AIBU to think there is abuse of “mental health”

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As a supposed educator (my role has become solely classroom management) in further education focused on 15-17 year olds who have disengaged from school, I and my colleagues are being manipulated daily with young people who when challenged on standard engagement, attendance, basic decent behaviour and attempts to participate in any work cite mental health issues. They are then engaging with the many support services internally and being excused from any elements of being a student while receiving significant amounts of cash regardless of commitment. AIBU to think we have created a generation of excuses and a dire lack of commitment and resilience?

Adults too. Playing the system. Those in power rightly want us to be much more aware of mental health, and rightly so. But some people take full advantage.

focused on 15-17 year olds who have disengaged from school

Do you think your sample base for your assertion might be somewhat biased?

There's such a focus on mental health without nuance now so that people, adults and young people alike, cite mental health issues when really they are uncomfortable, don't like something, or experiencing normal worries that can be worked though. It stops people from taking personal responsibility and working through minor worries and concerns in my experience.

Mental health issues are very very real as I know all too well but there has to be nuance.

How come they get 'cash'?

It's the same in my job....'got mental health miss'.

Yes, it's a massive problem. And it makes it hugely difficult for those people who genuinely suffer serious mental health problems.

Feeling anxious about something is not 'suffering from anxiety!' It's normal!

It’s normal to experience a level of anxiety or upset and I think nowadays people latch onto this and claim mental health difficulties despite their reaction to a scenario being normal. E.g anxious about an exam.

I think you're in the wrong job.

Exactly, if everything was hunky dory then they wouldn’t be in such a setting.

@sprigatito me too!

Do you know they don't have any MH issues? Surely something's up if they can't handle school?
If you want kids who love learning and seem behaviourally and mentally completely fine then you should work in a private sixth form or something maybe? Even then there will be issues. But the group of which you speak are avoiding education by definition, so they'll use anything I'd imagine. Doesn't mean there is no need for MH support.

This

I work in higher education and have some students with genuine mental health concerns. However those students get swallowed into the large amounts that use their "mental health" that arise suddenly the day before their assesment as a reason why they can possibly complete the work.

If you are working with kids who have dropped out of mainstream then by definition they are more likely to have issues, mental health related or otherwise.

In other shock news, people in hospitals are very likely to be ill!

Everyone today has mental health issues, anxiety, depression, adhd, etc. it's no wonder there's very little tolerance to anyone because it's so common these days.

Totally agree. There’s feeling anxious which can be a normal reaction to a situation such as going to the GP or sitting an exam, then there’s anxiety that is debilitating which causes panic attacks and being unable to get out of bed or leave your own home.

some people use mental health issues as excuses for poor behaviour as well.

What is wrong with society on a whole is people aren’t given the skills/support to manage normal levels of anxiety.

I have anxiety, it never ever goes away most days I can manage it other days I can’t. It pisses me off when people use anxiety and mental heath issues for an excuse for poor behaviour, and I see this every day in the work I do and you can really tell the people that are taking the piss and using mental health issues for financial gains and to basically manipulate others and the system…

But it also exists in higher education where they are choosing to be there.

In our final year cohort 40% of the 150 students have what's called an individual learning plan, the majority of which are for anxiety. This means they don't need to attend class, they don't need to engage, they can do alternative assessments. I have heard students say to others ohh if you don't want to do that go talk to the welfare team and they give you an individual learning plan to say you don't have to.

It is absolutely being weponised by some students. Ironically avoidance ( our unis policy) is the worst thing you could possibly do for depression and anxiety and actually worsens symptoms.

Absolutely agree.

I have bad anxiety.

When it gets really bad I lose control of my body and have dissociative seizures just like epilepsy except they are caused by anxiety.

All those other people who think they have anxiety and just have panic attacks - pah! They do not know what true anxiety really is.

Only when they are in fear of their own life should it be called anxiety. They just aren't trying hard enough to mess their own lives up!

(This is sarcastic by the way. Just in case it needed pointing out.)

How many hours a day do you spend with them? How well do you really know them?

My DD is autistic and has ADHD. She'd fall into the category of the children you are working with. The school environment and pressures of exams has caused her a huge amount of mental distress. She's been very depressed and in a dangerous level of autistic burnout.

For short bursts of time though she can mask well. You wouldn't know there was anything wrong. Her mask is actually (and rather unhelpfully) to play the class clown. She describes it as laughing on the outside while crying on the inside. The laughing hides the crying.

At home she's not OK.

I expect you have a mixture if children. Some deliberately pushing the boundaries and mental health being used as an excuse. I expect though that you have some like my daughter that are genuinely in a mental health crisis and need help. Hopefully you are looking out for those because they might be hard to see. The tone of your post however, seems to be categorising all of them as deliberately playing up and I don't see much actual mental health understanding in what you write.

I’d say you probably have anxiety as well as cPTSD

https://www.ptsduk.org/non-epileptic-seizures-and-ptsd/

Does your institution not request medical evidence? Mine does.

No they don't need medical evidence hence why so many of them have these plans.

I think it just messes up our students as the real world isn't like that

100% and not just kids but adults too. I also feel the same way about the overuse of people self diagnosing ASD and ADHD.

I work in FE and completely agree.

Some students genuinely have MH difficulties which affect their ability to access learning. But unfortunately they end up fading into the background because of the students who shout the loudest about their supposed MH problems that mean that they can't possibly do anything that they don't want to.

I also have a disproportionately large number of colleagues that always seem to not be able to do certain aspects of their job, or regularly call in sick, because of their mental health. Problem is they can't be challenged on it because you can never be sure if it's genuine and it would be really shitty to accuse those who are being genuine of lying.

Basically the people who take the piss make it really difficult for those with genuine MH problems.

Disagree about ASD/ADHD the people I speak to on a daily basis have very similar difficulties. I can spot the ones that are using poor mental health to play the system and are exaggerating

I actually think part of the issue is some people are simply in the wrong job, and another issue is workload.

@ffsgiveitarest

I have a whole raft of various diagnoses - cPTSD is tricky from a medical aspect as not in DSM.

Yeah, non epileptic seizures is one of them.