Despite improvements, majority of TV workers say their job is bad for them according to the Film & TV Charity’s Looking Glass report

The industry’s mental health has marginally improved over the past two years but remains “unacceptably poor”, according to the Film & TV Charity’s Looking Glass report.

The fifth iteration of the biennial report, which surveyed 3,394 TV and film workers, follows the damning 2024 edition, which revealed a mental health crisis in the industry, with nearly a third (30%) of workers reporting they had had suicidal thoughts in the past year.

This figure has reduced by seven percentage points to just under a quarter (23%) in the past two years, but still remains more than three times the UK workforce average. Suicidal thoughts among freelancers fell by nine percentage points from 32% to 23%, the report revealed.

According to the Film & TV Charity, just one percentage point shift can represent up to 2,500 people experiencing the industry differently.

The proportion of workers who rate their mental health as poor has also fallen from just over a third (35%) to just under a third (31%) in 2026 but remains at nearly twice the UK average of 16%.

Over half (56%) of respondents said their work in the industry had a negative impact on their mental health, which represents a seven-percentage point improvement since 2024, but comes in at more than double the UK average of 25%.

Only around one in 10 (13%) respondents said the industry is a mentally healthy place to work.

Bullying and harassment remains high

The report said it is “extremely worrying” that the industry experiences bullying, harassment and discrimination at more than twice the national average (15%), despite cases continuing to fall steadily.

Just over a third (37%) of respondents experienced bullying, harassment and discrimination in the past twelve months, down from 41% in 2024, 46% in 2022, and from more than half (53%) in 2021.

The improvement was more pronounced among freelancers, where cases fell from 43% in 2024 to 38% in 2026.

Being undermined or humiliated was the most common form of bulling and harassment (76%) followed by unreasonable pressure regarding job performance (52%) and persistent unwarranted criticism (42%).

But just over half (51%) of those affected did not report it for fear of losing future work or making the situation worse. This was despite reports that awareness of reporting policies and processes has increased from 45% to 51%, suggesting that confidence in them remains limited. Only around a third of respondents said they believed reports would be acted on regardless of the perpetrator.

Of those who did report their experiences, just under one in five (17%) said the situation improved as a result. Most (58%) said the situation or environment did not change, or it was too early to say, while a quarter (25%) reported it worsening.

Other key findings since 2024:

• Self-ratings of poor or very poor mental health have fallen from 35% to 31%.
• 29% of full-time staff reported poor mental health, up from with 25%
• High levels of loneliness have decreased from 30% to 25%.
• 62% have considered leaving the industry because of their mental health, down from 64%.

Chief executive of the Film and TV Charity Marcus Ryder said the evidence “gives us reason for hope, but not for complacency”.

“Our data clearly shows that collective action can drive real progress, but it also shows that too many people working behind the scenes are still struggling with the pressures our industry is too often placing on their mental health.

“If we want to create a mentally healthy industry, responsibility must be shared, and everyone has a part to play.”

He added: “The challenge now is to build on that progress, applying the same collective focus to other issues affecting mental health and wellbeing, embracing the Principles for Mentally Healthy Productions and turning collective action into lasting change.”