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

If we are just better at diagnosing ADHD and ADHD is a neurodiversity as in the brain is different - can I ask why you think that in school systems with a sept to sept school year, the chances of an ADHD diagnosis goes up 500% if you are born in August. But in countries where the system works Jan to Jan, it’s similar amounts more likely to be diagnosed if you are a December child. I don’t believe there are any medical conditions that show such an incredible link to month of birth - it’s a perfect correlation to school year every time. How can that be that your month of birth directly contributes to a medical condition?

As I was not directly involved in your step sons diagnosis whatsoever, how the fuck would I know?

Either there was sufficient evidence despite your interpretation of events for a diagnosis to be made or you should complain to the HCPC and the clinic that did the diagnosis as the diagnosing psychiatrist has not followed the diagnostic criteria to make a diagnosis which could possibly mean negligence in seeking an appropriate diagnosis and offering appropriate treatment.

I can't say for sure, but it's likely that your interpretation could be off given you've consistently only recognised your own sons struggles to be genuine.

Yes it does matter - not because MH isn’t valid - but because the figures are lower than some people have suggested.
I don’t think less than 3 million adults being too mentally unwell to work is that shocking. I suppose I am trying to disabuse some people of the notion that “everyone” is self diagnosing to claim benefits.

And? Getting a PIP award has nothing to do with whether you work, that is the point that I am making here.

I know a lady who fought to get her son's struggles recognised. She has ADHD and saw it in him too. She didn't want the money, she wanted the HELP.
It came too late. He took his life before he was even 16.

You can't self diagnose and claim anyway. I had to send in evidence from professionals.

It actually does. Almost impossible to get PIP if you have a mental health illness

Sorry, that was irony. I credit the previous Labour government with the four hours, and Andrew Lansley and various Tory governments with what we are now contending with

He's right; resilience is a vital leadership trait that needs developing in everyone as children and in the workplace.

A lot of people have to go private as the NHS will not even refer you.

Missing two years of school and being unable to get out of bed was not severe enough for CAMHS. Even if we did get a referral we'd have been waiting until after she had finished school for an appointment.

There is no accountability You are absolutely right. If there was someone or more than one would be in prison for Grenfell.
Housing associations have no accountability at all. I have a thread on here about a contractor who stabbed a tenant. Its only a few posts long If it had been the tenant who stabbed the contractor the thread would be full up by now Accountability needs to work both ways. But it fucking doesnt.

Absolutely this. Who gives a fuck what he has to say about absolutely anything under the sun.

Shut up Blair.

Correct.

But (diagnosed clinical anxiety and anxiety disorders aside) you can make a conscious decision to practice it and take small steps that will help develop it.

In fact many patients who have a diagnosis of anxiety are encouraged to face particular triggers and work through them.

Perhaps what that poster was saying is that genuine mental health issues deserve the same respect and treatment as other issues.
I thought mental health stigma was being broken down but it seems it is alive and well judging by this thread. Heartbreaking for those suffering from conditions that can cause more pain and suffering than some of the worst physical health conditions (I have suffered from both so can confidently make this statement)

Perhaps in future they will find the physical reason for mental health problems, I really hope they do so we can end this attack on genuine sufferers

Thankyou @Sushu

OK, I’ll tell you - he did. I know that because he told me. Maybe I should have complained, but to be honest, I didn’t because it’s really none of my business. He’s an adult and can do as he pleases. It’s not my place to tell the NHS they’re completely screwed. It does illustrate the issue with adult diagnoses though.
You seem to be of the opinion that I didn’t care about my stepson and only care about my son, but that’s incorrect. I love my stepson, and to this day we get on very well. If there were any need to get him support in childhood, of course I would have done. I didn’t, because he didn’t need it. You can believe it or not, because I have no way of proving it to you.

I never thought I'd say this, but Tony Blair is absolutely right on this occasion.

I have said all this before but some posters on MN just will not have it.

Maybe because they have personal experience of how difficult the process is. Do you?

Yes I do as it happens but that isn’t relevant at all to the point people are making, which is that if the number receiving PIP and DLA is so high it can’t possibly be impossible to get. This is what a PP referred to as cognitive dissonance, and they are correct.

Do you not know anyone who has a genuine long term health condition or disability?

As per my earlier post, if I can think of several adults and children I know who this applies to. If most people can think of several, that's an awful lot of people. And I'm a middle class professional - I'm talking about other professional or hard working people not people who have never worked looking for a state handout.

I also know of several people who have had to give up work to become a full time carer. They may get some help from the state but they are also saving the taxpayer so much money compared with if the state had to give the care.

Alcohol and vapes? Now we are getting to the truth of it. The assumption that everyone on benefits smokes and drinks.

DH and I live in social housing and dont do either.

So because your adult step son was incorrectly diagnosed and neither of you challenged the diagnosis, nobody else can truly have ADHD unless they received a diagnosis as a child? Uh huh, got it. True story.

Yeah, the softer society becomes the worse the problem gets.

We see it all the time with soft parenting, soft policing, soft teaching, soft managing.

It's counter productive. People need boundaries.

A lot of people apply and get turned down. Not because they are not entitled, but because it is a lottery as to who is reading your paperwork, and how you word it.
Like I said, I knew someone who is blind who was turned down. Also people who walked with crutches.