Targeting people who need support for depression and anxiety will only make these growing problems worse

• Jay Watts is a clinical psychologist, psychotherapist and senior lecturer working in London

When does crude electioneering become a threat to public health? Rishi Sunak’s and Mel Stride’s relentless attack on disabled people , with a specific targeting of mental health claimants, will have damaging and potentially deadly consequences. Those of us working in acute psychiatric wards and community services can attest to the severe impact their suggestion of stopping disability benefits would have, and the pain caused by the callous manner in which they have delegitimised mental anguish.

Sunak has accused the benefits system of “ medicalising the everyday challenges and anxieties of life ”. Stride, the secretary of state for work and pensions, has labelled depression and anxiety as conditions potentially unworthy of welfare. He proposes vouchers, one-off grants and improved access to treatment and support as alternatives to cash benefits. This approach not only complicates the process with additional bureaucratic hurdles, but also insinuates that long-term needs can be addressed with temporary solutions, which is not feasible.

Jay Watts is a clinical psychologist, psychotherapist and senior lecturer working in London

Exclusive: London mayor says poverty, alienation and ill health must be tackled to prevent crimes, after London sword attack

Too many people with mental health issues who have committed violent crimes missed out on treatment as a result of cuts to support services, Sadiq Khan has warned.

In an interview with the Guardian ahead of this week’s local elections, he said such crimes were preventable and said years of austerity has left NHS mental health provision on its knees.

Researchers examined data from seven studies involving more than 9,000 women around the world

Perimenopausal women have a 40% higher risk of experiencing depression than premenopausal women, a global analysis of research suggests.

Experts from University College London (UCL) found women could be vulnerable to depression in the run-up to their periods stopping, with the development of new cases or existing symptoms worsening. The research underlines the need to provide support and screening to effectively address women’s mental health needs.

Hainault attack may be latest incident linked to mental ill-health, at a time when NHS services are struggling

While the full picture of the Hainault attack is yet to emerge, the early briefings from the Metropolitan police were clear: a key line of inquiry, in terms of possible motive, was whether the suspect has a history of mental ill-health.

If the police hunches are correct, the tragedy may turn out to be the latest in a series of high-profile killings that have focused public attention on the adequacy of mental health treatment and care.

What ministers herald as key reform is in fact idiotic and unworkable. The plans would be laughable if they weren’t so harmful

There is a scene in The Simpsons in which the villainous Mr Burns enlists a team of monkeys to reproduce a Charles Dickens novel on the cheap. Hunched over a row of typewriters, the simians cannot get the job done without a range of bumbling typos.

I thought of this as I watched Mel Stride, the work and pensions secretary, on Monday set out so-called cost-saving changes to the flagship disability benefit , personal independence payment (Pip), in what he described as “probably the most fundamental reforms in a generation”.

Frances Ryan is a Guardian columnist

Many practitioners consider CBT the gold standard of therapy, but does it work for everyone?

The first time I learned about cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), I felt the pleasure of recognition and of superiority. I was in high school, and it would be years before I visited a therapist of any kind, but from what I gathered online, CBT consisted of what I was already doing.

The modality grew from a core belief that irrational thoughts are responsible for emotional suffering, according to Rachael Rosner, a historian writing a biography of Aaron Beck, the father of CBT. It followed that changing these thoughts could alleviate the distress.

Having turned my back on the partying, hangovers and self-destruction, I’ve slowly worked out what was behind them – and how to replace them with something better

The first alcoholic drink I had was a lemon Hooch in a gay club called the Palm Beach in south London in 1991. For the first time in my life the anxiety and self-consciousness I thought was just my personality melted away. A decades-long whirlwind of partying, hangovers and self-destructive behaviour ensued, all fuelled by trauma and self-loathing. That was until I finally realised too much was enough and that I needed to stop. Ten years ago, after 22 years of problem drinking, I shared a bottle of champagne with a friend and put the bottle and the glasses in the recycling bin. I haven’t had a drink since. These are 10 things I’ve learned in those 10 years of being alcohol-free.

Clinicians say crackdown on people eligible for Pip payments does not address UK’s long-term sickness problem

Mentally ill, sick and disabled people are being used as a “political football” to make the government seem tough rather than addressing the causes of the UK’s growing long-term sickness problem, campaigners have warned, as ministers unveiled tentative proposals to cut disability benefits.

Potentially thousands of people claiming personal independence payment (Pip) could lose the benefit – currently worth between £29 and £184 a week – under changes designed to tighten eligibility and, where possible, replace monthly cash payments with one-off vouchers or access to specialist support.

Coroner’s jury made first-ever finding after hearing of failings at Woodhill prison that contributed to Robert Fenlon’s death

The death of a man who took his own life in prison in Buckinghamshire has been recorded as an unlawful killing, in what is believed to be the first finding of its type by an inquest jury.

The family of Robert Fenlon – who have been campaigning since his death while on remand at Woodhill prison in March 2016 – called on authorities to engage in “serious reflection” after the finding by the inquest, which was told of a catalogue of failures.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org