Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/295862 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 16839
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Common mental health problems impose significant costs on individuals and societies, yet healthcare systems often overlook them. We provide the first causal evidence on the effectiveness of a pioneering, nationwide mental health service for treating depression and anxiety disorders in England using non-experimental data and methods. We exploit variations in waiting times to identify treatment effects, based on a novel dataset of over one million patients that well represent the English population. Our findings show that treatment improved mental health and reduced impairment in work and social life. We also provide suggestive evidence of enhanced employment. However, effects vary across patients, services, and areas. The programme is cost-effective and provides a blueprint for treating mental health in other countries.
Subjects: 
policy evaluation
mental health
psychological therapies
quasi- natural experiment
machine learning
cost-benefit analysis
JEL: 
C31
C32
D61
I12
I38
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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