Streeting orders review into ‘overdiagnosis’ of mental illness and ADHD in welfare spending crackdown
The health secretary has charged leading experts with finding out whether normal feelings have become ‘over-pathologised’
Wes Streeting has ordered a review to be carried out around the diagnosis of mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions, as the government seeks to tackle a significant rise in welfare spending.
The health secretary’s decision comes amid concerns over a rise in individuals claiming sickness benefits due to diagnoses of mental illness, autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Mr Streeting has reportedly tasked leading experts with investigating whether common human emotions have become “over-pathologised”.
This move is part of a broader effort to address the growing number of working-age people, now totalling 4.4 million, who are claiming sickness or incapacity benefit.
This figure represents an increase of 1.2 million since 2019.
During the same period, there has been a rapid surge in 16- to 34-year-olds unable to work due to long-term sickness linked to mental health conditions.
The launch of the review underscores the government’s wider agenda as it tries to bring the escalating national welfare bill under control.
It comes after ministers were forced to climb down on plans to reform disability benefits, including for those with mental health conditions, in the face of a Labour backbench rebellion.
Meanwhile, the government is also facing accusations that it hiked taxes in the Budget to pay for an increase in welfare spending.
But Sir Keir Starmer on Monday signalled that the government will make a fresh push on welfare reform, claiming that the system is “trapping people, not just in poverty, but out of work”.
Mr Streeting told The Times that he knew from “personal experience how devastating it can be for people who face poor mental health, have ADHD or autism, and can’t get a diagnosis or the right support”.
He added: “I also know, from speaking to clinicians, how the diagnosis of these conditions is sharply rising.
“We must look at this through a strictly clinical lens to get an evidence-based understanding of what we know, what we don’t know, and what these patterns tell us about our mental health system, autism and ADHD services.
“That’s the only way we can ensure everyone gets timely access to accurate diagnosis and effective support.”
Speaking to Sky News, children’s minister Josh MacAlister said people can “get themselves stuck” in a cycle of “feeling more anxious” when they are out of work as a result of mental health conditions.
Asked about plans to review the system, he said: “In my constituency, I’ve got 500 people under the age of 25 who are out of work with mental health conditions.
“And I know from speaking to many of them, and their parents, that part of what they’re struggling with is the social anxiety that comes from not being in work, and the overlap between conditions with a diagnosis and the social interaction aspects of some of these conditions, where actually you can end up retreating from the world, feeling more anxious, being more lonely and depressed.
“And that is a cycle that people can get themselves stuck in. And what we need is support for young people to get them into work.”
Sources told The Times that the review will be launched on Thursday and will be led by Professor Peter Fonagy, a clinical psychologist at University College London who specialises in child mental health, with Sir Simon Wessely, a former president of the Royal College of Psychiatry, acting as vice-chair.
Professor Fonagy told the newspaper: “We will examine the evidence with care – from research, from people with lived experience, and from clinicians working at the front line of mental health, autism and ADHD services – to understand, in a grounded way, what is driving rising demand.”