Carer and DLA

nannytone_2

if he is a suicide risk then he definately can be sectioned.

have you considered supported housing for him?

i don't doubt you care for him deeply, but it seems a very one sided relationship right now. you need to think very carefully before you give up your life for someone, that without the correct help, will drag you down with him.
maybe if you stop looking after him so well, the professionals will have to step in.

GlasweJen

You'll need professionals on your side to get higher DLA, how do you propose you do this if none of his professionals think he is as ill as you are making him out to be? (not a dig, genuine question).

If he is at risk of suicide then being at home with a girlfriend popping in isn't enough, he needs mental health specialists around him to get him better. Could it be that having you there is masking his condition and this is a barrier to getting him treatment?

chillimog

nannytone wrote: »

if he is a suicide risk then he definately can be sectioned.

have you considered supported housing for him?

i don't doubt you care for him deeply, but it seems a very one sided relationship right now. you need to think very carefully before you give up your life for someone, that without the correct help, will drag you down with him.
maybe if you stop looking after him so well, the professionals will have to step in.

I do appreciate what you're saying, and you're right in a sense, but seeing what he's been through, constantly being let down by the professionals, I don't want to take the risk for him be successful in a suicide attempt. Yes, it perhaps is very one-sided, but I'm going into this with my eyes wide open and with committment, because I just want to help him to fight to get better. He will get better one day, if somebody would just give him the chance. But if I step back, based on the lack of support he's already received, he will have nothing.

If I could afford it, I would pay for him to have as much private treatment as he needed, just so that he could come out of the other side, healthy, happier and independent, but that isn't an option. I'm just having the deal with the situation the only way I can at the moment.

chillimog

GlasweJen wrote: »

You'll need professionals on your side to get higher DLA, how do you propose you do this if none of his professionals think he is as ill as you are making him out to be? (not a dig, genuine question).

If he is at risk of suicide then being at home with a girlfriend popping in isn't enough, he needs mental health specialists around him to get him better. Could it be that having you there is masking his condition and this is a barrier to getting him treatment?

That's what I'm fighting for. He had a great therapist at a private clinic last year, who agreed to treat him at a very low cost. Sadly, that therapist left, and so that door was closed.

The professionals do agree that he's ill, very ill, but it would seem it's down the cost and resources. I've spoken to countless people with mental illness who have the self-same problem. They often have to find their own treatment.

Last year, a girl I know quite well, was struggling with her mental health problems, was let down repeatedly by this particular clinic, and ended up killing herself. She's not the first and not the last either.

Some people would probably believe that a lot of this is rather far-fetched, but you have to see it to believe it. This clinic call you in for an assessment, tell you what they may be able to offer, then a few weeks later, you get a letter saying they have sign-posted you to a private clinic, (treatment you have to pay for!), and then discharge you from their care.

My partner's GP was disgusted at this. He is in the process of writing to the clinic to say they MUST do something to help, and provide treatment on the NHS. He believes it's high time somebody took hold of my partner's condition and dealt with it, rather than brushing it off as "not their problem." If the GP's intervention doesn't do anything, I don't know what the next step will be. Complaining to the Chairman of the PCT? Writing to the Health Secretary?

For years, my partner's illness was diagnosed as depression/anxiety, and the answer was to stuff meds down him and very little else. Those meds changed his personality and did him more harm than good. It was only when he saw his private therapist that it was discovered he had BDP, and rather than dose him up on meds, he need to Cognative (sp?) Therapy to treat the root cause. It was also mentioned that BDP is v difficult to diagnose, due to the symptoms. If you google it, you'll see that people with BDP are often seen to be trouble-causers within the NHS because of the symptoms and extremes of emotion.

To be honest, and in speaking with other people involved in the voluntary sector with regard to mental health, it would seem that because the treatment for BDP is lengthy and intensive, it proves to need a lot of expense and resources, which proves difficult for the NHS. (especially in light of cuts!) Hence the sign-posting to private therapy.

GlasweJen

Your GP shouldn't just be writing to the clinic, they should be writing to the PCT and so should you to be honest.

Part of the problem may be that the condition was previously privately treated - there are rules about people people treated both privately and through the NHS for the same condition, but then you say other have the same problem.

chillimog

GlasweJen wrote: »

Your GP shouldn't just be writing to the clinic, they should be writing to the PCT and so should you to be honest.

Part of the problem may be that the condition was previously privately treated - there are rules about people people treated both privately and through the NHS for the same condition, but then you say other have the same problem.

It could be that, but it's mainly lack of funding. I've been on countless forums with people going through the same. They are told what is on offer on the NHS for BDP, but then told, "sorry, you can't have that because we don't have the funding." One woman has seen the CMHT 5+ times, been through 5 different shrinks and told each time, they can't help because of funding. It's pathetic!

skater_kat

1) change GP - try st peters on oxford street, they are really good with MH, then ask for a new referral into access team

2) write to however it was that diagnosed BPD at the trust, you can directly ask for a re-referral into recovery team. which part of city are you in: east, west or central?

3) Contact Mind community advocate; i believe there is no waiting list at present. http://www.mindcharity.co.uk/servicescommunity.asp

4) you can get counseling at the rock clinic on eastern road for £10 per session, and also there are other free resources in the city which you can call and put yourself on the wainting list for.

5) i would seriously consider a referral for a supported housing placement for your partner. contact BHT mental health team - http://www.bht.org.uk/index.php?dir=services/mental%20health/mental%20health%20team



and also, BPD is not 'treatable' per se - but you can simply call an ambulance and he CAN get sectioned if he is suicidal; diagnosis is not always relevant in that repsect.

good luck...

skater_kat

you shoudl also request an adult social care assessment from the council. can do it online here:

http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/index.cfm?request=b1144244

this should also trigger a carers assessment.

althoguht as nannytone said, it may be more useful if you stepped back in order to allow professional assistance to step in. it is easy for services not to get involved if they think needs are met elsewhere albeit informally.

skater_kat

i would also get PALS on the case with accessing CMHT -

http://www.sussexpartnership.nhs.uk/public/pals/