Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made an assessment of the long-term outcomes for individuals diagnosed with mental health conditions, including potential harms from diagnostic labelling and unnecessary treatment.

We are concerned that many adults, young people, and children with mental health conditions have been let down by services and are not receiving timely or appropriate support and treatment. That is why we have launched an independent review into the prevalence and support for mental health conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and autism, which will look to understand the similarities and differences between mental health conditions, ADHD, and autism.

The review will look at prevalence, early intervention, and treatment, and the current challenges facing clinical services. The review will also examine the extent to which diagnosis, medicalisation, and treatment improve outcomes for individuals. This will include exploring the evidence around clinical practice and the risks and benefits of medicalisation. It will also seek to identify opportunities to provide different models of support and pathways, within and beyond the National Health Service, that promote prevention and early intervention, supplementing clinical support.