AIBU to think there is abuse of “mental health”

[TwinklyPeachScroller]

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?

It’s not. I mask when I’m out, when I can get out that is. It takes a huge effort of will to attend events and I loathe them. I get through them somehow, sometimes I just leave. The stuff I mentioned above is the fall out, that’s all.

@arbitary do you seem as if you are having a fun time?
I ask as those I know with social anxiety can not mask. They struggle to talk to people.

@TwinklyPeachScroller I couldn't agree more- there are people out there who are very skilled in playing the system. I know 2 people who have played the systems from their 20s to the late 50 somethings they are today- both are perfectly intelligent , just bone idle to be honest - can function perfectly well if it's an involvement in something they are interested in doing -

It's easy to say this but if the op doesn't do this work, who will? You? Your friends? Your children? Your family? It's easy to blithely cast aspersions but we just don't have enough people to do the tough jobs in this country. I don't think the op is saying anything unfair or controversial. It seems to me as if she's addressing the very real difficulties of her profession. The profession she is doing day in and day out. She's not just sniping and criticising at the sidelines.

It reminds me a bit of the DARE drug awareness campaign in America that tried to discourage drug use through education. It was a great theory but then studies found that increasing awareness actually made students more likely to use drugs.

People today are a lot more educated about mental health issues but there's also an increase in self diagnosis.

The whole issue is beginning to remind me of the TRA crap which thankfully the UK is starting to push back on. Again, this whole trend of adults becoming like nodding dogs, frantically affirming everything that confused teenagers say they want.

People of all ages, even adults, are very poor at metacognition (consciously understanding what is going on in your own brain). That's why it was so hard to stamp out drink-driving - for decades, people INSISTED that they drove better after a few drinks, and it took a very long period of banging people over the head with the data before it was accepted that this was a cognitive illusion. That's why it's hard to self-study - people adopt ineffective habits (multitasking, re-reading as opposed to self-quizzing, and unconsciously gravitating towards stuffy they know better rather than the stuffy they actually need to study more), and INSIST that these habits are good and are helping them to learn efficiently (they're not). And so on.

The fact that endless screentime and solitary entertainment of an addictive nature produces a dopamine rush does not mean it builds mental health in the long term. In fact, we know it does not.

This is anecdotal. I don’t have evidence other than my word as a professional with over 20 years experience. And that of almost all the other professionals on here. It’s all really sad but true.

Yes. We don't follow our normal disciplinary procedures for extreme/excessive absence if it's mental health related for fear of the worst.

I am a line manager of a few people and I very very kindly asked someone who walked in 10 minutes late (for shift work) with no explanation if they could please watch their timekeeping in the future, no big deal, but just be aware. She cried, took an hour to go smoke and walk around and then went off sick for 2 days.

Yeah I have a sibling who was telling me about the people he was managing. Mental health days for things that don’t directly affect them (I mean stuff in the newspaper). They seem to forget that some of the people they report into have been treated for serious mental health conditions themselves whilst working. There are definitely people struggling but they are often not noticed until they burst into tears at work.

Getting a graduate role at his organisation is pretty competitive so none of these kids are stupid. Problem is it’s really difficult to manage them out. They just sit on the books being paid a wodge but no way to get rid of them. He also has some stellar grads but they are not the majority.

I had an anxiety disorder, it was horrible but I’m not convinced that the way mental health is talked about these days meets the bar of actual disorder, I think we can’t tolerate discomfort anymore.

OP, I would recommend some solution focused brief therapy training. It will change how you deal with young people on their mental health, less emphasis on 'problem talk', more about what they could think of themselves which will help. It's really good for empowering and getting them out of this rut of self pity and rumination.
I get it. I got this idea that I had ADHD last year. Completely did not think about the fact that I am one woman, working full time, two kids, house to run etc.
YOU DO NOT HAVE ADHD BECAUSE YOU FORGET A BIRTHDAY!
Whilst my DD who has ASD, she could be in an empty room and feel overwhelmed.
Here lies the difference.
The school system is not fit for purpose, in my opinion, which is why we are seeing record levels of unhappiness. Not just that but our homes have never been comfier or more entertaining.

PIP fraud is 0.2% of the PIP bill which is 40 million.

There is estimated to be 60 million pounds worth of error in the other direction - people who are entitled to it but do not claim it.

If you know someone committing benefit fraud please report them.

www.disabilitynewsservice.com/miniscule-benefit-fraud-stats-show-ministers-hostile-video-was-shameful-and-disablist/#:~:text=The%20£40%20million%20lost,cent%20of%20spending%20on%20ESA.

