A major study into the extent of mental health problems in Ireland has found that 14 per cent of people experienced some form of psychological distress over the past year.
The research, conducted by the Health Research Board (HRB) and the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), also found that significant numbers of people suffering from mental health problems did not seek any form of help from the health service.
A total of 9 per cent reported that they had attended a general practitioner in the previous year, specifically for mental health difficulties.
Dr Donna Tedstone Doherty, senior researcher at the HRB, said the study's findings underline the need to improve awareness and availability of mental health services.
"This study is starting to give us a better picture of the extent of psychological distress in the Irish population," she said.
"It is essential that we acknowledge that it is a real problem and help remove the stigma associated with mental health problems.
"It will also be important to increase availability of mental health services and raise people's awareness of these services so that people are able to access dedicated, specialised care."
The survey was a telephone survey of a nationally representative random sample of 2,711 adults aged 18 years and over and living in private households.
The preliminary results are being presented this week at a three-day conference on mental health at Dublin City University. A final report which presents all the findings will be published at the end of October.
In a related study, researchers at the HRB wanted to find out whether people's willingness to talk about their mental health problems impacted on their sense of psychological wellbeing
Mark Ward, a researcher, said there were strong links to show that people who were willing to share their distressing experiences were more likely to have a better standard of mental health.
In addition, he said women and young people were the most willing to disclose their experiences.
Other findings to be discussed at the conference will examine the readmission of patients with mental health problems to psychiatric hospitals.
It will show that people most likely to be readmitted to a psychiatric unit are people who are younger, suffer from schizophrenia or have drug-related problems.
The study will also show that a significant number of those re-admitted have alcoholic disorders.
This remains a concern in light of the recommendations of successive policy documents to treat this disorder in community-based settings.
Patients who were admitted for a short time, such as less than a week, were less likely to be re-admitted than those with a length of stay of three months or more.
Antoinette Daly, a researcher at the HRB, said patients with recurring illnesses, such as schizophrenia, will require frequent in-patient admissions because of the nature of their condition. As a result, re-admissions will continue to be a feature of in-patient services regardless of any future expansion of community-based services.
"An examination of community services in terms of services provided, staffing and resources invested should be considered to plan rationally and effectively for the future," she said.
The conference at DCU is due to continue today with a keynote presentation from Prof Thomas Szasz, a well-known critic of the moral and scientific foundations of psychiatry.
In a presentation likely to spark controversy, he is expected to reject the commonly-accepted understanding of mental illness and reject practices in the psychiatric profession such as placing patients in special legal categories and detaining patients against their will.
