Take our Depression Test

Find a therapist near me

Are we spending too much on welfare by classifying people who could work as mentally ill? Politicians may think we are over-diagnosing mental illness but psychiatrists suggest we need to hire more psychiatrists to cure it. The history of welfare shows it has always been contested, but also that we do not need to give people medical labels to provide financial or social support.

There is a heated debate raging in the UK about the benefits bill, which has been rising rapidly, especially among the young. Mental health problems account for the majority of sickness benefit claims, with 80% of young people on benefits claiming for a mental or neurodevelopmental disorder. Politicians worry there is ‘overdiagnosis’ of mental health problems. Alan Milburn, who is leading the government’s review into Young People and Work, warns of a ‘social catastrophe’ and of a ‘generation destined for the scrapheap’.

Outgoing president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Lade Smith, responded to this situation on BBC radio by calling for more funding for psychiatry and mental health services.

Smith claimed there is a ‘pandemic’ of mental illness that affects one in eight people, is clearly distinguishable from the mental health challenges we all experience and requires medical treatment. People don’t just get better on their own, she said, as they might with an infectious disease. ‘If you don’t get treated, things get worse’.

Thankfully, she concludes, effective psychiatric treatments are........

© Psychology Today