For more than a decade, the UK government has watched a growing mental health crisis unfold—and chosen to look the other way.

In 2025, the problem has become undeniable: NHS data shows that rates of depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses have risen sharply year-on-year since 2010, with post-pandemic numbers reaching historic highs.

And yet, both the current Labour government and its Conservative predecessor have continued to downplay the severity, gaslight the public, and attack the very people who need help.

Their narrative is depressingly consistent: those claiming mental illness are exaggerating, malingering, or trying to cheat the system.

This rhetoric justifies punitive action—from tighter Personal Independence Payment (PIP) rules to cruel “fit-for-work” assessments—and distracts from the real question: what’s actually driving the mental health crisis?

The real causes of mental distress in 2025

Behind the statistics lies a deeper truth: the mental health emergency is not the result of personal weakness, but the product of political choices.

1. COVID-19 and the lingering trauma

The pandemic fractured lives.

Prolonged lockdowns caused widespread social isolation, bereavement, and grief without closure.

NHS mental health services were shuttered or overwhelmed, and the backlog continues today.

PTSD, anxiety, and depression surged—and remain elevated.

2. Economic despair and insecurity

The cost-of-living crisis is more than a financial issue; it’s a mental health catastrophe.

Those on low incomes face daily stress about affording food, rent, or heating.

Research by BACP and Mind shows a direct link between financial strain and declining mental health, especially for disabled people, carers, and single parents.

3. Burnout and precarious work

Work is no longer a source of purpose, but exhaustion.

A 2025 Reed study found 85 per cent of UK workers report burnout, particularly in education, healthcare, and service jobs.

Gig economy workers face instability; white-collar employees face endless hours, blurred boundaries, and no support.

4. Underfunded services and dangerous delays

The average wait time for adult community mental health support is now 727 days.

People are turned away for being “not ill enough,” only to deteriorate further.

The system is failing precisely when it is most needed.

5. Brexit: isolation with consequences

Brexit didn’t just hit trade—it harmed mental health.

EU care workers left, leading to staff shortages in key support sectors.

Community programmes lost EU funding.

Migrants reported rising anxiety, discrimination, and uncertainty.

In short: more pressure, fewer people to help carry it.

What the politicians said—and did

While the crisis worsened, ministers of both major parties repeated the same tropes: people must stop “relying on the state”; welfare is a “lifestyle choice”; we must cut red tape, including in disability benefit assessments.

The current Labour government has echoed this framing, treating mental illness as a policy nuisance, not a public emergency.

Instead of investing in solutions, they’ve doubled down on suspicion:

• Slashing PIP and forcing reassessments.
• Removing carers through tighter immigration rules.
• Treating benefit claimants as guilty until proven sick.

What would actually help

We’ve had enough punishment. The UK needs a public mental health recovery plan, not more cruelty. The solutions aren’t theoretical—they exist. And they are to:

• Properly fund mental health services: hire more staff, cut wait times, expand crisis support.
• Stop demonising benefit claimants: provide stability, not sanctions.
• Support carers and key workers: reverse immigration barriers and invest in the care economy.
• Tackle poverty and debt: cap rents, offer debt relief, raise the minimum wage.
• Embrace alternative therapies: scale up community-based programmes, nature therapy, and social prescribing.
• Address work-related mental harm: enforce burnout protections and mental health rights in employment law.

This isn’t a broken people—it’s a broken system

The mental health crisis in Britain is not a mystery.

It is the predictable outcome of government inaction, economic cruelty, and political gaslighting.

People are not faking it.

They’re fighting it—alone, under pressure, and without the support they deserve.

If mental illness is rising, it’s because the country is sick—and the treatment must start with policy, not pills.

Until we stop blaming the victims and start confronting the causes, the crisis will only deepen. That is not a failure of health. It is a failure of leadership.