It feels like only yesterday that I wrote yet another blog about mental health. Oh, wait: it was. I did a piece about the footballer Richarlison who has suffered from unspecified “psychological” issues, which were resolved by therapy. I pointed out that while I admired his honesty and courage in going public, when he said he “tell(s) people to seek help”, the truth is that there’s little or no help out there. Today, I’m back again, in a state of barely controlled anger, fuming at the comments of the DWP secretary Mel Stride in today’s Telegraph. This is what he says:
While I’m grateful for today’s much more open approach to mental health, there is a danger that this has gone too far.
There is a real risk now that we are labelling the normal ups and downs of human life as medical conditions which then actually serve to hold people back and, ultimately, drive up the benefit bill …
If they go to the doctor and say ‘I’m feeling rather down and bluesy’, the doctor will give them on average about seven minutes and then, on 94% of occasions, they will be signed off as not fit to carry out any work whatsoever.
Stride also told the paper that he feared some people were now “convincing themselves they have some kind of serious mental health condition as opposed to the normal anxieties of life”. What we need, he continued, is “an honest, grown-up debate.” Well, Mel. This isn’t it. But before we go any further, let’s take a look at Mel’s long and distinguished career in the field of mental health:
- Went to an elite grammar school in Portsmouth
- Went to Oxford University, studying philosophy, politics and economics
- Ran a business specialising in trade exhibitions, conferences and publishing
- Became an MP
- Er…
- That’s it
So, that’s nothing, zilch, nowt, fuck all. He’s far less qualified to pontificate on the issues of mental health than I am. But then, he’s not actually doing that, beyond saying – and this is exactly what he is saying – every doctor will sign people off work if they say “I’m feeling rather down and bluesy” whatever the fuck that’s supposed to mean. My guess is that literally no one has gone to the GP saying something like that and no GP worth her or his salt has then signed them off work.
The NHS, despite having been hollowed out over 14 long years of Conservative misrule, suggests Stride may have got the wrong end of the stick if you read the official guidance. “Anxiety is the symptom of several conditions,” goes the blurb and guess what? The NHS says you should speak to a GP about it. The exact words are these:
“Although feelings of anxiety at certain times are completely normal, see a GP if anxiety is affecting your daily life or causing you distress.”
This is not the same thing as “feeling rather down and bluesy”, a weird description which I reckon would be more appropriate as an insult for people with clinical depression like … ME. How very dare you, Mr Stride? My life has been, if not totally ruined by poor mental health, then it has been incredibly hard to cope with minor things like school, work and anything that requires organisation and concentration. How dare you suggest that such people are all skivers milking the system? As I always say, you would never use this kind of language to someone who had a physical illness, like cancer. “Look. You’re rather down and bluesy with your cancer. Pull yourself together and get back to work. Lazy bastard.” Fuck off, Mel.
What makes this more out of touch than perhaps I first realised is the minister’s assertion that all your average spongeing anxiety-sufferer has to do is breeze into his local GP’s surgery, tell said GP he’s a bit “down and bluesy” and a life of luxury at the taxpayers’ expense will be his. Where I live, it’s all but impossible to get a GP appointment in the first place. When you’re not feeling well, isn’t it going to fill you up with anxiety if you can’t get to see a GP? But these people who rule over us, don’t understand the real world. Theirs is a Rishi Sunak world where extreme wealth buys them access to a private GP and a personal appointment within hours. (Sunak’s PR team told him it would look better for him if he actually registered with an NHS GP, which he later did. Maybe if he actually used the NHS service himself, he might do something about it. Trouble is, Sunak and co don’t believe in the NHS, so they won’t.)
I warn you not to suffer from anxiety because mental health expert Mel Stride says it’s not an illness at all. It’s all in your mind. Yet I know plenty of people whose lives are difficult and sometimes intolerable due to levels of anxiety. They haven’t made this stuff up, they’re not trying to bunk off work; they’re unwell, they need help but thanks to (STRONG LANGUAGE ALERT) cunts like Mel Stride this is what the government wants you to think. Remember, he says this:
“While I’m grateful for today’s much more open approach to mental health, there is a danger that this has gone too far.”
I read it, read it again and then I read it again. And I have concluded that this hasn’t gone too far. It hasn’t gone far enough. Anxiety is at record levels, at least in part because of the actions of Stride’s government. We live in a country where everything is broken and nothing works. Where people can’t afford to pay their bills and people can’t afford to eat. Where hospitals are in chaos due to deliberate policy of underfunding, which the Tories hope will convince us the NHS is unsustainable and we need to get rid of it in favour of a private insurance system. This is a government that is making us sick, figuratively and literally.
Finally, this. Stride knows no more about mental health than you do. He may know far less. Hell, he’s not even the health secretary. This is about him denying people who are ill with mental health conditions – and by anxiety he means all mental health conditions, so don’t fall for anymore of his bullshit – benefits, which in any event are minimal, regardless of what the Sun and Mail may tell you. If you are anxious, fuck Stride and try to speak to a GP. Left untreated, mental health conditions can spiral out of control. If someone dies of anxiety, I suspect the government celebrates because there’s one less person skiving off the state. Do what is best for you, not a know nothing politician. This is the daily new low from Sunak’s government. But rest assured, they will be just as low, if not lower, tomorrow.
