Aviva has reported concern about long waiting times for mental health treatments despite the government having pledged to provide greater access by 2015.
Four out of five people surveyed for Aviva's Health of the Nation report were worried that any mental health illness they had would deteriorate due to lengthy waits for talking therapies such as counselling or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
Nearly three-quarters (73%) said the government and NHS were not doing enough to tackle mental health problems.
Dr Doug Wright, medical director at Aviva UK Health, said: "The government's commitment to providing quicker access to mental health treatments is extremely welcome, but with such significant and widespread access issues, this will take time to achieve.
"Clearly, patients with mental health illnesses need access to the right treatment as quickly as possible to minimise the decline of their health and the impact it has on their lives."
The majority of patients felt that a period of two to three weeks was the maximum time they should wait for treatment following a referral for counselling or a psychological service; 29% said treatment should be accessible within a week.
The report showed 52% had suffered from a mental health condition - depression, stress, anxiety - at some point in their lives. Of these, 9% still feel unwell and 21% still suffer from their condition from time to time.
Three in five of those who sought help from their GP for a mental health related issue were prescribed drugs.
Four in five GPs said there were long waiting lists for talking therapies; half said their local trust provided a poor service for mental health issues.
And a third of GPs do not think access will improve compared to just 23% who believed it would; three-quarters said mental health issues wwill continue to be the single biggest issue to treat over the next year.
The report also showed 93% of GPs said the increasing stress in the workplace was directly related to the increasing numbers of cases of mental health issues.
In the UK, mental health illness is currently one of the biggest causes of workplace absence.
