Heartbreaking figures. The causes will, of course, be complex. But a caricatured debate about 'overdiagnosis' is a dangerous distraction when, as @mind.org.uk's @gemmabyrne.bsky.social says here, over half a million under-18s are on mental health waiting lists www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
It's not hard to understand why we're facing the trends that we are. It's very well evidenced that poverty is hugely damaging for mental health.
Removing financial support for people in need while failing to address mental health waiting lists will only make things worse. (7/7)
Being transparent about the evidence we base our policies on matters.
The evidence paints a clear picture: we have more people getting more unwell and a mental health system that has not been sufficiently resourced to keep up with demand. (6/7)
The number of very urgent adult referrals to crisis teams more than doubled from 2023 to 2024. (4/7)
According to the NHS, 1 in 5 young people in England have a mental health problem, up from 1 in 9 in 2017.
The latest figures from the Children's Commissioner show almost 40,000 young people waited over 2 years to get support. (3/7)
Graph showing the number of people subject to the Mental Health Act each month trending upwards
The number of people subject to the Mental Health Act each month is going up and up (2/7)
In 2023/24 the number of inappropriate out of area placements (people being sent far from home for mental health treatment) was 25% higher than the year before (5/7)
We don't know what evidence the government is using to back up its claims about 'overdiagnosis' of mental health problems.
But here's what we do know about the nation's mental health (1/7)
