bereavement and the need to get help for mental health problems were more clearly recognised, things could have been very different for him. Think of how much better that would have been for him, and think how much better it would have been for the country. This is the reality for many people today. From mothers struggling with post-natal depression, young people in schools, people facing stress and anxiety at the workplace, to some of our ethnic minority communities who face a higher incidence of some conditions. Mental ill-health is a cradle to grave problem with nothing like a cradle to grave service. The Scale of the Problem As I speak here today, one in six people across Britain are affected by a mental illness. That is one in six people in each town or city, each workplace or community. Of course, this covers a range of illnesses. From people facing catastrophic crisis and collapse to those whose condition is less severe. There is some evidence that mental illness has become far worse in the 21st century. Growing as a result of unequal societies, a long-hours culture, and from the erosion of social bonds. But even if that is not the case, and it was always there, and never fully recognized, the scale of the problem is clear. According to the World Health Organisation, one in four of us will have a mental illness at some point in our lifetime. And that really means that mental illness affects everyone in