BPS responds to comments from Secretary of State for Work and Pensions regarding 'mental health culture'

The BPS is also wary of the reported plans of the minister to rewrite guidance so that only people with the most severe mental health conditions can be signed off work under the substantial risk route.

Dr Roman Raczka, President-Elect of The British Psychological Society, said:

"These comments from the minister are troubling and reflect an outdated view of mental health and the challenges that young people in particular face in today's society. To suggest that young people are overreacting to the immense challenges that life throws at them is inappropriate and deeply unhelpful.

"We are constantly encouraging people to talk about their mental health, and that it's 'okay not to be okay', so discourse like this is not helpful and is damaging. There is also clear evidence that the threat of benefit sanctions creates a toxic environment of fear, and put simply, sanctions do not work.

"The answer to tackling the growing number of people struggling with their mental health is not threat or fear, but rather to treat people with compassion and to provide access to appropriate professional support to help them, where appropriate, back into work."