Experts have cautioned Mel Stride against making mental health a “new front in the culture wars” after he said he takes an “old-fashioned” approach to the issue and believes “work is good for your mental health.”
The Secretary for Work and Pensions made the comments on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, just weeks after he sparked public backlash for saying that he believed society’s focus on mental health had “gone too far.”
Discussing the rise in people being signed off work with long-term health issues, he told the programme he does not want to “medicalise… the ups and downs of life”.
Stride’s comments have drawn criticism from mental health experts and campaigners, including the CEO of Mind, Dr Sarah Hughes, who warned him against making mental health a “new front in the culture wars.”
She said: “Politicians and commentators really must choose their words carefully, so we address the mental health crisis and make things better – not taking the huge step back we are in danger of doing.”
Simon Blake, chief executive of Mental Health First Aid England, added: “Work is good for our mental health – but only if it is designed well, with a focus on equity and inclusion, human connection, a sense of purpose and psychological safety.”
Meanwhile, doctors have warned stigmatising mental health-related absences from the workplace can exacerbate the problem.
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, told i: “In the main, working can be beneficial for patients’ health, and GPs and our teams will already encourage people to work, or to return to work if they have been off sick, where it is safe and appropriate for them to do so.
“The physical and mental health and wellbeing of an individual patient must always be a GP or other healthcare professional’s principal concern when deciding to issue a fit note – and it isn’t one that will be made easily.
“Each patient is different and needs to be considered holistically. Any efforts to push patients back to work before they’re ready will likely have a detrimental impact on their health.”
“We can achieve both workplace productivity gains and good well-being for employees,” said Nick Pahl, chief executive of the Society of Occupational Medicine
“For example, within the public sector, our NHS professionals should be resourced to have time for work-related conversations and employers should offer evidence-based support to people staying and returning to work.”
On Monday morning, Mr Stride told BBC Radio 4’s Mishal Husain: “Perhaps it is an old-fashioned belief. But it needs to come back into fashion. Work is good for you. Work is good for your mental health. Getting up in the morning, having a sense of purpose… so my mission is to get as many people into work as possible.
“We need to look very carefully about whether we are beginning to label or medicalise conditions that in the past would’ve been seen as the ups and downs of life. We all go through difficult times in our life, it’s regrettable but it’s a part and a natural part of the human condition.”
Mr Stride has also faced with backlash for his comments on social media, with some calling him “out of touch.”
“‘Work is good for you’. You know what else is good, Mel? Getting treatment and support. Perhaps if you funded the NHS properly less people would be on long-term sick leave,” wrote Jai Breitnauer on an X post.
The NHS runs a programme supporting those with mental health struggles back into employment.
Data showed in January that the Talking Therapies programme was working with 40,000 people to help them find work, in an effort to improve their mental health.