Doctors are drastically overdiagnosing people with mental-health conditions – and possibly doing more harm than good, said leading consultant neurologist Suzanne O'Sullivan.

In her book "The Age of Diagnosis", O'Sullivan also points out how hugely the number of mental-health conditions has swelled, and their criteria broadened. When DSM, the encyclopaedia of psychiatric and psychological conditions, was first published in 1952, it listed 106 diagnoses in 132 pages. The latest update, DSM-V, lists nearly 300 diagnoses across almost 1,000 pages. It's "thick enough to stop a bullet", one psychiatrist told The New Statesman.

What is happening?
ADHD diagnoses doubled for boys, and trebled for girls, between 2000 and 2018, said O'Sullivan. And, in the same timeframe, autism diagnoses rose by 787% in the UK.

Soaring figures like these are unlikely to be explained simply by "better recognition or help-seeking", said Simon Wessely, the former president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Why is it happening?
In her book – described as a "searing critique" by The Sunday Times – O'Sullivan argues that many diagnoses are influenced by patients pushing doctors for a label. "It's a collusion between people desperate for answers, and people desperate to provide answers and to satisfy people," she said.

To some extent, we're "correcting a mistake which definitely needed to be corrected" because, in the 1980s, there must have been people with needs "that were never acknowledged". But we have now "meandered into overdiagnosis", which can be "just as harmful – or more so".

Is it a problem?
Fears of ADHD overdiagnosis are "unfounded" and a "moral panic", said Women's Health. These days, there is simply "less stigma" and "more awareness" about how the condition shows up in "traditionally underdiagnosed groups, such as women and people of colour".

And a greater understanding of autism is "something to be celebrated", wrote Conor Davidson in a blog for the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Most people who are diagnosed with autism report "positive benefits" in terms of "self-acceptance, self-understanding" and greater connection to help.

But, while "increased representation" of ADHD and autism in the media also makes neurodiverse people "feel seen", said Maddy Mussen in London's The Standard, some psychiatrists say it's exactly this that may be contributing to ADHD and autism being the diagnoses du jour.

"It's the fashion equivalent of an influencer getting her lip filler dissolved," said India Block in London's The Standard. PrettyLittleThing, once famous for cheap clubwear, has had a makeover, as it attempts to establish a higher-end identity.

Its parent company, Boohoo, is also rebranding as Debenhams Group, having acquired the name from the failed high-street store. All this follows the company's "huge fall from grace", said Sky News. Will a glow-up save the "struggling" retailer?

'Palette of greige and taupe'
Once the go-to for "clubbing attire at bargain basement prices", PrettyLittleThing's "all-pink logo and packaging" captured a generation, said Block in The Standard. So, ditching this for a "palette of greige, sage, taupe and watered-down burgundy" leaves something to be desired, especially given that the price increases are not "reflected in the quality of the materials and fit".

A company that once "conjured up images" of "bodycon dresses covered in cut-outs" now sells items "reminiscent of Angela Merkel's capsule wardrobe for a G20 summit", said Katie Rosseinsky in The Independent. The tactic of the brand is "clear", even if its "sustainability practices or supply-chain transparency" are not. PLT is attempting to "jump on the bandwagon of so-called quiet luxury".

These are not just "blazers and beige blouses", said Tayler Adigun on US culture site Blavity; PLT's embrace of the "tradwife" and "business meetings" aesthetic is part of a wider "cultural pivot towards all things conservative". And not everyone will buy this "shallow" attempt to create distance from "unsavoury fast fashion" by "posturing as a luxe label". This could mark the "beginning of the end" for the brand.

'Resuscitation operation'
It is "hard to escape the impression" that this fashion company has "simply had its day in the sun", said Nils Pratley in The Guardian. Debenhams may be a well-known and trusted name, but using it in this "resuscitation operation" may prove fruitless, given how Boohoo is struggling.

The best way for the company to rekindle success is to "make good on its promise" to turn away from fast fashion, said Jenn Szekely in The Drum. Only by offering a "higher-end product" and increasing transparency on its ethical practices can this rebrand "have legs".

Winchester: Compton End
A fine period house with 17th-century origins, boasting formal gardens in the Arts & Crafts style. 4 beds, family bath, shower, kitchen, 4 receps, garden, outbuildings, garage. £1.75m; Knight Frank.

West Sussex: Nyetimber Lane, Bognor Regis
An impressive Tudor cottage, dating back to 1480. 3 beds, family bath, shower, kitchen, 2 receps, 2-bed self-contained annexe, outbuildings, garden, parking. £875,000; Hamptons.

Bedfordshire: Northwood End Road, Haynes
A gorgeous 16th-century cottage, with links to John Bunyan, on half-an-acre of mature gardens. 3 beds, 2 baths, kitchen, 3 receps, garden, garage. £945,000; Artistry.

Oxfordshire: Sarsen Cottage, Letcombe Regis
A characterful cottage, dating from the late-15th or early-16th century. 4 beds, family bath, kitchen, 3 receps, garden, parking. £890,000; Knight Frank

Starmer is shifting dramatically to the right – and we have Trump to thank
Sherelle Jacobs in The Telegraph
Keir Starmer has "struggled" as a leader but that's changing, writes Sherelle Jacobs. "Fate is moulding him" into a "conservative" who is sometimes even "to the right of the Tories". Donald Trump and Elon Musk are "driving his metamorphosis" by "upending assumptions". Starmer's increased defence spending, and slashing of foreign aid and Civil Service jobs, has "shocked" insiders and "worried" Labour centrists but it's "not good news" for Reform or the Tories.

Young men are falling behind women – but don't blame feminism
Rose O'Sullivan in The i Paper
Boys are "falling behind" economically, academically and socially, writes Rose O'Sullivan. If we "let young men fall through the cracks", we will "create a future where resentment festers, misogyny thrives, and women are left to deal with the fallout". Some men promote an "us versus them" mentality but feminism "didn't rise by tearing men down". Women need to "face some uncomfortable truths" and "start listening".

North Korea's nuclear submarine may not be as scary as it looks
Keith Johnson on Foreign Policy
Kim Jong Un's "unveiling" of a nuclear-powered submarine has set "alarm bells ringing", writes Keith Johnson. North Korea's supply of soldiers to Moscow may be reaping "dividends" with the "transfer of extremely high-end" Russian technology. This sub "seems to give North Korea the kind of nuclear triad" that only "major powers" wield. But one "home-brewed" sub "does not a flotilla make"; it "will not be best-in-class" or "anything near it".