My stress wasn’t an ‘overdiagnosis’ – if only it were that simple

I was signed off work twice with mental illness, writes Hannah Shewan Stevens – but is it any surprise people are struggling to cope when the UK is falling apart at the seams?

Health secretary Wes Streeting has put his foot in his mouth again, this time, claiming there’s “definitely an overdiagnosis” of mental illness in the UK.

Apparently, those of us struggling with poor mental health are a burden to the public’s finances because we need time off work to recover.

Once again, a politician dismisses the country’s mental health crisis to justify cuts to the benefits system. Excuse me while I pretend to be shocked. Roundly dismissing millions struggling with their mental health as “overdiagnosed” oversimplifies a complex landscape. I wish mental health were that simple, Wes, but it’s not.

When working full-time in London, I was signed off work twice due to mental illness. The NHS couldn’t offer me any therapy unless I was able to wait for six to 12 months, during which time my depression and complex PTSD symptoms would’ve spiralled out of control.

To prevent that, I went into debt for private therapy. Fortunately, my workplace focused on a smooth transition back to work rather than pushing me out, unlike the aggressive approach the government is promising with more brutal benefit cuts.

Both instances occurred pre-pandemic — 2017 and 2018 respectively — when the NHS was still limping along. Now, it’s crawling and those supposedly “overdiagnosed” people are paying the price of its underfunding, unable to work under the weight of their ever-worsening mental health.

There aren’t too many of us getting a diagnosis. We’re reacting appropriately to the chaotic world around us and a crumbling mental healthcare system. More people are getting signed off work because they can’t cope with the world we’re living in, something proper access to therapy and greater investment in social care could prevent.

Mental health problems represent the largest single cause of disability in the UK, exacerbated by the pandemic, which we’re still refusing to recognise as the mass disabling event it was. In 2018-19, around 2.7 million people were in contact with mental health services; now it’s 3.8 million. That’s not overdiagnosis, it’s collective trauma and despair.

Surprise, surprise, living in a world without a clear future, one that devalues anyone who cannot optimise their productivity to the max, is mightily depressing. Who would’ve guessed that facing the doomsday bell of climate change disaster, while led by inept politicians more interested in re-election than saving the planet, would be so anxiety-inducing? Not Wes Streeting. People aren’t being overdiagnosed; they’re responding to the world’s dire state.

The UK is falling apart at the seams. Poverty is climbing, and opportunities and pathways to success, or even just a liveable wage, are ever shrinking. We, as a country, are not OK. Of course our mental health is suffering and more of us face depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses.

The triggers for this so-called “overdiagnosis” – read: genuine mental health crisis – are obvious but I’ve yet to see a frontline politician acknowledge this connection and call for action. Why would they? It would undermine their strategy of demonising vulnerable people to save pennies instead of taxing the rich to generate tens of billions.

No, our benefits system isn’t sustainable long term in its current form but slashing benefits will only worsen the mental health crises erupting up and down this country. Cutting the system to the bone will lose workers, not gain them.

If we continue on this path, led by politicians divorced from reality, we will consign countless people to misery and unemployment. People wouldn’t be getting written off if adequate support were in place. Preventative mental healthcare is the answer. Timely and appropriate therapy will help people. Sanctimonious soundbites to attract right-wing voters for the next election are not the solution we’re looking for here, Wes.

Perhaps Wes should spend a few months managing his mental health while navigating the punitive benefits system before he tells anyone that mental health is overdiagnosed. Blaming people for their poor mental health isn’t going to solve anything; it didn’t get me back to work. Do you know what did? Therapy and a supportive workplace.