Mental Health, Has Enough Been Said On The Subject?

[dave50]

Now that everyone is talking about mental health issues, isn't there a danger that more and more people will be claiming to have mental health problems when in actual fact all they are is feeling fed up with work or going through some bereavement? Can it be proved if you claim you have an actual medical problem with your mental health? I can also see it as an easy route to a lifetime on benefits by the unscrupulous.

[andy-hughes]

Sqad - //Yes, I agree with Dave....many are used as a "get out of jail card free" particularly depressive illnesses and for pleas of mental instability in the courts.
Where there is no diagnostic test there is scope for "faking." //

Surely a court where a defendant is using a mental illness as a defence is exactly the place where a diagnostic test would be used to prove it one way or the other?

[woofgang]

squad, its rare indeed that there is an objective diagnostic test to confirm the diagnosis of a mental illness or behaviour problem. That doesn’t mean that such illnesses are not real or don’t cause real problems for the sufferer and their families.

[Sqad]

A-H
"Surely a court where a defendant is using a mental illness as a defence is exactly the place where a diagnostic test would be used to prove it one way or the other?"

Quite......that is my point BUT few Mental Disorders have diagnostic tests, the diagnosis is made on the symptoms and reliability of the claimant.

[Sqad]

woofy

"That doesn’t mean that such illnesses are not real or don’t cause real problems for the sufferer and their families."
I agree and didn't say that they are not real, all i was intimating that with no objective diagnostic test, there was room for "faking."

[andy-hughes]

divebuddy - //Tell me again how that works when there is no diagnostic test for the claimed condition. //

Hand on heart - can you confirm that you knew about the absence of a diagnostic test before Sqad pointed it out?

I didn't - and I stand corrected - but if you didn't know either, it's a bit naughty to use it to have a pop - isn't it.

[andy-hughes]

divebuddy - //Andy. I did know. I wouldn't dream of making it up as I go along on a subject like this - unlike some others. //

Fair enough, I am pleased you would not make it up.

Pity that sound sense of morality does not extend to excluding sarcasm about child abuse, but you can't have everything.

[jim360]

Unlike some people, I never compare myself favourably with others in order to make a transparent attempt to seize the moral high ground...

[douglas9401]

And as the warm glow of holiday memories fade into the distance.......

Oh well, I enjoyed the break.

[anotheoldgit]

One doesn't have to be 'putting it on' for benefit payments, even the rich and famous can suffer from stress related illnesses.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4468054/Everton-s-Aaron-Lennon-detained-Mental-Health-Act.html

[andy-hughes]

jim360 - //Unlike some people, I never compare myself favourably with others in order to make a transparent attempt to seize the moral high ground... //

I don't understand your point - apologies - could you expand it a little please?

[Mamyalynne]

AOG has it - illness of any kind is no indication of what's in your bank account.

[jim360]

I was just commenting db's use of the phrase "unlike some others" -- which is one of my least favourite in existence. It's just a cheap shot and I really wish people would stop using it. So I used it myself, ironically, to make that point.

[jim360]

Oh, I'm going to need ice for that burn apparently...

Not entirely sure where that one's come from db, but whatever.

[Jackdaw33]

I know who the 'you' is.

[naomi24]

Sqad at 13:49, I think you're referring to the thread I posted in Body & Soul yesterday. I agree with you - and I agree with divebuddy too.