A worthy desperation to shock policy-makers into action is clearly what motivates a mental health report published this week by the chief medical officer – and I seek to criticise neither the report’s recommendations nor its intentions, which are broadly positive.
I do, however, find the language and focus – and, by extension, the way it has been reported – problematic. “People with mental health problems should be given faster treatment to avoid taking time off work, says the England chief medical officer” was how the BBC’s morning news headlined the report on Tuesday.
Throughout the day other networks had a similar focus: the headlines almost invariably centre on cost. Viewers were informed repeatedly that mental illness was the top reason for people taking time off work; how much it costs the economy per year, per month, per day; how many “working days are lost to” depression.
One had to wait until the more in-depth analysis to hear any mention of the patients themselves, the misery mental illness causes, the impact on their families, the premature-mortality rates. Occasionally such considerations never even entered the discussion. This is hardly surprising, if one looks at the way the report is structured, with an economic focus chosen to act as tent pole. The top two reasons given by Sally Davies, the chief medical officer, for choosing mental health as the subject of her annual report were sick days lost and the cost to the economy.
For the rest of this essay by Alex Andreou, go to: http://www.theguardian.com/com...hief-medicla-officer
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