Patients denied mental health treatment after doctors diagnose them as 'attention-seekers' By Pat Hagan Published: 02:00 BST, 23 June 2024 | Updated: 02:00 BST, 23 June 2024 e-mail View comments Thousands of children and young adults in the UK with serious mental illness are being denied the help they need because doctors label them as difficult and attention-seeking, experts claim. Leading medics are now calling for an immediate ban on youngsters being classed as having borderline personality disorder (BPD) – a condition in which they are often considered emotionally unstable and even manipulative. Experts say the diagnosis – although recognised as a medical condition – encourages mental health staff to treat patients as troublesome rather than in need of specialist psychiatric care.
They add that in some cases doctors ignore warnings that patients with BPD are planning to harm or kill themselves because they believe they are 'making it up'. As a result, many are denied treatment with drugs or counselling that might help. This is despite the fact that studies show up to one in ten people with BPD symptoms end up committing suicide.
Now hundreds of senior medics have signed a letter to Health Secretary Victoria Atkins demanding the term be scrapped. It warns that doctors are telling young patients they have a flawed personality when many actually have severe mental illness triggered by trauma. As a result, many are denied treatment with drugs or counselling that might h.
