Less true in the uk

Thanks for engaging with me thoughtfully on this. There is evidence throughout the report, but you're right that it fails to bring it together and test as an explanatory hypothesis. Partly that's because it's an interim report, but I agree that the claim in the conclusion goes further

The report acknowledges this, look at pp24-25. They are very nuanced about prevalence and resist simple narratives of overdiagnosis. Tiktok is mentioned twice. If you read the whole thing, I think you'll find that it's far more open-minded than you think.

Thrilled that my paper (w/@sarahobolt.bsky.social,@catherinedevries.bsky.social,@simonecremaschi.bsky.social) was accepted at the American Political Science Review!

We find that declining public services fuel support for the populist right — and show why the right benefits more than other parties 🧵

Maybe! But I also think it's more holistic than that: how does society need to change to really support people's mental health? Good food, green spaces, more connection, all of that stuff

What are the debunked myths in your opinion? I totally get that Weasely is polarising, but I think the interim report was very thoughtful. It's very clear that they recognise distress is rising especially for young people. It also recognises that those getting diagnosed are experiencing impairment.

Britain’s mental-health crisis is a tale of unintended consequences Rising awareness appears to be hurting the people with the most serious conditions

Hopefully the review will come up with sensible ways to tackle these problems carefully, without overcorrecting. None of this is easy!

You can read my original article here:

None of this is to say that distress or that problems classified as "mild" are easy. They are not. It's great that people can talk about their feelings more. But if we really want to help people who are suffering, we also need to talk more about what's actually working (and what isn't) 5/6

There are other unintended consequences. Britain has the highest rates of severe mental illness in Europe. When the public think that "mental illness" includes life experiences like stress and grief, that means less attention is paid to conditions like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder 4/6

Businesses take advantage. Try taking an ADHD test online. I did and deliberately scored zero, but was still told that I may be experiencing "low-level signs of ADHD or another difficulty". If you want help at work or school you can wait 10yrs or pay ££££ for a diagnosis. It's a two-tier system 3/6

The point isn't that distress isn't real. It's that medicalising milder problems often doesn't help people or society. Diagnosis becomes a way to ration basic support. Govts can pass structural problems off as medical ones: why tackle poverty when running awareness campaigns is basically free? 2/6

Children ‘incentivised’ to get ADHD and autism diagnoses, say experts A report into overdiagnosis and the increase in demand for mental health services has suggested that common childhood behaviours are being medicalised

I first wrote about this in 2023 in a cover story for The Economist. I interviewed Simon Wessely, who became the co-chair of this review. The article cost me two friends and a therapist. Wes Streeting (who commissioned this report) agreed with me, but back then it was still taboo 1/6

Yes, and boosted by American billionaires who like to use Broken Britain as a warning for America

Embarrassing for Yougov and disappointing for Christians. Many really believed that a huge surge of young people were coming back to church. Where do they go from here?

Thanks Jeremy. To be seen!

I'm torn over cases like this. Society failed her, she should never have experienced such horrors. As human beings, we should do far more to care for those who suffer. But at what point does enough become enough? For how long do we ignore a person's sustained wish to die? There are no easy answers

Noelia Castillo, la joven parapléjica de Barcelona, anuncia que recibirá la eutanasia | EL PAÍS YouTube video by EL PAÍS

This is a heartbreaking story from Spain. This young woman was gang raped and later tried to kill herself by jumping from a building. She became paraplegic and now lives in constant pain. After years of appeals, including from her father and Christian Lawyers, she is scheduled to die tomorrow.

The battle for the soul of the Church of England Can the first female Archbishop of Canterbury stop the institution from tearing itself apart?

Sarah Mullally is being enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral this morning. She's the first female Archbishop of Canterbury in 1,400 years.

She's walking into an institution that is increasingly irrelevant, scandal-hit, and divided over whether a gay-friendly woman should lead it at all.

My long read:

The battle for the soul of the Church of England Can the first female Archbishop of Canterbury stop the institution from tearing itself apart?

The Church of England crowns kings, runs a quarter of English primary schools and it's bishops sit in parliament. It also has fewer than 1m weekly worshippers, and is deeply divided.

Something has to give. In my long read for 1843 I write about what could come next

Ignore the smears: I was never a close friend of Peter Mandelson. And I fully understand the lessons we must learn | Wes Streeting I knew him but not well, and worry now that he thrived in our political culture. There was a failure of moral seriousness, says health secretary Wes Streeting

Probably a trick from Mandelson's playbook

If you are reading this it is because I’m dead: here’s what I want to tell you about how to live | Carlos Hernández de Miguel Leaving this world in an age of lies and cruelty, my last message is simple: don’t give up on truth, says Spanish journalist Carlos Hernández de Miguel

Full letter here

A letter from Carlos Hernández, the Spanish journalist who died this week.

Our job as journalists is to hold power to account, explain what's happening and give voice to the voiceless. Many still do this, but we don't do it enough. It's a big reason why trust in the mainstream media has cratered.

Agreed. It's more the principle of being judged by your peers, of having a check on state power. It's a long-standing safeguard in England. And it's being removed at a time when it feels increasingly important!

It does, and the irony? Officials often say they want to avoid giving contracts to British firms for fear of a perceived conflict of interest.

Great analysis. It was also clear from the beginning it wouldn't work. Guy's and St Thomas's was the model for all this, but after starting the programme the trust's wait times fell slower than the national average and the theatre staff went on strike...

Agreed!

Democracy needs juries

Yes, this an extreme example of why trust in the establishment is at an all-time low. For too long elites have been acting in their own interests and not in the country's, partly because we've been reluctant to call it out for what it is: corruption. Hard to avoid that now.

Hence why they took so long to ratify the UNESCO convention! That's what the article is about.

Haha not enough space sadly! So much to write about it