'Life being stressful is not an illness' – GPs on mental health over-diagnosis
5 days ago
- #NHS
- #over-diagnosis
- #mental-health
- Hundreds of GPs in England believe mental health problems are over-diagnosed, with normal life stresses being medicalized.
- A BBC questionnaire revealed 442 out of 752 GPs think over-diagnosis is a concern, while 81 believe under-diagnosis is an issue.
- GPs express concern about lack of mental health support, especially for young adults aged 19-34, who seem less resilient post-Covid.
- Nearly all GPs report spending more time on mental health due to patients unable to access quality help, practical life issues, and misinterpreting normal challenges as mental health problems.
- Health Secretary Wes Streeting acknowledged his earlier comments on over-diagnosis were divisive and failed to capture the complexity of the issue.
- ADHD services are overwhelmed, with 2.5 million people in England thought to have ADHD, leading to some NHS services closing to new patients.
- 508 out of 752 GPs say there is rarely or never enough quality mental health help available for adults in their area, with 640 worried about young patients.
- 447 GPs routinely prescribe medication due to delays in accessing talking therapies, despite concerns about short-term effectiveness.
- Professor Victoria Tzortziou Brown warns against medicalizing normal feelings but stresses the importance of not dismissing genuine mental health concerns.
- Mind's Minesh Patel disputes over-diagnosis claims, citing increased prevalence of mental health conditions, with 1 in 5 adults affected.