A new survey by the Film and TV Charity paints a bleak picture of the state of mental health and wellbeing in the UK screen industries.
Over 4,300 film, TV and cinema professionals responded to the 2024 Looking Glass survey, with self-ratings of mental health at their lowest level across the five-year history of the research. 35% of respondents rated themselves as having a ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ mental health, while 77% disagree with the statement ‘the film and TV industry is a mentally healthy place to work’.
Some of the survey’s other key findings include:
- 64% are considering leaving the industry due to concerns about mental health
- 32% having taken first steps to do so
- 30% reporting having thoughts of taking their own life in the past 12 months
- 30% often felt lonely, up from 24% in 2022 and way above a national average of 8%
- 63% said their work in film and TV has a negative effect on their mental health
To assess the impact that targeted interventions are making, the survey asked if respondents had accessed the charity’s services, including the Whole Picture Toolkit, a free online resource to improve mental health on productions. There was a clear correlation – an improvement – between those who did so and their feelings towards mental health.
Only 12% of respondents felt that the industry is a mentally healthy place to work. This number rose to 25% among respondents who had worked on a production using the Whole Picture Toolkit.
35% described their mental health as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’, up from 24% in 2022. This number dropped to 23% among those who had worked on productions using the Whole Picture Toolkit.
Marcus Ryder, CEO at the Film and TV Charity, said: “The results of the 2024 Looking Glass Survey underline that the industry has to go much further to address urgent, persistent issues relating to mental health in our industry. We should also recognise that culture change takes time, and acknowledge that, for example with issues such as bullying, where the entire industry has recognised that there is a problem that needs to be addressed, we have seen the dial shift in a positive direction.”
Laura Mansfield, CEO, ScreenSkills, said: “The findings of this survey highlight the shared concerns of the screen workforce. It’s vital that we as an industry can come together to solve these challenges and provide freelancers, employers and crew with the support they need at every stage of their career. It’s the reason why ScreenSkills developed free e-learning modules for mental health, tacking bullying and harassment and safeguarding, why we worked alongside the Film and TV Charity to publish mental health training guidance for employers and why we will continue to collaborate with partners across the industry to offer tangible support that has real, lasting impact.”