Mental health is one of the fastest-growing topics in tribunal judgments
Mental health is one of the fastest-growing topics in published employment tribunal judgments: the phrase appears in 27% of merits judgments in 2023–25, against 14% in 2017–19. Stress, anxiety, depression or PTSD is named in nearly half of judgments and in four disability discrimination judgments out of five, and anxiety has risen most, from 21% to 29%.
Mental health is one of the fastest-growing topics in employment tribunal judgments. Set aside the tribunal's own procedural language, and only one phrase in the corpus has risen further over the last nine years. Stress, anxiety, depression and PTSD are named in nearly half of all judgments, and in four disability discrimination judgments out of five. This analysis looks at the trend behind that, and at the conditions in more detail.
The context is a tribunal system under load, and disability discrimination is the part of it growing fastest. The single-claim open caseload stood at 70,000 at the end of June 2026, the highest in the published series and up 51 per cent on a year earlier. Disability discrimination rose from 5% of the tribunal caseload in 2017–18 to 8.7% in 2022–23, the largest increase of any discrimination jurisdiction, and Acas early conciliation notifications for disability discrimination rose from 15,361 in 2023–24 to 20,180 in 2024–25. The published judgments show what is inside that growth: four disability discrimination judgments in five now name a mental-health condition, and the share is rising.
This analysis follows the phrase "mental health" and four conditions (stress, anxiety, depression, PTSD) through every published merits judgment from England and Wales, 2017 to 2025, and asks how often each appears, in which claim types, how they compare with the other conditions named in disability discrimination judgments, and whether the disability question is argued more often when they do. It counts judgments that mention a term; it does not count claims, claimants, or findings that a claimant was disabled.
Summary
- "Mental health" doubled, from 13.5% of merits judgments in 2017–19 to 26.6% in 2023–25. Of 317 phrases common enough to rank, only the early-conciliation recital rose further.
- Stress, anxiety, depression or PTSD is named in 48% of judgments in 2023–25, against 41% in 2017–19, counting every term used for each condition. Stress is in 42%, anxiety 29%, depression 18%, PTSD 3.6%.
- Anxiety rose most, from 21% to 29% of judgments, steadily through the period. Stress rose from 35% to 42%, depression from 14% to 18%. PTSD doubled, from 1.8% to 3.6%.
- The rise is in every claim type, and largest in unfair dismissal. Unfair dismissal judgments naming one of the four rose from 47% to 57%; unlawful deduction from wages from 25% to 33%. Disability discrimination remains the ceiling, at 81%.
- In disability discrimination judgments, the fastest-growing jurisdiction, mental-health conditions are mentioned far more often than any other condition, and the share is rising. Four in five name one (81%, from 76%); stress appears in 72%, anxiety in 62%, depression in 48% and PTSD in 11%. The commonest neurodevelopmental term, dyslexia, is in 10%, and the commonest physical terms, cancer and back pain, in 9% and 8%.
Population: merits decisions with written reasons, single-claimant, England and Wales, one judgment per case: 4,587 judgments in 2017–19 and 5,055 in 2023–25. A judgment counts if it mentions a term at least once, which is not the same as the tribunal finding the claimant disabled.
The fastest-growing topic
Ranking the 317 phrases that appear in at least 800 published judgments by their change in share between 2017–19 and 2023–25, with the standard notices printed on published judgments excluded, "mental health" is second: from 12.6% of judgments to 26.3%. Every phrase around it is procedure or the language of a legal test.
Change in the share of judgments mentioning the phrase, 2017–19 to 2023–25, for the six largest risers among 317 phrases appearing in at least 800 judgments; the standard notices on published judgments are excluded.
Every phrase around it is procedure or the language of a legal test.
| Rank | Phrase | 2017–19 | 2023–25 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | early conciliation | 17.7% | 42.4% | +24.7 |
| 2 | mental health | 12.6% | 26.3% | +13.7 |
| 3 | witness statements | 34.3% | 46.9% | +12.6 |
| 4 | protected characteristic | 20.2% | 32.5% | +12.3 |
| 5 | burden of proof | 33.5% | 45.5% | +12.0 |
| 6 | less favourable | 18.0% | 29.9% | +12.0 |
The rest of this analysis asks what is behind that rise. It follows the four conditions most often named alongside the phrase, stress, anxiety, depression and PTSD, through the same judgments.
