A third of all people who receive incapacity benefit have a mental health problem, the chief medical adviser for the Department for Work and Pensions said last week.

Professor Mansel Aylward said that the proportion had increased dramatically from 14 per cent in 1992, when muscular-skeletal problems was the main reason for claims.

But the increase comes in spite of the number of people with diagnosed mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder staying the same.

Aylward attributed the increase in people with mental health problems claiming incapacity benefit to a change in culture: "We feel that there has been a loss of stigma associated with mental health, maybe because people no longer describe it as mental health problems but as stress in the workplace."

Delegates at the work and mental health conference organised by the Harrogate Centre for Excellence in Health and Social Care heard how having an occupation was important for people with mental health problems and assisted recovery.

The government's consultation on the Pathways to Work green paper ended earlier this month. It proposes the creation of a "return to work" payment of £40 a week for 52 weeks for people moving off incapacity benefit and going back to work, where their income is less than £15,000.