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

Lots of people have to work, pay bills and raise kids while also battling severe mental health issues.

Well since you don’t know my at all thats quite a stretch. And I have loads of resilience thank you so I’m good.

Ah well, in that case I may beg to differ. We're all ND in our house, DS1 (and EXH) have ASD, DS2 and me ADHD, and I'm afraid that no matter what life throws at us we just get on with it. Being ND may make life more difficult but one can't just give up and expect others to bail you out.

It depends, if work make you ill and conditions worse than no it won’t be the best thing for all after all you don’t speak for everybody.

I have not made any excuses. They are the ones I am given for not being offered jobs. I have tried. But when you have RSD, being turned down time after time can really affect your MH too. It is shit not having much money.
I can't even get a volunteer role in a MH charity I used to attend because I will fail the DBS check, and they said I was rubbish with people due to my ASD. That sent me on a huge spiral.

That's rather my point!

Exactly. Not working is what keeps me well. That is what the professionals involved in my care told me.
I can contribute in other ways. I like to think I am a good friend to those in my life. Making someone smile and feeling good about themselves is just as valuable as being a tax payer to me.

Too many people using anxiety as an excuse not to work.
get to work you’ll make friends and be less anxious than sitting at home staring at the wall thinking about being anxious.

It is just as well that it is not down to you then, to decide whether she can work, or not. You know nothing about this person, and what the stress of working could do to her.

I actually agree with him here, people are becoming incapable of dealing with the day to day and saying they have anxiety or are depressed when in actual fact they just can't cope and are probably just a bit pathetic. Of course the people truly suffering need help, and I would rather funds were spent on them than a snowflake who can't handle a bit of stress

No - you said you just "crack on" - my point is that for people who are genuinely struggling, many do the same - until they break down and end up physically and mentally unable to do anything because they're not getting the help and support they require.

I quite often don't feel that I can go to work, but as I need to live then I do. It's your life choices that have put you in a position where you can't get a job, not your ND. I have ADHD and I spent most of my thirties on anti depressants and I've got a CV to die for 🙄.

Yay! 🙌

You will not lose benefits and end up worse off working a few hours a week that was excuse 1. Having a criminal record makes it harder to get a job but not impossible (lots of people have criminal records including myself) excuse 2. No qualifications again a lot of people don't have qualifications im talking a few hours as a cleaner or in a shop or factory not becoming a brain surgeon excuse 3. No references you can literally use a family friend for this doesn't have to be a previous manager. Excuse 4.

Good for you. What can I put on my CV other than my birth date, ancient qualifications and jobs I was fired from?

@byteme1011 actually that Panorama documentary was not all it seemed. The NHS consultant didn't have years of ADHD assessments behind him and also, crucially, he knew that the presenter was filming for a documentary about ADHD assessments. The NHS assessment of the presenter took three hours - that's not a real scenario.

The private clinics featured did not know he was filming or have the same information so what was presented was a flawed case against private ADHD diagnosis. Nor did the documentary explore why people seek private diagnosis.

It's also the case that many psychiatrists diagnosing in private clinics are also working in the NHS or have done. The same psychiatrist could diagnose someone with ADHD in their NHS job and then by the end of the day have done a private assessment too. I don't think the private clinics featured were very impressive frankly but nor was it a fair representation of private diagnosis.

That documentary had outcomes, with people having their shared care agreement for medication cancelled and losing some support they had in place etc and having their private diagnosis dismissed.

Even my work coach at the job centre said she could not in any good conscious make me apply for work. She told me she had family MH issues, and she understood.
I have been assessed numerous times as not fit for work. I am not sure why you think you know better.

Awww bless aren’t you amazing!🙄I had that attitude but sadly it didn’t keep my daughter out of hospital the past 5 years or stop her self harming and suicidal idealisation. It don’t stop her chronic anxiety, depression, CPTSD and Anorexia. It didn’t stop her brother from experiencing similar. We’re all ND in out house. My husband and I work and always have, my son does off and on alongside trying to get an education. My dd hasn’t just given up she’s worked bloody hard at staying alive and moving forward, battling a disease, ditto her brother. She has never given up and fights harder than most people ever will particularly those lucky enough not to have MH struggles-she still can’t work.

Guess what I’ve had countless professionals saying we are bloody good parents and didn’t cause any of their struggles. Sitting yourself on the parenting throne doesn’t stop shit,MH struggles and crisis from happening.

Yes, this all started with millennials and their non sense approach to life and lack of resiliency. Taking on the burdens of the world may actually harm your mental health. So YANBU

Or they could just try and develop some of this fabled word, resilience. I am not going to give you the sob story that is my life, we'd be here all night, but at no point have I not been able to go to work and look after my kids. Even on the days when I've just sat at my desk and quietly sobbed all day. I've had therapy for over a decade to get past my childhood and bad things still keep happening to me, but the show goes on and everything is fine as far as my children and my employers are concerned! Have very little sympathy for those who immediately cry 'mental health' and dissolve.

Good for you - have a medal

And some will manage to do that, and some won't, and their children will be taken into care etc, because, you know, we are all different, and should not be compared in that way.

Tony Blair is multimillionaire who is out of touch with most people's realities. Fuck him!

Wow wouldn't listen to anything that slimeball has to say after he torched the NHS.

Yes, I know, that was the point I was trying to make...