Not content with allegedly destroying the rest of the known universe single-handedly, it now appears that young adults are getting the blame for the rise in mental health-related employment absences.

Due to figures showing that nearly twice as many young workers are off or out of work for health reasons, they are now being referred to as the “sick-note generation”, hitting the treacherous intersection between a distaste for anyone accessing benefits, and a disdain for young adults.

To reduce such a complex and nuanced issue to a generational divide might help it fit into a nice, neat, blameable box absolving employers of all responsibility, but it does a disservice to everyone, of any age, currently struggling with their mental or physical health to the point they are unable to work.

To look at just two sectors, in the past five years more than 75,000 NHS staff have missed work due to mental health concerns, while more than 6,670 teachers, support for learning assistants and other school staff were signed off due to issues with their mental health.

What does that say about the workload and conditions in these jobs? It’s entirely implausible that people are getting lazier or more averse to working, and much more likely that workers are given increasingly unmanageable workloads, for comparatively lower pay than previous generations. Are younger workers more selfish? Or have they simply seen previous generations relentlessly working through illness only to receive nothing but additional stress in return?

It’s no great mystery why these issues are arising, especially when the healthcare and education sectors are both involved in industrial action, and workers are making their concerns and issues abundantly clear. The demands placed on them are too great, the wages they receive in return are not enough, and instead of being supported and listened to, they receive ridicule and criticism for taking time off to appropriately handle their mental and physical health.

I’m not a statistician, but due to the stress and trauma of an unprecedented global pandemic, coupled with enforced isolation and a complete interruption to life as we know it, it’s no wonder there has been an increase in mental health issues. There’s a tendency for society to push for more awareness and acceptance of mental illness, until people are actually symptomatic and are unable to work, at which point they become the kind of burden on society alluded to in the media. So many people push through their illnesses, mental and physical, work when they are unfit and risk making themselves worse, and for what? So many people worked through the pandemic, putting themselves and their families at risk, only to be faced with stagnant wages while profits continue to soar, and the wealth gap continues to widen.

It may seem as though rates of mental illness have dramatically increased compared to previous generations, however this is to be expected when we consider the drastic improvements in diagnosis and treatment. It’s a fairly simple analogy, but we can draw comparisons between rates of mental illness, and something like left handedness.

If you look at a graph of recorded rates of people whose dominant hand is their left over the years, it seems to skyrocket, then plateau. Was there a massive jump in the number of left handed people? No, we just stopped beating them and forcing them to learn how to write with their non-dominant hand, making it more socially acceptable to use your left. Has mental illness suddenly become much more common and prevalent in our society, or are people just much more likely to seek help and support, to identify openly as having a mental illness, and to speak out about issues that are affecting them?

Sometimes the best way to reduce long-term illness is to take time off work as and when it is needed. Working through injury, mental illness and other sickness can often complicate and compound these issues. Stress does not just live in the head, it can manifest itself physically and often has an incredibly detrimental effect on someone’s health if left unmanaged.

We see time and time again that you can grind yourself to the bone working through illness, prostrate yourself before the altar of capitalism and be the worker with the cleanest track record, but the minute you are no longer a profitable cog in the money-making machine, the loyalty you have so diligently shown throughout your career may not be forthcoming.

I spoke to a worker currently taking time off due to poor mental health, and asked about their experiences. They said, “What I've found in my experience of taking time off to focus on my mental well-being is when employers talk to you about looking after your mental health etc. the last thing they actually want you to do is exactly that.

“When I was having my issues there wasn't a helping hand from management or any upstairs department to be seen, despite me reaching out. They think it's a lie. They think I'm just having some time off because I don't fancy coming in for graft and I believe that is how most people who have done what I've done are viewed as well.

“Companies and other various workplaces love to champion mental health awareness but the real stigma is on the people who have taken time off to work on mental health grounds for whatever reason it may be. A colleague once said to me that mental health was the new bad back. Until the stigma ends that's how an unfortunate amount of the population will view mental health absence.

“There's a very blatant and troubling connection between workplace conditions, workers’ rights, the rate of which mental health services are being used and ultimately the suicide rate in this country. The sooner the first of those issues is addressed, the sooner the other two will be.”

We have systems in place to support people who are not able to work, and use of these resources should not be shamed or those accessing them made to feel like a burden. The assumption is that anybody receiving this support is scamming, scrounging or simply not wanting to work. Anyone worried that a robust and comprehensive welfare system will prevent people from wanting to pursue employment might want to consider ways to incentivise workers to work: compensate their labour fairly, make the work environment a positive place and make their working conditions healthier.

It is clear when listening to workers going through industrial action that fair working conditions are not limited to the amount a worker is paid, but the workload they are given and the pressure they are expected to bear. Though progress has been made, the stigma persists, evident through the demonisation of people experiencing poor mental health who take time off to recuperate and receive treatment.

That these options are being accessed by people who once might have suffered in silence and pain should be not a cause for condemnation, but celebration. Better a career paused than a life lost, better a sick note, than a suicide note.