In recent years, the number of youth diagnosed with depression, anxiety, ADHD, and other psychiatric disorders has skyrocketed. While increased awareness and destigmatisation are certainly factors, one cannot ignore the role of pharmaceutical lobbying and aggressive social media marketing in inflating these figures … writes Kanwal Toor
In the UK, mental health awareness has soared over the past two decades, a much-needed development in a society that once silenced the suffering of millions. But behind the fierce campaign for mental wellness lies a murkier reality, the shadow of Big Pharma, the web of social media – whose influence on MH has grown so deep that it raises urgent ethical and scientific questions. Are we really helping or are we medicating profit margins?
I am no great psychologist, just a mother with an MSc in psychology. However, the direction the world of psychology is heading, petrifies me – as a parent and as a responsible community member I fear the future of our impressionable youth. I do not criticize all necessary medical interventions, by no means – however, our society’s vulnerabilities are being violated by big pharma and the so-called back lane therapists – this is not acceptable. And we must ask questions?
Diagnosis as a Market Strategy
In recent years, the number of youth diagnosed with depression, anxiety, ADHD, and other psychiatric disorders has skyrocketed. While increased awareness and destigmatisation are certainly factors, one cannot ignore the role of pharmaceutical lobbying and aggressive social media marketing in inflating these figures. Mental health conditions are now routinely diagnosed through checklists that reduce complex human suffering into tick-box criteria and every diagnosis offers a golden opportunity for pharmaceutical companies to sell a lifelong “solution.”
Antidepressants like SSRIs, stimulants for ADHD, and benzodiazepines are among the most commonly prescribed drugs in the UK. Government guidelines are intended to regulate this, but these same guidelines are heavily informed by research funded by pharmaceutical companies, many of whom stand to gain billions. That’s not a system of health, it’s a commercial pipeline and our children are paying a hefty price for this.
Overmedication and Under-Resourcing
One of the most insidious aspects of Big Pharma’s influence is how it diverts attention from deeper social issues. Poverty, loneliness, trauma, and inequality are root causes of much mental suffering but these require social investment, not pills. Yet the NHS, under constant strain and cutbacks, has increasingly turned to medications as a cheaper, quicker fix than long-term therapy or community support.
Children and young people are particularly vulnerable. ADHD diagnoses among UK adolescents have soared, with stimulant prescriptions like methylphenidate (Ritalin) doubling in recent years.
Critics of the pharmaceutical-psychiatric alliance are often sidelined as “anti-science” or accused of trivializing mental illness. But questioning the profit motives behind widespread drug prescription is not a denial of mental health, it’s a demand for better, more holistic care. It’s a call for funding therapy, social services, peer support, and prevention strategies that treat people as more than chemical vessels. And I am prepared to be called an anti-science proponent. If science is unregulated, it’s not science anymore, it’s business – not at my children’s cost.
The Role of Social Media in over-medicalising Mental Health
While social media can be a valuable tool for mental health awareness and support, it also contributes in several ways to the over-medicalisation of mental health issues.
In today’s youth normal emotions are framed as Disorders. Social media often pathologises everyday emotional experiences. For example: Feeling sad is labelled as “depression. “Being nervous becomes “anxiety disorder”. Fluctuations in mood may be tagged as “bipolar”. This framing can lead many to believe they need medical or pharmaceutical interventions for what are often normal reactions to life events and often only need family or societal support.
Social media has successfully encouraged a Self Diagnosis culture amongst the youth. Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube feature content from influencers or non-professionals who share mental health advice or symptom checklists. Many youth self-diagnose conditions like ADHD or autism based on simplified or inaccurate information, bypassing clinical evaluation.The #Hashtag culture social media has developed is now the online identities of many children.
Where Do We Go From Here?
To untangle mental health care from Big Pharma and the TikToks and facebooks, we must start with transparency and accountability.
Mandatory disclosure of financial ties between researchers, regulators, and pharmaceutical firms should be available for public consumption. We must also invest in non-pharmacological treatments and ensure they are widely accessible through the NHS. Social Media giants should be held responsible for content that is changing the lives of millions of children. Quacks and inept influencers should be caught and their accounts closed.
The time has come to rethink our relationship with mental health and with the industries that profit from it. If we don’t, the real cost won’t just be wasted money. It will be lives misdiagnosed, voices unheard, and suffering unhealed.
