Esther Ghey, screens, cold comfort, dogs, proper bumps v Insta likes. What can we do about our rising desperation?
“I think that society at the moment is in a bit of a mess and I just want to be able to make things better for people.” Esther Ghey
There was also a huge noise last week about the fact that in three years a million more people now say they are disabled due to their mental health. Two thirds of incapacity benefit applications in 22/23 claimed mental health as the cause. A third of all people classed as disabled in this country are disabled by their mental health.
There’s a knee jerk response to this and it’s the one that populists and many otherwise sane people will tend towards. It’s the one the Work and Pensions Secretary, Mel Stride, reached for when he blamed these figures on “normal ups and downs” being medicalised. I have felt the reflexive pull of my knee jerking up to this opinion despite knowing the old snowflake response is the preserve of unthinking fools leaving below the line comments on the Telegraph and other portals to the bah humbug world.
A few years ago a friend of mine lost her arms below the elbow and her legs below the knee due to sepsis. I would consider her disabled. Someone with really bad anxiety. Well they just need to man up, get their shit together, stop being so spoilt, try a bit harder, do some yoga, just get on with it…right?
Mmmmmn. Easy grandad. Are we really going to savage people who are so broken by their mental health issues they consider themselves, and indeed, are, disabled?
More, below the silly meme I stole off a young person and the money jump
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Kate Spicer says Sort Yourself Out to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.