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?
We’re nearly halfway there! Thanks to amazing supporters, we’ve raised £20 toward this month’s £50 goal to fund independent research and reporting.
If you value fearless political journalism that holds the powerful to account, please chip in today. Even £2 helps keep Vox Political running strong.
👉 Support us here: https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
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.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
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.
Get my free guide: “10 Political Lies You Were Sold This Decade” — just subscribe to our email list here:
👉 https://voxpoliticalonline.com
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.
We’re nearly halfway there! Thanks to amazing supporters, we’ve raised £20 toward this month’s £50 goal to fund independent research and reporting.
Let’s close the gap this week! Help us hit £50 and power the next investigation.
If you value fearless political journalism that holds the powerful to account, please chip in today. Even £2 helps keep Vox Political running strong.
👉 Support us here: https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
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.
We’re nearly halfway there! Thanks to amazing supporters, we’ve raised £23 toward this month’s £50 goal to fund independent research and reporting.
Let’s close the gap this week! Help us hit £50 and power the next investigation.
If you value fearless political journalism that holds the powerful to account, please chip in today. Even £2 helps keep Vox Political running strong.
👉 Support us here: https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
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.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
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2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
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Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
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Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
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Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
Mental illness in the UK in 2025: a crisis denied, a country betrayed
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?
We’re nearly halfway there! Thanks to amazing supporters, we’ve raised £20 toward this month’s £50 goal to fund independent research and reporting.
If you value fearless political journalism that holds the powerful to account, please chip in today. Even £2 helps keep Vox Political running strong.
👉 Support us here: https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
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.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
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.
Get my free guide: “10 Political Lies You Were Sold This Decade” — just subscribe to our email list here:
👉 https://voxpoliticalonline.com
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:
We’re nearly halfway there! Thanks to amazing supporters, we’ve raised £20 toward this month’s £50 goal to fund independent research and reporting.
Let’s close the gap this week! Help us hit £50 and power the next investigation.
If you value fearless political journalism that holds the powerful to account, please chip in today. Even £2 helps keep Vox Political running strong.
👉 Support us here: https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
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:
We’re nearly halfway there! Thanks to amazing supporters, we’ve raised £23 toward this month’s £50 goal to fund independent research and reporting.
Let’s close the gap this week! Help us hit £50 and power the next investigation.
If you value fearless political journalism that holds the powerful to account, please chip in today. Even £2 helps keep Vox Political running strong.
👉 Support us here: https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
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.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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