Year by year
Share of merits judgments mentioning "mental health" at least once, and each condition under every term used for it.
Share of merits judgments mentioning "mental health" (teal), any of the four conditions (black), and each condition under every term used for it, by year. England and Wales, single-claimant.
2024 is the peak in every series and 2025 falls back.
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mental health | 12.9% | 12.3% | 14.9% | 18.0% | 17.9% | 22.2% | 24.7% | 29.1% | 26.3% |
| Stress | 38.5% | 33.4% | 33.8% | 35.4% | 36.5% | 38.5% | 39.7% | 45.0% | 41.2% |
| Anxiety | 21.0% | 19.7% | 21.3% | 21.7% | 23.9% | 28.5% | 27.7% | 31.9% | 28.5% |
| Depression | 15.6% | 13.3% | 14.2% | 15.3% | 14.9% | 16.7% | 16.3% | 19.3% | 17.3% |
| PTSD | 1.8% | 1.4% | 2.3% | 2.4% | 2.3% | 3.5% | 3.2% | 3.9% | 3.9% |
| Any of the four | 45.3% | 39.5% | 39.6% | 41.0% | 43.0% | 45.5% | 47.0% | 50.8% | 45.7% |
| n | 1,225 | 1,470 | 1,892 | 1,555 | 2,431 | 1,954 | 1,819 | 1,572 | 1,664 |
These four conditions are what sits behind the rise in the phrase. The phrase itself doubles, from 13% to 26%. Anxiety rises in almost every year, from 21% to 29%, and accounts for most of the growth in the conditions. Stress is flat until 2021 and then steps up. Depression grows by about a fifth. PTSD doubles from a low base, most of it by 2022. 2024 is the peak in every row and 2025 falls back.
Pooled, 2017–19 against 2023–25:
| Term | 2017–19 | 2023–25 | Factor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental health | 13.5% | 26.6% | ×1.97 |
| Stress | 34.9% | 41.9% | ×1.20 |
| Anxiety | 20.7% | 29.2% | ×1.42 |
| Depression | 14.3% | 17.6% | ×1.23 |
| PTSD | 1.9% | 3.6% | ×2.01 |
| Any of the four | 41.1% | 47.7% | ×1.16 |
Growth factor: share of merits judgments mentioning the term in 2023–25 divided by the share in 2017–19. Line at ×1 is no change.
n 4,587 and 5,055. Each condition counted under every term used for it.
By claim type
Share of each claim type's judgments naming any of the four conditions, 2017–19 to 2023–25. Claim types overlap.
| Claim type | n 2017–19 | n 2023–25 | 2017–19 | 2023–25 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disability discrimination | 846 | 1,362 | 75.8% | 81.2% | +5.4 |
| Sex discrimination | 417 | 516 | 57.3% | 64.5% | +7.2 |
| Public interest disclosure | 405 | 627 | 56.3% | 63.3% | +7.0 |
| Race discrimination | 548 | 851 | 55.3% | 59.7% | +4.4 |
| Age discrimination | 204 | 277 | 52.0% | 58.5% | +6.5 |
| Unfair dismissal | 2,813 | 2,771 | 47.0% | 56.5% | +9.5 |
| Breach of contract | 1,520 | 1,501 | 32.7% | 39.8% | +7.1 |
| Unlawful deduction from wages | 1,531 | 1,813 | 25.0% | 32.6% | +7.6 |
| Working time | 776 | 1,048 | 24.2% | 31.3% | +7.1 |
| Redundancy | 333 | 347 | 24.0% | 28.0% | +4.0 |
The conditions are named more often in every claim type. Disability discrimination is the ceiling, but the largest gain is in unfair dismissal, up 9.5 points on 2,771 judgments, and wages, working-time and breach of contract claims, which have no health element in their legal test, each gained about seven points.
