Mental Health & The NHS

Sugar_Coated_Owl

Look at it this way if you had a physical illness e.g. diabetes you would take the prescribed medication so why not take it for a mental health problem? It doesn't really make sense.

Natty68

kurgon wrote: »

What therapies ahve you accessed. Do your local; service have any democratic communities (psychological support groups for emotionally unstable presentations.).
Difficltu to know what to suggest without knowing what you have accessed.
As for mental health being poorly funded this is hogwash. The Govt is committed to a rolling out program of Improved Access to Psychological seervcices (IAPT), ensuring that people who need therapy can access it. This is, in fact, where a lot of the money is currently going. Therapies focus on CBT but can also include CAT (more analytical than CBT), DBT(NICE recommends for peronality disorders), IPT (for those with relationship issues) and a vaity of others.

All I can say is you must be in a highly funded area, or are delusional. As this is definately not happening..

Gingernutty wrote: »

You clearly haven't been to my neck of the woods.

Although almost catatonic, close to losing my current job and almost obsessively thinking of how to commit suicide, I've been discharged from both Psychology and Psychiatric services as I'm doing so well.

I've got an individually numbered one use only card with a number on it which is my "Ticket to Wellness". Should I require help, I can call the telephone number on the card for help - it gives The Samaritans as a number to call in an emergency.

Apparently suicidal thoughts aren't an emergency.

NHS Mental Healthcare is pooey. How much money the NHS has committed to spend and how much they are spending are two different things

I've apparently used up my funding for my group therapy, and actually had my discharge meeting this week. Even though I was promised three years of long term therapy I have only done 18 mths, and in that time the system has changed again..

And I am nowhere near better believe me, I am still having suicidal thoughts as well as being totally unstable. But I will be given a list of numbers - mainly out of hours care and the Samaritans (these were promoted as the best one). And then handed over to my gp's surgery, where I haven't built up a relationship with one individual gp since the takeover.

mynameistallulah wrote: »

Please let us know where you live, as your commissioning board is far more effective than most! In my area CBT is only available on a short term basis, anything over twelve sessions and you have to go back on the waiting list, and DBT only in a group therapy environment, which makes it inaccessible for a good number of people.

At my last appt the psychiatrist told me I was too ill for help at present, so there was no point in continuing with the sessions. However he then wrote to my GP and told him I had progressed sufficiently that I could be discharged. I can only assume he did this to make his figures look good ...

Sounds about right..

Zziggi wrote: »

You know this is just what happened to my OH as well!!

Does make you wonder..

DomRavioli

mynameistallulah wrote: »

Paranoia can be a side effect of pretty much all AD's, even SSRI's, and I speak from personal experience. So again, how can you make such a sweeping statement when you know nothing about the OP? Seems pretty ignorant to me.

Its not just about the OP, its about people who are not medication compliant. If you have an issue with the safety of medication, then you need to speak to NICE. Paranoia is a rare side effect of some mental health drugs (noone mentioned antidepressants, but you missed out the majority of MH illnesses there!), but can be managed. If the OP doesn't want to take the medication which is prescribed to them, then thats their beef, but they shouldn't whinge when they aren't better because of a lack of provision of services, when medication can HELP - not treat, but HELP.

caela_2

razorbladekisses wrote: »

Look at it this way if you had a physical illness e.g. diabetes you would take the prescribed medication so why not take it for a mental health problem? It doesn't really make sense.

No, I don't take medication for anything. I don't trust them and am against animal testing and the way these things are produced. There are no real long term side effect studies and it's probably what's poisoning our nation. I know that might sound paranoid which wouldn't be far off with me having mental health issues, but it's also another thing that saddens me about humanity and makes me more depressed. Weird situation to be in, I know.

Sugar_Coated_Owl

So if you were so sick that you had to be admitted to hospital and given drugs you would refuse them, is that correct?

SingleSue

I used to refuse medication (or accept the prescription but then stop taking them after a few days) until my last breakdown.

That time, I took my medication every day, partly because the doctor gave me ones I couldn't just stop taking without some very horrendous side effects and partly because I was so bad. I believe the medication gave my brain time to repair through a period of rest and also got me through the worst of my symptoms.

