Archive · 9 Dec 2025
Experts Warn Over-Diagnosis of Stress Can Harm
Doctors are worried that people are being told they have mental health problems when they are just feeling stressed about normal life things.
This is called over-diagnosis.
While stress can be helpful sometimes, too much stress can make you sick.
But not all stress needs a doctor.
Experts say you should only get help if stress is making it hard to live your life.
They suggest things like exercise, talking to friends, and relaxing to manage stress without needing a diagnosis.
Experts warn that normal life stresses are increasingly being medicalised, leading to over-diagnosis of mental health disorders.
Stress can be helpful in moderate amounts, but chronic stress can lead to physical and mental health problems.
Over-diagnosis risks medicalising normal life events, diluting resources for genuine distress, and causing stigma.
Experts advise seeking help only when stress impairs daily functioning or is caused by major trauma.
Simple self-care steps like exercise, relaxation, and social support can help manage stress without medical intervention.
- Who
- General physicians in England and healthcare professionals like Dr. Trideep Choudhury
- What
- Concerns about the over-diagnosis of stress and normal life events as mental health disorders
- When
- Recently, as highlighted in a BBC report
- Where
- Globally, with a focus on England and India
- Why
- To prevent the medicalisation of normal stress and to ensure resources are available for those genuinely in need
- Primary Category
- HEALTH
- Secondary Category
- Mental Health
- Tertiary Category
- Stress
- Quaternary Category
- Over-Diagnosis
- Source of Concern
- General Physicians in England
- Expert Opinion
- Dr. Trideep Choudhury, Consultant Psychiatrist, Fortis Healthcare
- Risks of Over-Diagnosis
- Medicalising normal life events, diluting resources for genuine distress, stigma and self-perception issues
- When to Seek Help
- Persistent disturbance in life functions, chronic fatigue, trouble functioning, maladaptive coping, major trauma