Tuesday 7 November was a day of firsts, for me and the country. Charles III delivered his first King’s Speech as monarch. It was also Rishi Sunak’s first as prime minister, offering him a chance to set out key policies after a year in the role. And, on a personal note, it was my first as chief executive of Mind, a charity dedicated to making sure that everyone experiencing a mental health problem gets support and respect.

Mental health problems affect around one in four people in any given year. The King’s Speech was an opportunity for the UK government to fulfil some promises to this large and growing group of people. But inexplicably, mental health didn’t appear on the prime minister’s list of priorities.

This was all the more difficult to stomach given the fact we know from NHS data that an increasing number of us are now experiencing severe mental health problems. This is partly because of long waiting lists and a lack of community care, as well as a result of the ongoing fallout from the pandemic and the cost of living crisis. More of us are reaching crisis point – this can mean lots of different things, including symptoms of psychosis, self-harm and struggling to keep yourself or others safe. This was a rarer experience once upon a time, but now, many of us reach this point and are ‘sectioned’ for treatment under the Mental Health Act – a hugely outdated piece of legislation.

In fact, more than 50,000 people were detained under this law in the last year alone – roughly the same number of people who live in towns like Salisbury or Dunfermline. And while people are supposedly detained under the Act for their own safety, most of the time the experience is traumatic and places of care, where they go to get better, are unsafe. The string of media exposés we’ve seen in recent months has further underlined the shocking reality of mental healthcare in this country in 2023.

Most of us assume that the mental health system is fair and that mental health hospitals are places where people receive compassionate care. Sadly, at Mind we see evidence every day that this isn’t always the case. We see figures that show how deep racial injustice runs through the system, with Black people nearly five times more likely to be sectioned than white people. We work with people who have spent time in mental health hospitals, describing them as cold, frightening and prison-like places where people are forcibly restrained, placed into seclusion for days on end, overmedicated and often abused. 

It’s for all these reasons that Mind, along with thousands of people with mental health problems, their friends, families, other organisations and medical experts have spent decades campaigning for the government to overhaul mental health legislation. Nothing has been done since 1983 to update laws that have a huge impact on people’s lives. The world was an incredibly different place then, and I remember how much less understanding there was of mental health and the things that cause people to struggle with it. What’s more, reforming the Mental Health Act was a key Conservative party commitment at two general elections, and has also been widely supported by politicians from all main parties.

So, if these changes are not only politically popular but also evidence-based, why were they shelved? It’s a mystery I certainly can’t answer, and it’s been tumbleweed from the government on this front since last week. But we are seeing some green shoots of hope; the Labour party has just committed to prioritising getting reforms to the Mental Health Act through if they get into power at the next general election.

Of course, it’s important to recognise that good care does exist and that NHS staff are trying their absolute best against a backdrop of limited funding that continues to fall short of surging demand. And to applaud the countless people who have never lost hope and dedicated huge amounts of time, effort and resources to improving care, despite the lack of action from the government. The hard work is already done; we now need politicians with enough backbone to make the changes a reality.

This government’s failure to reform this legislation has been a painful blow for the mental health community, and we know people are anxious about what this means for them and their loved ones. At Mind, to say we’re gutted doesn’t begin to cover it, and we won’t stop fighting until everyone with a mental health problem gets the support and respect they deserve. Our call now is for whoever is in power following the next general election to have mental health at the top of their priority list. We expect to hear commitments from all parties that they will do this. You can help push for this by joining us here.

Frame Of Mind is Stylist’s home for all things mental health and the mind. From expert advice on the small changes you can make to improve your wellbeing to first-person essays and features on topics ranging from autism to antidepressants, we’ll be exploring mental health in all its forms. You can check out the series home page to get started.

Images: Getty