When Telling the Truth Can Cost You Your Freedom

Disclaimer: This article contains sensitive trigger wording relating to mental health, self-harm, detention, and human rights concerns. Reader discretion is advised. This content is provided for information and advocacy purposes only and does not constitute legal or medical advice. If you are in immediate distress or crisis, please contact emergency services or a qualified healthcare professional. Views expressed reflect community concerns and reported experiences. Individual circumstances vary, and professional guidance should always be sought where appropriate.

Why disabled people and those with mental health conditions fear the impact of the Mental Health Act 2025

Across the UK, growing concern is being voiced by disabled people, campaigners, and families about the real-world consequences of new mental health legislation. Reports highlighted by Disability News Service warn that the Mental Health Act 2025 “offers no solution” to long-standing problems of abuse, exclusion, and structural racism within the mental health system.

The Act reforms the Mental Health Act 1983, the legal framework used to detain and treat people deemed to be in a mental health crisis or at risk of harm to themselves or others. While ministers have welcomed the changes, disabled campaigners continue to raise crucial concerns that the reforms fail to guarantee full human rights protections and may still allow forcible detention and degrading treatment.

For many in our communities, this is not an abstract legal debate. It is about day-to-day safety, dignity, and whether being honest about distress could lead to loss of liberty.

The chilling effect of “mandatory questions.”

We are increasingly hearing reports that people are being asked, by health professionals or government-linked services, whether they have self-harmed, had suicidal thoughts, or struggle with social interaction due to learning difficulties, ADHD, or other mental health conditions.

While safeguarding is essential, many disabled people fear that these questions may now carry heavier consequences.

The anxiety is simple but profound:

Will telling the truth result in detention rather than support?
Will neurodivergence or communication difficulties be treated as risk factors for confinement?
Will people avoid seeking help altogether out of fear?

When individuals believe that honesty could lead to being institutionalised, the system stops being protective and starts becoming punitive.

This creates a dangerous chilling effect, where people feel pressured to stay silent, mask symptoms, or disengage from services such as the National Health Service entirely.

Human rights and equality: what could be at stake

Disabled people and those with mental health conditions are deeply worried that aspects of the new framework risk breaching core legal protections, including:

Equality and non-discrimination

Under the Equality Act 2010, disability is a protected characteristic. Any policy or practice that disproportionately targets people because of mental health conditions, learning disabilities, or neurodivergence may amount to unlawful discrimination, particularly if reasonable adjustments are not made.

Human rights protections

The Human Rights Act 1998 incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law. Potential areas of concern include:

Article 5 – Right to liberty and security: detention must be lawful, necessary, and proportionate
Article 3 – Freedom from inhuman or degrading treatment: coercive or degrading practices are prohibited
Article 8 – Right to private and family life: intrusive assessments and loss of autonomy must be justified and minimal

Campaigners argue that continued forced detention, exclusion, and unequal treatment of disabled people may also conflict with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which emphasises autonomy, dignity, and community-based support.

Is this about care, or cost-cutting?

Many people cannot ignore the wider context.

At a time when public spending is under intense pressure and disability benefits are repeatedly described as “spiralling”, communities are asking uncomfortable questions:

Is increased detention being normalised as a substitute for proper social care?
Are institutional settings being treated as a cheaper alternative to meaningful community support?
Are disabled people being reframed as liabilities rather than citizens with rights?

When someone is locked away, they no longer require income support, but that is not justice, and it is not care.

What we are doing, and how you can help

We are actively trying to protect our communities from the dangers they may face under this new legal landscape.

If you have been asked intrusive or distressing questions about self-harm, suicide, or your ability to interact socially, especially if this felt coercive or threatening, we want to hear from you.

Your name will not be published
Your data will not be shared
You remain in control of your story unless you explicitly choose otherwise

Your experiences help build evidence, inform advocacy, and strengthen calls for accountability.

Remember: you are not alone.
Together, we will continue to fight for justice, dignity, and lives that matter.

Conclusion

The Mental Health Act 2025 was presented as a reform. But for many disabled people, it represents fear, fear that honesty will be punished, that difference will be medicalised, and that vulnerability will be met with confinement instead of compassion.

True reform must place human rights at its centre. It must prioritise community support over coercion, inclusion over exclusion, and care over control.

We stand with every person who feels unheard, unsafe, or targeted. And we will keep speaking out, together, until the system protects people instead of frightening them.