Young people 'overdiagnosed' with mental ill health - Hunt

YOUNG people are being overdiagnosed with mental health conditions, Sir Jeremy Hunt has said, as he backed calls to radically reform the Send system.

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The former health secretary argued that society has “lost sight of the fundamental reality that child development is a messy and uneven process”, in the foreword of a Policy Exchange report.

The report, titled Out of Control, argues definitions of mental ill health and neurodivergence have been socially expanded, causing the system to be overwhelmed.

One in five children in England have special educational needs and disabilities (Send), the report states, placing huge pressure on support services.