campaigner has warned that UK services are sending men home “simply to exist” amid a national decline in wellbeing, following a damning new report.

Ashley Riley, who experienced bone-crushing anxiety and deep dark depression, responded to The Big Mental Health Report 2025, published on 15th October 2025 by the charity Mind.

The report highlights a gradual decline in mental well-being across the UK since 2016–17, with rates of common mental health problems steadily rising. In 2023–24, there were 2.8 million referrals to adult community mental health services across the UK. It also reveals that 30 % of those waiting for support from both sectors reported having to access help elsewhere. One in five adults in England is now living with a common mental health problem, with rates continuing to increase.

Riley, a business-owning father of two, shared his personal ordeal. Two years ago, as an outgoing and confident man, he began to suffer from a low mood and had a brief panic attack. Within a month, it developed into life-stopping anxiety and deep, dark depression.

“One third of people becoming more ill and quicker is destroying men and their families,” Ashley said after the report’s publication. “I know from personal experience that over one in three people are reporting a deterioration in their mental health while waiting for an appointment for help with their mental health. The reality is that unless you report that you are self-harming or considering taking your own life you are simply sent home to exist.”

Riley eventually experienced psychosis before borrowing money to enter private psychiatric care for ten days. After leaving treatment, he suffered a stroke while mowing the front lawn and was found by his 11-year-old daughter.

“After being sent home by my GP I didn’t know what to do,” he said. “My wife didn’t know what to do and my children couldn’t work out what was happening to their Daddy.”

The report also shows that 33 % of those accessing GP support said it did not meet their needs, up from 27 % in 2019. Riley said: “My experience was the same as millions of other men.”

When three different medications failed, his GP asked: “What else do you want me to do?” During a full panic attack in his GP’s surgery, Riley was shouted at and told to “calm down”.

“We know that poor mental health is destroying men, their lives, their families, their jobs and their communities,” he added. “This crucial report from Mind shows us that in 2025 the situation is getting worse. That is simply not acceptable.”

Research from The Priory shows that over 70 % of men report experiencing some form of depression, anxiety or stress in their lives, but only 40 % speak to someone about it. In the UK, of all suicides, 75 % are men.

“There has to be faster action by government and a new priority placed on mental health by GPs,” Riley said. “If not, more men will be left at home to just exist and in far too many cases will become more ill.”

The report, supported by the Centre for Mental Health, paints a broader picture of a system under strain. Mental health problems are increasing, particularly among young people, with referrals to children and young people’s services nearly tripling from 40,000 a month in 2016 to almost 120,000 in 2024. Financial cuts and rising poverty are key drivers of this mental health crisis, worsening anxiety and depression across communities.

Waiting times continue to lengthen, with over 1.66 million people in England awaiting community mental health care in the third quarter of 2024–25. Stigma is also rising, with one in ten people unwilling to live next to someone who has recovered from mental illness.

Loneliness is growing, and suicide rates remain high, with 7,055 deaths registered in England and Wales in 2023. Mind’s survey of 18,177 people in England and Wales underscores these trends, showing that NHS spending on mental health fell to 8.78 % in 2024–25, with projections suggesting it will fall further.

Experts are calling for urgent investment to reverse the decline. Rates of probable mental health problems among young people aged 8–25 rose to 1 in 5 in 2023, up from 1 in 9 in 2017. Women experience higher rates of common conditions at 24.2 % compared with 15.4 % for men, yet men remain less likely to seek help.

The report urges better data collection, particularly for conditions such as ADHD, and stronger support pathways to prevent further deterioration. Riley’s story underscores the human cost of systemic failure, where families are left in confusion and individuals battle alone.