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Original poster

What happens when everyone needs ‘support’ and no one is left to give it?

226 replies

HereBeFuckery · 04/02/2026 22:19

Fair warning: I may well be BU.

The last five threads I have opened have contained variations on the phrase ‘I need support to/with/for’ or ‘there isn’t enough support for parents/families etc’

I genuinely feel that there is an epidemic of ‘needing support’. If everyone needs support, who is going to be left to actually give that support? It can’t be endless! If every child needs personalised support in school, and every adult needs support in the workplace, we are, surely, just marking time until everything implodes. Can no one just cope any more?

OP posts:
Verytall · 04/02/2026 22:25

The amount of support people need, or can give, tends to fluctuate with time. There's very few people who consistently need a lot of support and that tends to be those with conditions where things won't change significantly, eg someone with a significant learning disability whose needs will change but may need support through their lifetime, but that's why services exist for those who need and deserve them.

Given we're in a cost of living crisis and dealing with the hangover of austerity, it's not really surprising that more people are struggling to cope. It isn't the sign of individual weakness or moral failing that you seem to be implying with your last sentence.