It was a real pleasure to be one of the judges for the ABSW awards this year. Some brilliant entries; well done to everyone shortlisted!
There are other unintended consequences. Britain has the highest rates of severe mental illness in Europe. When the public think that "mental illness" includes life experiences like stress and grief, that means less attention is paid to conditions like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder 4/6
Businesses take advantage. Try taking an ADHD test online. I did and deliberately scored zero, but was still told that I may be experiencing "low-level signs of ADHD or another difficulty". If you want help at work or school you can wait 10yrs or pay ££££ for a diagnosis. It's a two-tier system 3/6
The point isn't that distress isn't real. It's that medicalising milder problems often doesn't help people or society. Diagnosis becomes a way to ration basic support. Govts can pass structural problems off as medical ones: why tackle poverty when running awareness campaigns is basically free? 2/6