A review into the possible over-diagnosis of neurodivergent conditions has been ordered by the government, out of concern that the normality of everyday life and regular feelings are being “over-pathologised”. If the health secretary Wes Streeting truly cared, he’d not be wasting time on reviewing “mental health diagnoses”. Instead, he’d actually be supporting people, by engaging with and listening to the affected.
The Autism Act has been open for consultation in Parliament, and stakeholders across both sides of the aisle have offered evidence. A review into services provided to people with ADHD has documented poor standards. The recommendations from both of these are a long way away from the right-wing, dog-whistle politics that is designed to demonise neurodivergent people.
What the right wingers who sound off about “over-diagnosis” don’t understand is that obtaining a diagnosis is already incredibly hard. There are years-long waiting lists, meetings and a long process during which you have to convince more than one person that you qualify. It also involves providing hundreds of pages of evidence. This is not some personality quirk.
These conditions are not behavioural, either, and Kemi Badenoch’s alternative review into what she calls “low level mental conditions”, scheduled for the New Year, lacks all scientific evidence. Badenoch’s aim is simply to bring down the benefits bill, but support through welfare isn’t just automatically handed out to every person upon diagnosis. But then a common enemy is always handy for gaining attention – and votes.
Suggested Reading
2025 – the year disabled people lost their rights
I am autistic. I was diagnosed a decade ago, long before TikTok. Autism is not a mental health issue – it is a neurological condition. My diagnosis took more than half a decade to acquire. I had no support in education. I was made to feel abnormal. I was pathologised and treated as a problem: the girl who was “weird” or “intense” and “too much”.
My autism gives rise to issues around talking, and I show signs of mutism when distressed. Multiple reviews and inquests have shown that people like me are at risk of poor care in the NHS. I’m in the least employed disability group. We die an average of two decades before non-autistic people. My community overwhelmingly dominates the prison system.
Even the annual review into this couldn’t be performed correctly. The lamented 2023 LEDER report on care provided to people with autism and learning disabilities, has just been withdrawn, due to problems with the data. This constant disrespect is hard to accept.
Autistic people are still held in psychiatric settings due to a lack of appropriate care, even though they are not mentally ill, we are capable of so much more – with continued support. Alternatives to pathologisation are possible.
Kings College recently pointed to new data that suggests there is a substantial number of autistic people in the population; the longer this continues, the higher the risk of factors such as suicide and addiction. Meanwhile, the prison service is only just beginning to contend with the level of support it needs to give, in aid of preventing re-offending.
I have spent the last year writing a book about the justice system, and how pathologisation leads to an offence being committed. Yet here were the stories of pathologisation – people made abnormal, deemed mad, pushed to the edge. A diagnosis gave a framework to a character, leading to reform and rehabilitation.
It is not a crime to take pride in yourself. The government must learn tolerance and should stop pandering to right wing nonsense. That approach would do Mr Streeting – and us – a world of good.
Most popular
Is 2026 the year that Britain’s universities go bankrupt?
Britain’s most dangerous radicals are… middle-aged men
Twelve angry months
A journey into Sudan’s forgotten war
