Tony Blair says we need a national conversation about MH as its costing too much

[B0xes]

Tony Blair said recently on Jimmy's Jobs of the Future Podcast (clip available on youtube) that we need to have a national conversation about mental health. Why are we spending so much on it. Why are people self diagnosing. He believes people are being encouraged to view everyday challenges we all face as mental health issues.

Is he being unreasonable? In one sense, I'm inclined to agree to an extent, in the other, I believe he led the charge for so many of the social changes that have made us less resilient and many of these issues are due to individualism which led to atomisation and loneliness and being encouraged to see the market as the entity that fulfills our needs rather than strong families and robust social networks.

YABU - Blair can do one.

YANBU - He might have a point

I have never said anything against your son.

Show me where in any post I have spoken negatively about your son.

I don’t know about other school but at my dcs school the kids were under enormous pressure to pass their exams they were reminded on a daily basis how much this means, how if they didn’t do well they were doomed - schools have become pressurised exam factories - I’m not surprised kids feel it and want to it out. I don’t remember the same pressure cooker they faced.

Thank you for sharing.
Just to add, of the 6.9 million people who claim disability benefits, 66% claim for physical health conditions. The number of people claiming disability benefits for mental health is circa 2.3 million which is still a large number, of course. A small percentage of this number will be in paid employment.

My diagnosis was with the NHS. I was 59 and I scored 9/9 for all 4 areas

Not everyone goes private

He's right as usual.

Yes this. Apparently after the 1916-20 Spanish Flu pandemic there was a spike in poor mental health too. Not really surprising especially as it came at the end of WW1. Similar after WW2.

A lot of the people seeking out ADHD and Autism diagnosis are women, older or middle aged women that were let down because they didn't present as disruptive to the outside world as children but were suffering in an entirely different way and were resilient up to a point until they could no longer function effectively.

We need to stop letting down girls and women not telling them that

" Sorry we completely ignored you and your needs , medically gaslighted you and mistreated you for decades but you simply cost too much to treat and accommodate now so please just suck it for the good of the countries economy. "

Does it matter what percentage is due to MH?
When people highlight the MH figures, it makes it sound like they believe it is not legitimate. Or is something easily fixed.
If the waiting list for operations could be sorted, then maybe the benefits bill for people with physical health conditions could also be reduced. But no one suggests that, as they think people use MH as an excuse, so it is an easy target.

I'm well aware the symptoms must be present from childhood, as will the psychiatrist that diagnosed him.

OK, so who is it that said he had symptoms from childhood? Genuine question.

No, you build resilience over time by regularly overcoming the stresses and strains of life.

@Yalta obviously not everyone goes private, my point is folk are getting privately diagnosed and may not actually have it - and be on medication that could do long term harm

Indeed! I am literally astonished at the cognitive dissonance of people who will still claim that PIP is almost “impossible” to get when 1 in 16 adults are claiming it. That DLA is equally “impossible” yet 1 in 10 children now received it.
1 in 20 now have an EHCP plan. And yet it is apparently all “extremely rare” and impossibly difficult.

People can claim PIP, and work🙄. I wish people would get their facts right. People on PIP, are not being paid, to not work.

I agree with him. Plenty of people aren't willing to put any effort into their MH. SM had led to people comparing their lives to others instead of getting outside and focusing on what they have. People can be incredibly dramatic when it comes to everyday emotions. It's normal to have ups and downs, to feel nervous when doing new things...it isn't always anxiety or depression no matter what some idiot on tiktok has told you.

The number of people out of work due to disabilities etc in this country is scary. How much burden can the rest of us carry? People have to start taking some personal responsibility for their MH and physical health.

You first see a doctor who if you can convince them the Dr refers you to the MH team

Then the MH team give you a call and you answer their questions.

Then if you pass those questions you get sent a form to fill in and

Then you are put on a list to get assessed.

After several years you get an assessment snd if you get a diagnosis you then get weighed and your blood pressure taken and if those are all ok

Then and only then do you get a prescription

Then you have to find a pharmacy who can get you the medication (that hasn’t been an easy thing because the supply is low)

It’s not a case of going to the doctors then getting meds

Unless you have tried to claim yourself, then what would you know about whether it is easy to claim or not?

I wish I could get PIP for the amount of times I am either face palming or banging my head when these utter myths about PIP are uttered as truth.

It's even harder to get an EHCP worth the fucking paper and ink it's made with 😂

Fuck me ignorance is bliss aye.

I agree.

Something else I've noticed on this thread and others is the suggestion that parents are seeking support and diagnosis for their children for financial gain or other benefits. I wonder how long before SS are swamped by new referrals for FII (Msbp as was). Some parents are encouraged by other professionals like teachers to seek assessment. Is that going to be yet another alleged epidemic? It might get kids taken off one system and dumped into another where there needs aren't met in any direction.

Parents go through this in the SEND world already, I'll put money on it escalating if attitudes like this keep being pushed.

More people would claim if they were not so put off by the whole process. I know someone who applied and was turned down, despite being blind.
A lot of people apply and are turned down, and simply do not have the energy to try again. But they absolutely should be getting it.

5 out of 6, are though?

I know. But the amount of people getting it is very high. Especially since PIP is for working age adults.

What we need is for people (kids especially) to get proper help for MH issues much. much earlier.

Resilience is partly genetic and what one person views as 'everyday stress' might be enough to tip someone else over the edge. It's not a case of 'one person can cope so every one should be able to' - some people are just naturally more resilient than others.

If we want people to be able to cope with some stress and anxiety and they are not naturally resilient then we need to be teaching them the skills to be able to do so.

We're letting people spiral by leaving them to wait months or years to get any proper help. Kids have to be pretty much suicidal or a threat to others to see anyone. We need to be helping kids at the first hurdle so that they have learnt the skills to be able to cope by the time they become adults.