Mental Health & The NHS

Sugar_Coated_Owl

Yeah they don't like sectioning people but sometimes they have to for the persons own safety or for the safety of others. They usually prefer it if you agree to go in voluntarily.

Flugelhorn

caela wrote: »

.....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..

Don't think the FDA have any say so in this country?

There is a lot of evidence for the validity of treatments - if we were looking for cheapness and ease of administration ONLY then we would stick to smarties.

antrobus

caela wrote: »

What is an AE? ...

Alter Ego. The allegation is that you have more than one identity on MSE "because it says you joined in June 2012 therefore you would not have known about me being sectioned". Poster clearly does not appreciate that their previous posts are now a matter of public record, including any they mave made on any other similar internet forum. Such as the mentalhealthforum.net for example.

Sugar_Coated_Owl

antrobus wrote: »

Alter Ego. The allegation is that you have more than one identity on MSE "because it says you joined in June 2012 therefore you would not have known about me being sectioned". Poster clearly does not appreciate that their previous posts are now a matter of public record, including any they mave made on any other similar internet forum. Such as the mentalhealthforum.net for example.

I don't see how this post helps the OP.

Yes I am a member of that forum but don't post very much. I don't see why you're dragging another forum into this thread. You must be a very bored individual if you've got time to search for me on other forums.

loobyloose

Natty68 wrote: »

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



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.



Sounds about right..



Does make you wonder..

I see you are in kent, i assume you went to the one in maidstone, when i was there it was announced that leavers was dropped from 2years down to 18months, thats after the initial 1year in intense therapy. After that it is assumed you are *cured* as that place has such a good reputation.
Also in kent they are finding such miniscule ways to kick you off there CMHT. Mental health help has become really hard to get, no wonder suicide rates have shot up, yet papers do not report it much nowadays for some reason.

bored_at_home

if you get sectioned they can force medicate you too!
your post has realy irritated me. you say if you got dla and tax credits you would have more money and that would make you feel better?
but if thats what you are hoping for what happens when you then feel better so you dont qualify for dla any longer? have another bout of depression so you can reclaim?

dla isnt there to boost peoples incime so they can afford to live. and i dont think it should be given to anyone who declines medication to get their illness under control either.

caela_2

bored_at_home wrote: »

if you get sectioned they can force medicate you too!
your post has realy irritated me. you say if you got dla and tax credits you would have more money and that would make you feel better?
but if thats what you are hoping for what happens when you then feel better so you dont qualify for dla any longer? have another bout of depression so you can reclaim?

dla isnt there to boost peoples incime so they can afford to live. and i dont think it should be given to anyone who declines medication to get their illness under control either.

I think you've completely got the wrong end of the stick and jumped to conclusions. Having DLA registers me as disabled. Unfortunately, those working only 16 hours per week are only eligible for WTC if they are in receipt of DLA. I can only work part-time (because of mental health) and the WTC grant is what allows me to do that. This is the money I am talking about and it would help me to be independent. If DLA actually gave you enough money to get a carer, I would use if for that also. I do not need to take medication if I do not want to, for more significant reasons that I'm just being difficult (I won't recap them, I've been through it before). If medication had been proven to effectively treat most cases of mental health problems with a high success rate and minimal side-effects then it would be worth arguing about- as it is, it's not a cure by any means and I don't believe it would help me- rather it would probably worry me more. Medication has been proven to be most effective when combined with CBT, so again, the argument wouldn't stand that I should just go on meds to enter the health care system.

Maybe this is worth a read before people assume meds are the first step in any mental health treatment:

"Between 30% and 50% of individuals treated with a given antidepressant do not show a response.[50][51] Even where there has been a robust response, significant continuing depression and dysfunction is common, with relapse rates 3 to 6 times higher in such cases.[52] In addition, antidepressant drugs tend to lose efficacy over the course of treatment.[53] A number of strategies are used in clinical practice to try to overcome these limits and variations.["

It's from the wiki page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antidepressant

Sugar_Coated_Owl

Unfortunately with the NHS these days medication is usually the first route that GPs go down and if it doesn't work then they may refer you for some kind of therapy.

Dunroamin

caela wrote: »

"Between 30% and 50% of individuals treated with a given antidepressant do not show a response.[50][51] Even where there has been a robust response, significant continuing depression and dysfunction is common, with relapse rates 3 to 6 times higher in such cases.

You could also read that as "between 50% and 70% treated with a given antidepressant do show a response.".

"Relapse" is a strong word to use but many of those "relapsing" will be like me, perfectly well for months or years, feel depression returning, start on the ADs again and back to normal after a couple of weeks. Since I was first diagnosed 17 years ago that's been my recurring pattern and it's been no problem to lead a normal life and work throughout.

I think that people who claim benefits for a medical condition, whether physical or mental, and refuse the normal treatment for that condition (particularly without even trying it) should have their benefit entitlement reviewed very robustly.

Sugar_Coated_Owl

^^Great post. Couldn't agree more.