Mind you, I probably need to be on something now (and have probably needed it for some while) but I tend not to see my doctor about my mental health ...I just can't face the thought of taking them again after the horrendous journey I had coming off the last lot!

ani_26

p999j wrote: »

This probably is not the best place to discuss this issue, but I have no doubt that there are many people here who are, or have been, in your situation.

In my blackest times, I felt as you do. The first thing I would recommend is to take time out for yourself. From a job, from friends,whatever-just allow yourself space to breath.

If you find things are piling up on you, don't try to tackle them as yet. Make a conscious choice to put them to one side for a while, while you concentrate on YOU.

Slowly, after however long, keep a notepad beside you, and note down things as you think of them. Things you want to do. Little tasks around the house that have been bothering you. People you want to chat with. Anything you think of. You don't have to do anything yet, but once it is on paper, it does tend to relieve the mental problem of the accumulation of too many things being overwhelming. Be kind to yourself.

I can recommend a book by M Scott Peck called the road less travelled. It helped me tremendously by reassuring me that what we now call mental illness is the body's way of making us realise a situation is wrong for us. Maybe wrong job, wrong relationship, etc. If we have not made a conscious choice ourselves to lift us out of that difficulty then our body takes over and MAKES us shut down for a while.

We need that reflective time to heal and to work out another way forward. I now look back on my blackest time as a few months when I didn't get out of bed, was in the wrong job where I was made to compromise my ethics, and I was in a relationship where I was not fulfilled.

So while I am suggesting that you act on very little, I think the best solution for me was to firstly make the difficult decisions to know what was wrong, then to work out where I went from there (scary prospect leaving a well paying job) and how I took the first steps to get out of the situation I was in. Boy, it was frightening, but it'd have been more scary if I had stayed in that situation, eroding my self-esteem and principles, feeling useless and hopeless.

So many people suffer from these feelings. Hopelessness is a realistic proposition when you have lost hope and can't focus on what is in store for you. You will get hope back but I found that I was repeating a cycle where I ended up hopeless. I chose the wrong men. I worked in the wrong job. I lived in the wrong place. Everything I was was as a result of my own choices. I didn't beat myself up about that, but I did have to re-evaluate how I had to act is a different way, use different language and approach and deal with people differently.

As you are on a money saving website, I will assume you have some financial difficulties too. They are inevitable with long term mental illness as it becomes impossible to hold down a job with frequent absences, and the less money you have, the more you get into debt just by living. There are organisations who can help, including CAB, but I couldn't deal with mine for some time, as I had heaps of unopened mail, what mail I had was in numerous places and CAB wanted me to come in with all relevant documents. It all felt too much. Through CAB, I was put in contact with a local charity who were wonderful-they came out to my house, they worked through my piles of mail. Took me 6 years to get out of the situation with the debt.

Very long reply, I know. But there are people who are compassionate and kind and can help you when you are ready to be helped. The way to access them is through CAB or through any webpage covering your illness.

Take your time and hopefully one day you can look back and think it was a regenerative process.

I wish you well. x

That has to be one of the best posts ever, on this website.

Thanks to p999j xx

caela_2

razorbladekisses wrote: »

So if you were so sick that you had to be admitted to hospital and given drugs you would refuse them, is that correct?

As I said, yes. I haven't had a single pill for 10 years or so. I really don't trust the stuff and am happier for not taking it. I don't think mental health is a matter of just medicating an imbalance- to an extent this is true but external factors play such a heavy role in depression that it's more about helping that person to cope and keeping a tight leash on potential stressors- money for instance. If my DLA had ever been sorted out, I would still be getting WTC meaning I'd still be in the part-time work I was doing and enjoying. I would not have had to move house twice and been almost homeless. I would not be broke right now. A lot of situations could have been made a lot easier.

There are so many things they could do to help, but it's remembering that the little things really make a difference. Even if my GP suggested coming to see her once a week just to keep an eye on things, that would help. To work out things like maybe writing a DLA letter or giving me a diet plan or anything.

Sugar_Coated_Owl

I'm sorry but if you aren't even going to try taking medication then I think they made the right decision refusing you DLA.

kno

razorbladekisses wrote: »

I'm sorry but if you aren't even going to try taking medication then I think they made the right decision refusing you DLA.

Says the Person who has had to be sectioned how many times?

OP is well within her rights to refuse medication, it isn't the default when managing Mental Illness. OP have you been referred to your councils Mental Health trust or are you only dealing with your GP?