Mental health crisis is overblown, say public

The mental health crisis is overblown and people often exaggerate their problems, according to a poll of public beliefs.

More than half (56 per cent) of the public believe mental health conditions are exaggerated, while three quarters (76 per cent) think some people mistake life’s normal ups and downs for mental illness, according to the survey of more than 2,000 adults by Electoral Calculus.

With the Government facing a backbench rebellion over its efforts to restrict welfare benefits, the survey also suggests that ministers – rather than their backbenchers – may have better judged the pulse of the nation.

The poll showed more than half of voters (52 per cent) believed that it was too easy for people to claim benefits for mental health illnesses, against 35 per cent who thought it was too hard and 13 per cent who believed it was about right.

Last month, Sir Keir Starmer was forced to back down on controversial plans to slash disability and sickness benefits after more than 120 of his MPs threatened to vote against the proposals.

However, Tory and Reform supporters were more likely to believe it was too easy to be diagnosed as suffering from a mental health condition, with 74 per cent of Conservative voters and 55 per cent from Nigel Farage’s party saying it was the case.

It comes as the head of the Government’s workplace review Sir Charlie Mayfield said he was concerned some problems are being “over-medicalised” when they could be solved in the office.

The former John Lewis chairman has been appointed by Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, to come up with plans to stop workers leaving their jobs because of poor health. His report is due this autumn.

One in five people of working age have a health condition that affects their job and there are 2.8 million people inactive due to ill health – up from 2.1 million since before the Covid pandemic, although the numbers had been rising for several years.

Three quarters (74 per cent) said that social media often led to people thinking they had a mental illness when they did not.

However, despite the scepticism about “over medicalisation” of mental ill health, the public believe by five to one majority (68 per cent to 14 per cent) that there were not enough services available to meet the needs of people suffering from mental health problems.

Eight in 10 people believed that mental illness had been stigmatised for too long and that it was healthy for people to talk about it more. Seven in 10 also felt that people with serious mental illness are losing out because of the attention given to the growing numbers of people saying they have less serious mental illness.