Rising demand for mental health, ADHD and autism services will finally come under scrutiny in an evidence-based independent review. Between them, they represent a triple whammy that is helping to bankrupt Britain. The NHS is overwhelmed, the economy is reeling and even those who do manage to drag themselves to work insist on special measures because of their doctor’s note.
As a result we face a deepening productivity crisis and an ever-growing benefits bill. Not to mention a generation of young people who have largely absented themselves from the job market and risk being ‘written off’ forever. It’s high time we looked into just what is driving Britain’s epidemic of mental illness to decide whether we’re really sick – or suffering from the effects of mass over-diagnosis as a result of changes in social and cultural norms.
There’s no doubt living in modern Britain can be stressful and upsetting. But there have always been challenges. And we’re not living through a world war or even a Covid-style epidemic right now.
Diagnosis provides a convenient way of saying ‘it’s not me, it’s my disorder’, that explains why stuff is not working out. Shifting responsibility for your destiny away from you, your drive, your decisions, and consulting professionals, can become addictive and dependency-forming. Once diagnosed, you can blame NHS waiting lists or medication side-effects for your job phobia.
My diagnosis, which Streeting can have for free, is that the actual mental deficiency embedded in our culture is a rampant failure to take responsibility for life and personally do something about it when confronted with struggle.
Yes, this takes endurance, perseverance and can be horrible. But once you learn the benefits of tenacity, resilience and coping develop within you. Dealing with difficulty delivers durability.
Sadly many ‘experts’ refuse to admit something your grandmother understood – and she probably didn’t even know what a psychiatrist was – that life presents natural hazards and you can only benefit from learning to resolve them yourself.
One side-effect of diagnosis, in contrast, is that it transfers power to ‘experts’.
Yes, some patients really do have something medical going on that would benefit from clinical intervention. But as there is no blood test, it’s too easy in a rushed ten-minute consultation, to deliver what others really want – which is an excuse.
But you didn’t need a psychiatrist to tell you that, did you?
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
