'Mental Health Culture Has Gone Too Far'

[El Cid]

1 hour ago, pfifes said:

Also, do you actually believe someone might think ‘hmm, I’m feeling a bit down in the dumps and I can’t be bothered to work anymore, I’ll get signed off work’.  Then they rock up at the GP who agrees they are unable to work and they can therefore live out their existence on benefits.  Really?  
Would this problem not perhaps have something to do with an under funded mental health service?

I think the problem is overstated, so that once again the Tories go go into the next general election and declare war on scoungers.

What did David Cameron do to fix this problem?

We do medicalise issues, instead of treating the cause, we just give them money or tablets.

 

The number of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) increased to 1.57 million pupils in 2023, representing 17.3% of all pupils. The proportion of pupils with SEN
had been decreasing since 2010 (21.1%), however it has increased for the last 6 years.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64930eef103ca6001303a3a6/Special_educational_needs_and_disability_an_analysis_and_summary_of_data_sources.pdf

 

Those identified with SEN are more likely to speak English at home, are eligible for free school meals and related to ethnicity, SEN are most prevalent in travellers of Irish heritage and Gypsy/Roma pupils with 30% and 26% respectively.

Can you immagine the Tories looking into why more Gypsy/Roma pupils are SEN and throwing resources at the issue?

 

http://www.educationalneuroscience.org.uk/2022/04/01/why-has-there-been-a-rise-in-number-of-sen-children-especially-in-the-early-years/

[pfifes]

1 hour ago, rogets said:

When I was a lad we would send kids up chimneys, I am 62 years old and very much remember those times.

 

Always a job for someone to do

 

 

‘In September of 1875, a bill was pushed through which put a stop to the practice of using children as chimney sweeps. Joseph Glass, an engineer from Bristol, England, invented the original brushes and rods used to clean chimneys; the design is still used today’.  https://www.chimneysolutions.com/blog/child-chimney-sweeps/#:~:text=In September of 1875%2C a,design is still used today.

 

Was it still going on in the 1960’s then?

[Mkapaka]

The minister states it’s just “normal anxieties of life”.

 

id love to know what he considers those to be 

 

working on a zero hours contract

Unable to feed your kids

skyrocketing mortgage rates 

massive inflation 

huge rental costs

 

Maybe he should let us know what is “normal”.

[El Cid]

19 minutes ago, Mkapaka said:

The minister states it’s just “normal anxieties of life”.

 

id love to know what he considers those to be 

 

working on a zero hours contract

Unable to feed your kids

skyrocketing mortgage rates 

massive inflation 

huge rental costs

 

Maybe he should let us know what is “normal”.

The older generation have bought their own house, so much of that does not apply. Also, assuming he is wealthy, he is out of touch with poor people.

[pfifes]

1 hour ago, El Cid said:

I think the problem is overstated, so that once again the Tories go go into the next general election and declare war on scoungers.

What did David Cameron do to fix this problem?

We do medicalise issues, instead of treating the cause, we just give them money or tablets.

 

The number of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) increased to 1.57 million pupils in 2023, representing 17.3% of all pupils. The proportion of pupils with SEN
had been decreasing since 2010 (21.1%), however it has increased for the last 6 years.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64930eef103ca6001303a3a6/Special_educational_needs_and_disability_an_analysis_and_summary_of_data_sources.pdf

 

Those identified with SEN are more likely to speak English at home, are eligible for free school meals and related to ethnicity, SEN are most prevalent in travellers of Irish heritage and Gypsy/Roma pupils with 30% and 26% respectively.

Can you immagine the Tories looking into why more Gypsy/Roma pupils are SEN and throwing resources at the issue?

 

http://www.educationalneuroscience.org.uk/2022/04/01/why-has-there-been-a-rise-in-number-of-sen-children-especially-in-the-early-years/

Well I do agree that there is too much medicalisation of certain issues.  I don’t want to offend and belittle anyone with genuinely debilitating medical issues but there are certainly instances of medicalisation doing far more harm than good.

Punishing people for not working isn’t the answer though. 

[pfifes]

2 hours ago, Resident said:

Ok so you want UBI - So where's the incentive to work and if no-body works then where's the money coming from to fund UBI

There is a great need for the point score system, it's there to weed out those that DON'T want to work and separate them from those who CAN'T work. 

Ah, the old ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor. Do you think there are significant numbers of people that just think ‘nah, I can’t be bothered working, I’ll just pretend I’ve got a mental illness’. Really?

[rogets]

1 hour ago, pfifes said:

‘In September of 1875, a bill was pushed through which put a stop to the practice of using children as chimney sweeps. Joseph Glass, an engineer from Bristol, England, invented the original brushes and rods used to clean chimneys; the design is still used today’.  https://www.chimneysolutions.com/blog/child-chimney-sweeps/#:~:text=In September of 1875%2C a,design is still used today.

 

Was it still going on in the 1960’s then?

I remember it well like it was yesterday, as do many people over the age of 60

 

Times have changed since when I was young

[mhrow]

6 hours ago, rogets said:

How can you score points if you are incapacitated?

 

If the assessor says "jump up and down 5 times" and someone can't jump, how can they get any points?

The DWP pays companies to help them assess incapacity and lack of independence.  The process involves lots of forms, interviews and reports, and the DWP has contracts with multinationals (eg atos, capita, unum) to employ the assessors.  There are three different types of assessment (PIP, UC, ESA) which are all different, and some people go through all of them.  There are also organisations that employ advisors who help people get awarded more benefits.

 

If there were a UBI then there would be no need for this kind of bull**** job.  Employers would have to pay a wage that attracts people to meet the real demands of the work that's needed.  Most of us would still want to work doing worthwhile activity.  True there might be a few people who are happy to live a low-consumption life, and they might lounge around not doing much, but that seems less of a problem than what we're facing now.  In fact there are already many people who are in that situation, eg. children of wealthy parents, and older people who, by their fortune and circumstances, ended up with lots of equity.  These people can lounge around while they profit from their shares in companies similar to Atos, Capita, etc.

[RollingJ]

^^^And these companies employ numpties to do the 'assessing' as confirmed by two people I know who have long-term incurable/debilitating conditions. OK, only two people, but at opposite ends of the country, so I imagine this incompetence is fairly widespread.

[pfifes]

37 minutes ago, rogets said:

I remember it well like it was yesterday, as do many people over the age of 60

 

Times have changed since when I was young

So they were sending small children up chimneys in the 1960’s?

Do you reckon we should go back to the good old days and bring it back?  Maybe along with workhouses to deter the undeserving poor from malingering.