Mental health and travel behaviour

INTRODUCTION: Travel requires various skills such as concentration, interpretation of information, and the confidence to take decisions and interact with other people. Mental illness can affect these skills and so cause barriers to travel. These issues are explored in this paper using the results from a cross-sectional on-line survey. METHODS: The survey focussed on domestic travel. The link to the survey was distributed by eighteen mental health or transport organizations and three individuals through social media, newsletters and websites. Weightings were applied to make the results more representative of the national population with mental health conditions. RESULTS: 89% of the respondents had anxiety and 76% were depressed. The biggest cause of anxiety was interacting with fellow travellers, both in terms of how they behaved and how the respondents felt that others perceived them. The second main cause of anxiety was needing support when travelling, both feeling out of control and requiring help from other people. Having to feel in control reflected another cause of anxiety: having to take action in an unfamiliar environment, because the method of travel has failed or because of the need to find suitable toilet facilities. Wayfinding caused anxiety in terms of feelings of disorientation, being lost and having to find the way. The fifth area of anxiety revolved around interacting with staff such as bus drivers and buying tickets. A high proportion of respondents had fluctuations in their health condition from day to day that meant that sometimes they could not leave home. Many of them were unable to commit to buying rail tickets in advance. CONCLUSIONS: People with mental health conditions have difficulty travelling because of various barriers that they face. Changes such as clearer, comprehensive travel information, better-designed buses, trains and infrastructure and quieter, calmer, less crowded journeys would enable them to travel more