What conditions appear in disability discrimination judgments
Share of disability discrimination judgments mentioning each condition at least once, on its main term. n 846 in 2017–19 and 1,362 in 2023–25.
Share of disability discrimination judgments mentioning each condition, 2023–25 (n 1,362), on its main term. ■ mental health, ■ neurodevelopmental, ■ physical; the hollow marker is 2017–19 (n 846).
A selected set of terms, not the full range of impairments; musculoskeletal, cardiac and sensory conditions are not measured. A mention is not a finding of disability.
| Condition | 2017–19 | 2023–25 |
|---|---|---|
| Stress | 59.7% | 65.6% |
| Anxiety | 45.7% | 57.7% |
| Depression | 41.6% | 44.0% |
| PTSD | 5.1% | 10.1% |
| Dyslexia | 6.4% | 9.8% |
| Cancer | 10.1% | 9.3% |
| Autism | 2.1% | 9.0% |
| Back pain | 10.4% | 8.4% |
| Diabetes | 7.8% | 6.5% |
| ADHD | 1.2% | 6.0% |
The mental-health terms are named in a different league from everything else. Anxiety alone is mentioned in more disability judgments than the six physical and neurodevelopmental terms measured added together, and the gap has widened: anxiety is up 12 points and PTSD has doubled while cancer, diabetes and back pain each fell a point or two. The neurodivergent conditions rose fastest of all, autism and ADHD four- and fivefold, but from bases so low that dyslexia at 10% is still the largest of them; Yerty's analysis of neurodivergent conditions in tribunal judgments sets them out.
These are the conditions the judgments name, measured for a selected set of terms. Musculoskeletal, cardiac, sensory and other long-term conditions are not yet measured, and a mention is not a finding that the condition was the claimant's impairment, so this is not yet a ranking of the impairments behind disability claims.
Inside and outside disability discrimination judgments
Share of judgments mentioning each condition, counting every term used for it, in three cuts.
Share of judgments mentioning the condition, 2023–25, counting every term used for it: ■ with a disability discrimination claim (n 1,361) against ■ no disability claim of any kind (n 3,694).
Depression is mentioned seven times as often where there is a disability claim; stress a little over twice as often. A mention is not a finding of disability.
| Judgments | Period | n | Stress | Anxiety | Depression | PTSD | Any of the four |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| With a disability discrimination claim | 2017–19 | 854 | 64.5% | 51.8% | 45.7% | 6.9% | 75.8% |
| With a disability discrimination claim | 2023–25 | 1,361 | 72.3% | 62.2% | 47.7% | 11.2% | 81.1% |
| Unfair dismissal, no disability claim | 2017–19 | 2,301 | 34.9% | 16.0% | 8.4% | 0.7% | 40.3% |
| Unfair dismissal, no disability claim | 2023–25 | 1,987 | 40.8% | 21.6% | 8.4% | 1.0% | 46.5% |
| No disability claim of any kind | 2017–19 | 3,733 | 28.2% | 13.6% | 7.1% | 0.7% | 33.2% |
| No disability claim of any kind | 2023–25 | 3,694 | 30.6% | 17.1% | 6.5% | 0.8% | 35.4% |
Four disability discrimination judgments in five mention at least one of the conditions, and unfair dismissal judgments with no disability claim at all are close behind at 47%. Depression is the term that marks a disability claim: 48% inside against 6.5% outside, and the only one of the four whose rate fell outside. Stress at 31% of judgments with no disability claim is close to the background of the corpus and says little on its own.
The disability question
Whether the claimant was disabled is the threshold question in a disability claim built on a mental-health condition. Within disability discrimination judgments, the phrases that mark it move with the baseline rather than with mental health. "Knowledge of disability" appears in 22% of all disability judgments in 2023–25 (12% in 2017–19), and in 29% of those that also mention mental health (15%): a few points above the baseline in both periods, with the baseline itself doing the moving. Section 15 shows no gap at all. That is the opposite of the neurodivergent conditions, where the gap widened.
Method and limits
Population. Merits decisions with written reasons, single-claimant, England and Wales, one judgment per case, from the public register on GOV.UK. No length band. 4,587 judgments in 2017–19 and 5,055 in 2023–25; annual n from 1,225 to 2,431. A judgment counts once if it mentions a term at least once.
