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.

[Islay]

If you think it is as easy as saying you have mental health issues to open the world of benefits you need to think again!!
I think your first scenario is highly unlikely as most people don't want to admit they have mental health issues.

[Jackdaw33]

It's the modern equivalent of the bad back; in many cases easy to fake and difficult to diagnose.

[emmie]

i have a problem with mental health, brought on by excessive stress and bereavement,, which led to a complete breakdown, then years later a similar thing happened only that time it was worse. I am not a shirker but couldn't work again after the first spell in hospital. so not all are unscrupulous scroungers.

[jackthehat]

Cheer up, dave.

You seem to have a very jaundiced opinion of your fellow man.

It is good that Mental Health is starting to be seen as important to any society as its' Physical Health.......but I doubt that it will become a floodgate to an entitlement to your hard-earned tax money.

[emmie]

jack
its not easy to fake, i have come across many including the o/h who had breakdowns and believe me its a living hell.

[naomi24]

I think a lot of people fake it. Difficult to prove.

[douglas9401]

Words have been appropriated by the self pitying and entitled, Dave.
'Traumatised' and 'depressed' are two that spring to mind. That's why there's so much chat around mental health.

Quite a way from 'I got a bit upset by that video on Facebook' or 'I'm feeling a bit off and low just now', despite what some earnest professional with a book coming out tells us.

[Old_Geezer]

Which is worse. Folk not getting help they need for whatever reason, or folk convincing themselves and others that they have a health issue that they don't actually have ? Benefits ought not be a cushy alternative to going out and making a difference for society and your bank balance. It's there as a vital safety net.

[Mamyalynne]

It is good that there is more openness about Mental Health these days, you'll find as many people with problems in work as there are out of work.

The unscrupulous will fake whatever they can, both physical and mental issues.

[woofgang]

“going through some bereavement” what a charmingly sensitive way to put it.......In fact the whole question reeks of empathy and understanding of no mean order.......NOT!

[anneasquith]

I think I'll be depressed today and get on " benefits for life" Is that the sort of scenario you think happens Dave?

[anneasquith]

Or....... Those women who have post natal depression, nonsense isn't it ?

[Mamyalynne]

I'm often amazed how many post on here how easy they found going through an ATOS check and got Benefits on a made up whim, when others who are clearly ill (physically or mentally) can't mange it.

There will always be the cheats and fakers but it is in no one's interest to ignore the fact that health issues exist.

[Garaman]

I am sure that now it doesn't carry the stigma it once did, more people will claim mental health problems as a way of escaping work and/or claiming benefits. I am afraid some people are like that.

[Mamyalynne]

I am totally against fraudulent claims but not the knee jerk reactions to the subject of Mental Health - that helps no one.

[Sqad]

I am not an expert on Mental disorders, but know a little about the depressive and psychotic illnesses that are well established, documented and have fairly well identifiable symptoms and I agree that these illnesses should be well publicised.
However, i am concerned about what i would call "fringe illnesses", certain "dementias" ( Altzheimers excluded) ADHD, that other syndrome that was on a thread here yesterday (can't remember it;s name_. certain aspects of Autism and so on. Disorders which seem to be normal behaviour, but labelled a mental disorder to excuse the victim in some way. No blood or X-ray tests to identify the disorder.
It ia my opinion that many mental disorders e.g Autism and ADHD are OVERDIAGNOSED.
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."

[andy-hughes]

divebuddy - //I personally blame those people who were in a position to abuse me when I was a child but didn't do so as the reason I haven't written a best selling autobiography. //

Your sneering sarcasm using child abuse as a point is deeply offensive, not least to regular AB'ers who have suffered such abuse.

You should think a little more carefully about the targets for your venom.

[andy-hughes]

In the same way that ex-service people get het up when people come on here and spout about things of which they have no experience, I am sure there will be posts from people who have experienced mental health issues who take the same view - you can't really comment if you don't know what you are talking about.

It's not a position I share - I believe everyone is entitled to express a view, and its validity should not be measured by the degree of personal experience that informs it.

As someone who does suffer with mental health issues, I freely accept that there will always be people who will attempt to fake conditions to ride the system - but that is true of any support system throughout society.

It would be wrong to deny the many genuine sufferers because of the actions of the few - and I do believe that modern health professionals can judge more accurately than some imagine, whether a case is genuine or not.