OPINION

       Wes Streeting is entitled to have his opinion (Image: Getty)

       At some point during my 35 years on Earth, mental health problems went from being seen as shameful to being causes of celebration. Generally, they of course shouldn’t cause shame. But it’s been irritating in the extreme to see mental health elevated to sacred cow status. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has found this out in the form of opprobrium for daring to suggest mental health conditions are being over-diagnosed in Britain.

       What the experts whingeing at Streeting don’t realise is that, if there is a lot of overdiagnosis, then not only does that punish the taxpayer forking out for certain benefits, but it also threatens the integrity of the thing they claim to be defending. If you think that mental health is important, then surely you would balk at any watering down of its manifestations? Surely you’d be concerned for a depressive on the point of suicide not being taken seriously because he’s lumped in with a bloke who’s pretty fed-up and not working as a result?

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       Surely you’d want to know if this is happening, rather than go after Streeting? I suspect there is overdiagnosis, because frankly suffering from a mental health condition is trendy and has been for years.

       I can talk without any guilt on this subject, because I’ve had a lot of therapy, since I was about six years old, for behaviours and thought patterns commonly described as OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). Last year, life threw regular panic attacks into the mix to add a little spice.

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       I won’t go into further details here, because I consider it a very private matter, to the extent that I hesitate to write about it, however briefly.

       What I will say is that it sickens me when various disorders are treated as a badge to show that the wearer is part of some quirky class. It is not a point of pride if something about your mind causes you excessive and totally unnecessary anxiety.

       It should not be a cause of celebration. It’s a cause for correction. Which is, as far as I can tell, the whole point of something like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).

       Recognising this reality (for me at least) rules out living on benefits, because to do that is to concede that my neuroses must rule my day-to-day more than they already do.

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       It’s much better to get what help you can to support yourself while also working, if you are able. The last thing many of us need is to spend all day at home with our unwelcome thoughts.

       Of course, I’ve taken time off work over the years, but it’s never got in the way of me holding down a job. And I promise you that I’m better off mentally for not living on benefits.

       This is not to say that there is nobody in Britain who doesn’t need those benefits because of their mental health problems. There are, I know this personally. But Wes Streeting is entitled to follow evidence, state his understanding and damn those it offends.

       Of course, he has a huge problem in this regard. The liberal side of this debate will wring their hands and screech about his callousness for even suggesting such a thing.

       The other, hideous, side thinks its members earn conservative credentials by bloviating about how mental health is made up and scroungers need to pull their socks up.

       Both sides are equally stupid. One treats mental health as dogma, the other writes it off as fad. It’s tragic to see adults betraying their inability to hold more than one thought in their heads.

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       For those who, like me, believe that mental health is crucially important to wellbeing, but are uncomfortable with anything I’ve said, they should consider the following.

       The same politicians who raved about mental health for years locked every depressive in their homes over the pandemic. Kind words from such people should engender suspicion. Divisive words that might hurt to hear worry me far less.

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       Streeting has made an important breakthrough. Instead of allowing mental health to be a conversation-stopper, he’s done exactly what he did when transphobia was the charge aimed at anyone who didn’t want to pump puberty blockers into children.

       This means more conversation, which creates the chance for more understanding and accountability. Treating mental health as a sacred cow doesn’t help people who are suffering. It risks making their suffering the most important factor of their lives.

       Do I really need to spell out why that’s not the route Britain should go down?