Mental Health & The NHS

Sugar_Coated_Owl

Sorry but what has me being sectioned got to do with this thread?

I'm not saying she can't refuse medication, she can and has done so but she shouldn't expect to get benefits such as DLA if she won't help herself.

Oh and btw you must be an AE because it says you joined in June 2012 therefore you would not have known about me being sectioned.

kno

razorbladekisses wrote: »

Sorry but what has me being sectioned got to do with this thread?

.

That in some stage of your treatment you obviously refused to comply with your care plan, therefore you are hardly one to take the moral highground.

Mental Health care should be taken from multi-disciplinary approach, not just a case of prescribing pills.

Sugar_Coated_Owl

I didn't refuse anything in actual fact. I have never stopped taking my medication.

You're right it should be a multi-disciplinary approach however that isn't the way the NHS is. The first route tends to be the GP prescribing anti-depressants. There is usually a very long waiting list for things like counselling, CBT and DBT.

Flugelhorn

caela wrote: »

I can understand that medication helps for some people and I'm happy for them that they have something that works, but I am quite strongly opposed to taking it myself and that's not something that will change. I guess a lot of people will think I am inviting a situation on myself if I refuse available help in the form of medication, but until I can get some serious help I'm not prepared to put myself at further risk. I think the NHS desperately need to sort it out because there is no reason to put physical conditions over mental ones.

I think you have to look at this from both sides - it can be very frustrating when trying to treat people if they immediately say no to what is most likely to help them. A bit like someone with a broken arm saying they don't like plaster of paris and want physiotherapy - yes the physio will help but only after the POP has helped the body to heal a bit.
I find that unless really depressed people take some antidepressants they can't get to a state where they can benefit from any of the other therapies on offer. I tell people that they are not a cure just a way of stabilising things and making the other treatments more effective.

caela_2

Sugar_Coated_Owl 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.

They didn't refuse me DLA on those grounds, they just didn't believe I was disabled. I felt the Tribunal judge had a gripe with me- she asked if I could cook a main meal and I said no, so she asked what I ate and I explained it was mostly ready meals or take away. She then inferred that because I could order a take away online (a task which should take only a few seconds but can take me hours as I'm very indecisive), I was fully capable of the concentration involved to cook a meal (approx. 30 minutes). She also said that because I could get up for work (in the afternoon/ evenings) by setting several alarms that my sleep disorder did not impact on my life and I should just 'set an alarm' to get up on most days. Not only was this misinformed and ignorant, she shouted over my responses. I tried to explain that the notion of setting an alarm was an insulting remedy to a serious and chronic sleep disorder which meant I couldn't attend school during most of my A levels leading to retakes and then subsequently failing university through non-attendance and now, not even knowing what day it is most of the time. Apparently, I should have just set an alarm, or read a book to get me to bed or taken a relaxing bath as so many other non-informed (but mostly well-meaning) people suggest.

caela_2

kno wrote: »

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?

Hey, they haven't referred me to anything, just gave me a list of free advice services and charities, although I do not feel it is the responsibility of the Samaritans to substitute a nationally funded health service. I don't know anything about a mental health trust, is that a CMHT?

caela_2

Sugar_Coated_Owl wrote: »

Sorry but what has me being sectioned got to do with this thread?

I'm not saying she can't refuse medication, she can and has done so but she shouldn't expect to get benefits such as DLA if she won't help herself.

Oh and btw you must be an AE because it says you joined in June 2012 therefore you would not have known about me being sectioned.

What is an AE? And do you mind me asking how/ why you were sectioned (I understand if it's none of my business lol, I'm just worried cos I self-harm sometimes but have been thinking of it a lot more lately)

caela_2

Flugelhorn wrote: »

I think you have to look at this from both sides - it can be very frustrating when trying to treat people if they immediately say no to what is most likely to help them. A bit like someone with a broken arm saying they don't like plaster of paris and want physiotherapy - yes the physio will help but only after the POP has helped the body to heal a bit.
I find that unless really depressed people take some antidepressants they can't get to a state where they can benefit from any of the other therapies on offer. I tell people that they are not a cure just a way of stabilising things and making the other treatments more effective.

Hi,

I understand what you're saying, however I resent people making the comparison between plastering a broken bone to taking medication for mental health problems. Plastering a broken bone is a risk-free, tried, tested and proven method of fixing a straight-forward problem and it completely makes sense. No-one is going to refuse it unless they have some particular reason. However, taking mind-altering medication with serious and potentially life-changing effects is a big risk that a lot of people object to taking when the matter is mental health- a psychological, not physical disorder. If someone broke their arm, for instance, it would be just as ludicrous to suggest we fix it with counselling. As far as I'm concerned, this isn't a medical condition and I'd like to preserve the physical health I currently have, rather than adding another issue to an already (seemingly) extensive list of problems. I know you say it helps sometimes and I'm sure most people agree, but I don't want to be poisoning my body with the drug of massive, money-grabbing and highly unethical pharma companies who literally run the medical world and control what is on the market and what the FDA approves. Why would I take the most riskiest step towards treatment first, before I even tried the rest? It simply does not make sense that they offer this treatment as the go to- it is only validated in terms of the fact it is relatively cheap and easy to administer. Essentially, take this pill and go away is what they are saying. I'm afraid it will take a lot more than that and I'd like some options rather than having this pharmaceutical gateway to safer and more well-established treatments. Plus, I don't take medication for my beliefs against animal testing so I think they have to consider this and provide me with another option as it's a fairly unwavering belief I don't plan on compromising. As they say, if you'd die for nothing you'd live for nothing.

Sugar_Coated_Owl

caela wrote: »

What is an AE? And do you mind me asking how/ why you were sectioned (I understand if it's none of my business lol, I'm just worried cos I self-harm sometimes but have been thinking of it a lot more lately)

I've been sectioned a few times but this time it was for self-harming/overdosing/swallowing things.

caela_2

Sugar_Coated_Owl wrote: »

I've been sectioned a few times but this time it was for self-harming/overdosing/swallowing things.

I've been in a private hospital twice (only voluntary) and it is a permanent fear that having mental health problems means it's always a possibility that you could get bad enough that you'd be forcibly hospitalised. Hope you're doing better now. I know it's not like they go round sectioning everyone with OCD or depression lol, I know it's a very difficult process, I was just wondering where they draw the line. A few of my friends have been sectioned and it's usually someone calling in on them like a family member or something which gets it done.