The OECD found earlier this year that Sweden has a very large number of people who request mental health care, especially among young people who neither study nor work. The OECD suggests that one reason can be found in the greatly reduced school health care.
At a median independent school, it takes 22 weeks for a student to make contact with a school psychologist. The Minister of Social Security's solution is to revise the rules for who can be on sick leave for psychological reasons so that fewer people do so. Because according to this minister, the mentally ill feel better by working.
When the time is right, most mentally ill people probably feel better from work in individually adapted forms. But from the time one becomes ill, it can take several years before the patient is ready for this. Maybe she never will be. However, long-term job searching can lead to mental illnesses due to the stress and isolation that a long-term job shortage can create. So a full employment policy is a good way to counteract stress, but to prematurely force a mentally ill person to work/look for a job or to deny someone who has just become mentally ill care is deeply unhealthy for the sick person.
Read more here:
Aftonbladet Leader: "Mentally ill people should spit in their fists” by Daniel Swedin
Aftonbladet Leader: "Today's Sweden makes young people sick” by Daniel Swedin