I feel like in your dogged insistence of proving me wrong that you’re somewhat missing the point of this thread.

I totally agree that many people entitled to PIP don’t get it. My DH’s job is to fight for it for people who have been wrongfully denied it. This is why the abuse of it rankles so much with me. And I see it ALL the time. Probably because of the demographic that I work with.

I’ve always said this. Some people have true anxiety disorders, but everyone experiences anxiety about things to varying degrees and it doesn’t mean they need special treatment.
The amount of kids i taught with labels of ‘anxiety’, yet it was always around things anyone would be anxious about- exams, speaking in class, presentations…

You can tell the people with genuine anxiety issues and they were few and far between.

If you consider the state of the UK right now, post Covid issues, wider worldwide issues, and the increasing pressures of constant SM updates (that many folk subject themselves to) I'm not surprised many people, children included, as struggling! If you, or anyone close to you don't/doesn't suffer from MH, then just be thankful you're doing ok.

and wider society who think that everything is a 'label' or 'putting it on'

That is not what the OP said at all. Not sure if that's really what you think she said or you're creating a victim narrative for your daughter where one does not exist. It's the people claiming to have mental health issues but don't who will make your daughter's life harder, not people like the OP who would prefer resources to be directed to helping people who need it rather than pandering to people who just want to avoid the realities of life.

@FOJN Seriously, 'victim narrative'? What kind of demeaning language is that?
@travelmadmum23 I hope your daughter gets all the support she needs.

And an “educator” is qualified to diagnosis who has and has not mental health problems. I think not.

I think the fact is, is that there truly is a crisis of mental health among the young and it’s not really surprising. It’s hard to grow up optimistic in a world where we’re constantly told that climate change will bring death and destruction in the near future, there’s a good chance of world war 3 breaking out, AI will mean that most jobs people are now training for will be obsolete, added to the very real cost of living crisis - rents are sky high, bills just unrealistic, going out and doing anything is impossibly expensive for anyone on low wages. Then you have the effects of social media, gaming, general screen addiction. I feel extremely sorry for the younger generation - it’s not their fault, all this is our generation’s making and there needs to be real social change so that people - everyone, not just the richest - can relax, enjoy themselves and get healthier. Their parents may be suffering their own mental health issues as well and struggling to cope with how things are at the moment. When I went to university in 1998, I could rent a room for £40 a week, bills were low, food cheap, I could easily afford £1 bottles of booze on a night out, I paid for all this from a part-time waitressing job (earned £150 a week which gave me plenty of spare cash), life was great and free from worries and I enjoyed myself and felt full of hope. Things really are hard for the young (and lots of older people) right now.

I am a teacher in a special school for children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs. We have around fifty children who are there because they have suffered trauma, are in the care system or have a diagnosis such as ASD or ADHD. We are a trauma- informed institution and constantly make accommodations for our students. Not one single student is there because they are faking or trying to get out of work- yes, they may present that way sometimes but there usually are very very good reasons as to why they don’t want to engage that day.

Our job is to help them identify their triggers, communicate their needs and work through the barriers. In a mainstream classroom, this is impossible work but at least ten per cent of kids in mainstream need to be in a setting such as ours (by my estimation and I have been teaching for twenty years). We shove kids into classes of thirty which are not suitable for ill children and then bemoan the bad behaviours that we see. Usually those behaviours are kids playing out trauma or having unmet needs.

You think it's helpful for the OP to willfully misunderstand what the OP said and then worry her daughter, who has been diagnosed, won't be believed?

The OP has given very specific examples of the types of behaviour she witnesses from people "gaming the system".

Could you reword the first part please?

84% of posters agree with you and I’m one of them.

This is absolutely true! Mental health problems are the new " disability of choice" when it comes to claiming disability benefits! Very hard to disprove that someone is not experiencing what they are saying they are experiencing! It infuriates me because it makes life even harder for those who genuinely do have mental health issues.

My DS was diagnosed with ASD and ADHD over 20 years ago and very few people had heard of either diagnosis when i mentioned it. Nowadays you see people immediately roll their eyes and think " not another one" when i tell them my DS has these conditions! Its very unfair on those who are genuinely affected by these issues because no one takes it seriously anymore as every tom, dick and harry uses it as an excuse for everything!!

By PIP fraud im presuming you mean the people who have actually been caught fraudulently claiming? What about those people that don't get caught?