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Out of all the people asking for help from Citizens Advice during 2022, the charity says there was a notable increase in individuals with serious mental health concerns such as bi-polar, schizophrenia, and personality disorders.
The charity says the numbers are small but the increase in people presenting for help with those diagnoses are notable because of the increase CAG advisors have seen.
There was also an increase in the number of approaches for help from people describing themselves as having anxiety, low self-esteem, and a lack of confidence or from those with specific symptoms such as being ‘distressed’, ‘upset’, and ‘emotional’. 
Pictured: A snapshot of the findings from the Citizens Advice report on Mental Health.
Every year, Citizens Advice Guernsey selects one area of social policy to focus on when collating data.
For 2022, the charity selected mental health as its area to focus on.
The full Mental Health in Guernsey report can be read HERE.
Previous reports have focused on Homelessness (2023) and Access to Affordable Housing (May 2023).
CAG said it was clear from those reports that "some of the building blocks for good mental health are not available to all islanders".
Those building blocks are a component of the island's Mental Health Strategy, published last year, which stated that "Building blocks for health, often called the wider determinants of health, include things such as stable jobs, good pay, quality and secure housing, education and skills and meaningful community connections" (p.16 of the Bailiwick of Guernsey Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2023-2029).
Pictured: Citizens Advice said nearly 200 people approached the charity for help, and cited poor mental health while in discussions with an advisor.
CAG's 2022 report focusing on mental health in Guernsey was intended to reflect the "lived experience of clients referencing mental health issues when consulting Citizens Advice Guernsey (CAG) during the calendar year 2022".
As well as increases in some areas, the charity also noted decreases in some sectors.
One example being a reduction in the number of people asking for help from CAG who referenced addictive behaviours linked to mental health issues.
The number of people describing themselves as having a mental breakdown and/or suicidal thoughts was static during 2022 compared to previous years.
CAG was clear to say all of the numbers involved are small but the increases and decreases were notable nonetheless.
Pictured: Citizens Advice offers advice on a number of different topics from trained advisors.
The statistics collated by CAG came from all of the requests for help the charity had during 2022.
While the number of people contacting CAG for help specifically regarding their mental health was very low, there was an element of concern around mental health and well being in hundreds of cases.
During 2022, 196 case sheets were marked as including one or more mental health issues during the calendar year.
Within these case sheets, 40 were follow-up contacts for cases in which mental health issues had already been identified. The rest were new cases, so the number of separate cases therefore totalled 154. Just 10 cases specified mental health as the sole reason for the client seeking help from CAG.
Of those cases, mental health issues were identified from the advisors coding all issues raised by their client.
CAG says this report represents lived experience and "provides an indication of mental health levels in Guernsey during 2022 rather than an accurate assessment".
Pictured: The numbers of people in the statistics collated by Citizens Advice were very low but the report contained numerous points of note.
Of the 154 cases where individuals were in contact for CAG and their mental health concerns were noted, there were also some cases where individuals said they were dissatisfied with the services provided at the Oberlands Centre.
The Oberlands is the base for the island's Adult Mental Health Service and staff there provide secondary care assessment, intervention, treatment and support to people with mental ill health within the Bailiwick.
CAG makes clear in the report that it is unlikely to be the first port of call for people experiencing mental health issues so the numbers it deals with where mental health issues are of serious concern are very low.
CAG would signpost individuals to other organisations for help where relevant and would also be able to help individuals access services in support of their needs.
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