One in nine children are now classed as having some form of disability as more parents and young people themselves have sought a diagnosis for mental health conditions and behavioural problems.
The sharpest rise has come in diagnoses for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), with some questioning whether the condition is being over-diagnosed and suggesting differences in human behaviour and everyday problems are being medicalised.
According to the latest figures, 11 percent of children were classed as having some form of disability in 2021—2022, up from eight percent just before the lockdowns in 2019—2020, and 6 percent a decade earlier.
In total 16 million people across the UK are now considered to have a disability, including an estimated 1.6 million children, many of whom actually have mental health problems or are classed as “neurodiverse”—a term used to refer to those on the autism spectrum or with ADHD.
Parents can claim disability allowance for their children if they are diagnosed with certain conditions, and more than 650,000 children receive payments worth up to £172.50 a week, the latest official figures show—up by 17 percent since before the lockdowns, compared with an average rise of 3 percent across all age groups.
Serious Lockdown Harms to Children
Claims made for children with a diagnosis of ADHD have more than doubled since before the lockdowns and now make up a fifth of children’s claims. Last year, there were nearly 140,000 children receiving payments for behavioural disorders, while issues such as anxiety were up 70 percent.During a Westminster Hall debate to recognise Children’s Mental Health week, Conservative MP Tim Loughton said the problem “has besieged governments over many years, but if one looks at the figures, most alarmingly, the incidence of mental illness among children has got particularly bad since the beginning of Covid, and there are reasons for that that we should continue to be worried about.
“This is not a gradual progression; there has been a very serious downturn in recent years.”
Labour MP Abena Oppong-Asare said the causes of mental health problems in children were “complex” and include “social disintegration, harmful social media, bullying, worries about the climate and anxiety about the future.”
But she agreed with Mr. Loughton and others on lockdown harms: “As has been mentioned, Covid was a real game changer. Secondary school pupils across the UK experienced significantly higher rates of depression and social, emotional and behavioural difficulties—overall, the worst mental wellbeing—during the pandemic.”
She pointed to research by Oxford University which found that cases of depression among pupils aged 11 to 13 rose by 8.5 percent during the lockdown period compared with a 0.3 percent increase among the same cohort before 2020 and found that girls’ mental health deteriorated more than that of boys.
The Economic Case
There has been a 69 percent increase in disability benefits being claimed for children in the past decade, against a 10 percent overall rise in claims, with some MPs pointing out the potential costs to the country of a rising generation with many so afflicted with problems that they may not be able to hold down a job. Costs of child disability payments stand at £3 billion a year, and are expected to top £5 billion by 2030.More than 52,000 adults who receive personal independence payments from the government list ADHD as their main condition, with most of these in the 16—29 age group who were transferred from disability allowance when they reached adulthood. This number is up from 38,000 in 2022.
According to the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, the adult incidence rate of ADHD—a condition in which people can seem restless, may have trouble concentrating, and may act on impulse—is between 3 and 4 percent. The rate for children aged between six and eight is 1.5 percent.Medicalisation of Human Experience
Ben Harris, a psychotherapist in private practice, told The Epoch Times last year he believed conditions such as ADHD could be over-diagnosed because people were seeking an explanation for their problems and why they found life difficult—although he emphasised their distress was real.“You’ve got this problem, potentially as I would see it, with the medicalization of human experience, and the pathologization of behavior that previously might have been tolerated and thought of as within the norm, as now being seen as outside the normal,” Mr. Harris said.
Mel Stride, the work and pensions secretary, has also suggested that labelling everyday problems as mental health issues may be fueling a rise in claims, arguing that medicalisation of such issues could, in fact, worsen a person’s symptoms.
During the Westminster Hall debate, organised by Labour’s Dr. Rosena Allin-Khan, MPs from across the house agreed that “adverse childhood events,” which include poverty, parental addiction and mental health issues, attachment difficulties, family breakdown, abuse and domestic violence, were a driving factor in the huge increase in children’s mental health problems.
Health Minister Maria Caulfield said the government is investing an extra £2.3 billion a year in mental health services, and is now spending over £1 billion a year specifically on provision for children and young people.
A government spokesman said: “We know that awareness of autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions has increased markedly over the past decade and we have seen a rise in the numbers of children and young people seeking formal diagnoses.
“We are committed to a welfare system that supports the most vulnerable but is fair on the taxpayer, and all benefits are subject to claimants meeting the eligibility criteria.”