Terms. "Mental health" is the exact phrase. Each condition is counted under its exact term and its variants (for example anxiety, anxious, anxiety disorder, panic attack), so a judgment counts once if it uses any of them. The comparison with dyslexia, cancer, autism, back pain, diabetes and ADHD uses each condition's main term.
Judgment length. The median judgment in this population grew by a third between the two periods, and a longer judgment is more likely to contain any given term. Holding the mix of judgment lengths at its 2017–19 level, the phrase "mental health" still rises, to 21%; the conditions' rises are smaller, with anxiety keeping about three points and the others little, so part of the growth in the named conditions reflects longer judgments rather than more mentions per judgment of a given length.
Ranking. Phrases appearing in at least 800 judgments; the standard notices printed on published judgments excluded.
A mention is not a finding. A judgment mentioning anxiety may have found the claimant disabled, found they were not, or recorded the word in passing. Claim types overlap, so the claim-type rows do not sum to the population.
Years. 2024 is the peak year in every series and 2025 is lower; the figures are as published at September 2026.
Frequently asked questions
How often do employment tribunal judgments mention mental health?
In merits judgments from England and Wales, the phrase "mental health" appears in 26.6% of judgments in 2023–25, against 13.5% in 2017–19. Of 317 phrases common enough to rank by growth, only the early-conciliation recital rose further. A mention is not a finding that the claimant was disabled.
How often are stress, anxiety and depression mentioned?
In 2023–25, stress in 42% of merits judgments, anxiety in 29%, depression in 18% and PTSD in 3.6%, counting every term used for each condition; any of the four in 48%, against 41% in 2017–19. A mention does not count claims or claimants.
Which condition rose most?
Anxiety, from 21% to 29% of judgments, steadily through the period rather than in a late step. PTSD doubled, from 1.8% to 3.6%, from a low base. Stress rose from 35% to 42% and depression from 14% to 18%, both mostly in 2024 and 2025.
Is the rise only in disability discrimination cases?
No. Disability discrimination has the highest rate, with 81% of those judgments naming one of the four conditions, but the largest gain is in unfair dismissal, up 9.5 points, and wages, working-time and breach of contract claims, which have no health element in their legal test, each gained about seven points.
Which condition is most common in disability discrimination claims?
Of the conditions measured, stress (66% of disability discrimination judgments in 2023–25), anxiety (58%) and depression (44%), then PTSD and dyslexia at 10%, cancer 9%, autism 9%, back pain 8%. Musculoskeletal, cardiac and sensory conditions are not yet measured, and a mention is not a finding that the condition was the claimant's impairment.
Does mentioning depression mark a disability claim?
More than the other terms. In 2023–25 depression is mentioned in 48% of judgments carrying a disability discrimination claim and 6.5% of those carrying none, and it is the only one of the four whose rate fell outside disability claims. Stress is mentioned in 72% and 31% respectively, so stress on its own says little about the type of claim.
Is the disability question argued more often in these cases?
Not increasingly so. Within disability discrimination judgments, "knowledge of disability" appears in 29% of those that also mention mental health against 22% of all disability judgments in 2023–25, and the gap was the same few points in 2017–19; the baseline is what moved. Section 15 shows no gap at all.
Sources
Analysis of published Employment Tribunal decisions, 2017 to 2025, drawn from the public register on GOV.UK under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Population: single-claimant merits decisions with written reasons, England and Wales, one judgment per case; 4,587 judgments in 2017–19 and 5,055 in 2023–25.
- Employment tribunal decisions, GOV.UK
- Equality Act 2010, section 6 and Schedule 1
- Tribunals Statistics Quarterly, April to June 2026 (Ministry of Justice)
- Acas: Characteristics and drivers of disability discrimination employment tribunal claims (September 2024)
- People Management: Disability discrimination workplace disputes rise by a third in past year (July 2025)
Related reading: is stress, anxiety or depression a disability at an employment tribunal, neurodivergent conditions in tribunal judgments, and mental health as a disability under the Equality Act.