A job is essential for our well-being. Of course there are financial rewards, but the job should involve much more than our salaries. It gives us purpose, structure and routine and can increase our self-esteem and mental health.
However, I am constantly surprised that so many people do not appreciate the importance and value of work. Last week, Mel Stride, Work and Pensions Secretary, said Britons must return to what he called the “old belief” that work is good for us.
Stride referred to the growing number of unemployed, especially among young people, due to mental health problems. That job satisfaction is considered “old-fashioned” is both worrying and discouraging.
Waking up knowing you have work ahead of you is often the best antidote to facing life’s other challenges, writes Dr Max Pemberton
Last week, Mel Stride, Work and Pensions Secretary, said Britons must return to what he called the “old-fashioned belief” – that work is good for us.
The irony is that while many people are out of work (or on long-term sick leave) due to mental health problems, there is good evidence that the best treatment for mild to moderate depression and anxiety is… work!
Waking up knowing that you have work ahead of you is often the best antidote to facing life’s other challenges. Not only does it cost nothing, but it puts you in touch with other people and is really worth it!
I see many patients struggling with their mental health and it disheartens me because they have spent years, sometimes their entire lives, without work. For many of them, a job would be far more beneficial than any pill I could prescribe them. But what I often encounter is an attitude that work is for other people and that mental health difficulties automatically make employment impossible.
When I was in medical school, I lived with a group of friends in an apartment on a municipal property. It was well planned, with low-rise blocks, lots of green space and trees. Our neighbors were lovely, but I slowly realized that no one in the house was working. The mother had back problems, the father suffered from “stress” and the two children, in their twenties, suffered from depression. All benefits claimed.
As a physician, I see people battling the most debilitating and life-changing illnesses who simply cannot work because their daily existence is ruined by their condition. They deserve all the help the state has to offer.
But this was not the case with my neighbors, whose daily lives were not hindered in any way. I watched every day as the children and their friends played a game of soccer in front of the apartments. And this is not the case for many others either.
A patient I saw recently had been told she was not eligible for Disabled Living Allowance because she was able to work. She called me “stupid” because she had a job and then added that if she didn’t write a letter supporting her appeal, she would hurt herself and I would be the one to blame.
Believe me, I’m the last person to underestimate the impact of mental illness and the way it can devastate lives. But it is rare to see people who are so incapacitated by depression that they actually cannot work at all.
We know that unemployment and depression are intrinsically linked, and that the unemployed are much more likely to suffer from depression than those who work. And those suffering from prolonged depression will often move from unemployment benefits to sickness benefits, where they languish. Getting people out of this spiral of hopelessness and instilling in them the idea that work will help them is a difficult challenge. Yes, the jobs can sometimes be boring and exhausting, but I firmly believe that it is better than the alternative.
That is why we must continue to emphasize the value and importance of work for health and well-being. In the long term, doing so will not only reduce the number of people claiming benefits, but will also be therapeutic – a sensible and compassionate way to improve people’s mental wellbeing.
Hard love? Yes. But sometimes it is necessary.
Joe Wicks and I don’t agree on diets
Joe Wicks said he “was on sugar” as a child and believes his love of foods like Wagon Wheels and jam sandwiches are what caused his behavioral problems.
Fitness trainer Joe Wicks has blamed ultra-processed foods for the explosion of young people diagnosed with ADHD. Wicks said that he “did sugar” as a child and that he believes his love of foods like Wagon Wheels and jelly sandwiches are what caused his own behavioral problems.
Food plays an important role in things like mood, but there is no evidence to show that foods or drinks high in sugar have any real effect on children’s behavior.
However, I agree with him that there are external factors at play in much of the ADHD epidemic. I worry that things like smartphones and multiple screens (watching TV while on your tablet, etc.), along with social media, where kids are bombarded with short snippets of information in quick succession, are partly to blame for the apparent collapse. in their attention spans.
The French government has announced that it will begin fining patients who miss their GP appointments.
They have a different healthcare system than ours, but it’s an idea that’s been floated here over the years and I understand why. The NHS wastes incredible amounts of taxpayers’ money every year on missed appointments: £220 million on GP appointments alone and a total of around £1 billion if hospital appointments are included.
My opinion is that as long as we continue to view dating as “free,” we don’t feel like it has a cost to us and therefore we don’t value it.
I have done my best to research and understand absences in my own clinic, to see how we can improve things. I’ve spent a lot of time calling patients at night and asking them why they didn’t come. Many of them had quite pathetic excuses (a discount day at Selfridges that they “couldn’t miss” was one of them!).
However, I also discovered that there were several people who had genuine reasons and quite a few incidents where administrative staff had gotten it wrong. Letters get lost, telephone lines are constantly busy. How can we be sure that the patient is really to blame?
Fines will only lead to complaints and refusals to pay, and then what? The NHS is likely to end up spending more money pursuing these fines than we could earn from them.
Dr. Max prescribes: pencil and paper.
Last week, brilliant research looked at the best way to manage anger. The study found that going for a run, breathing deeply, and screaming into a pillow helped. But the most effective thing was to write down what made you angry on a piece of paper and then throw it in the trash! The method is so effective that it eliminates feelings of anger “almost completely,” scientists found.
A mother wants ketamine to be upgraded to Class A after her son’s death. Clare Rogers is right that it is more dangerous than many think. When it is not fatal, it can still cause serious bladder problems; Sometimes it is necessary to remove the bladder.
