advice for friend thanks

rogerblack

zak2012 wrote: »

She dont care about her ESA anymore if they stop it.she more worried about been in hospital,can they force her to accept treatment?by gp or mental health team?

Unless she is detained under the mental health act - no.
This is an extreme step - and amongst other things, extremely expensive.
It does not happen without very good reason.

RuthnJasper

Why is your friend so resistant to getting help for her illness? I don't mean to pry - I am a sufferer of very severe depression myself and for a while a few years ago I attended the local hospital department as a "day patient". I went three days a week for a couple of hours to get treatment and to stay connected with people who could help me. It was a great benefit and one for which I will always be grateful. Had I not been admitted to the day hospital I probably wouldn't be alive today.

I cannot understand why someone (unless they had something to hide) would not wish to receive treatment. If your friend had a badly broken leg, would she refuse to go to hospital to be treated for that? It's essentially the same.

I don't think it is fair that a person receives ESA whilst refusing to accept treatment to help her to get better. There are so many people whose GPs don't refer them on to more specialist care, for whatever reason, your friend should be very grateful that she has been offered this chance of a recovery and a more positive future, instead of trying to wriggle out of the treatment.

I wish your friend well for her future.

BigAunty

RuthnJasper wrote: »

Why is your friend so resistant to getting help for her illness?...

I cannot understand why someone (unless they had something to hide) would not wish to receive treatment. If your friend had a badly broken leg, would she refuse to go to hospital to be treated for that? It's essentially the same.

.

My heart breaks when I read posts which start 'I've been on IB for 10 years with depression' or 'I've been on benefits for 5 years due to agoraphobia and anxiety'. I know that poor mental health treatment provision is a factor but I am dismayed by how long some MH sufferers are out of the workplace despite their conditions being curable or manageable.

Some illnesses cause a total lack of energy, feelings of inertia and apathy and the person has no drive to do anything so that might be a factor with the OPs friend.

As an observation (not directed at the OP), people inspired by buddhist philosophies often note that some people would prefer the comfort of their existing suffering because it is familiar whereas the personal transformation required to end it is too scary to contemplate, fear of change, so they remain stuck. For example, Eckhart Tolle

"“Once you have identified with some form of negativity, you do not want to let it go, and on a deeply unconscious level, you do not want positive change. It would threaten your identity as a depressed, angry or hard-done by person. You will then ignore, deny or sabotage the positive in your life. This is a common phenomenon."

Again (not directed at the OP, sorry if I'm taking this off topic), some critics of our current therapeutic and self centred society and who do not like the disability/sickness welfare system, say that being classed as vulnerable, is now a source of admiration, a badge of pride, that has now replaced statuses like 'working class' and it now offers higher status to present yourself as sick/disabled rather than in a low paid job. For these critics, people cling to their vulnerabilities because it is the primary way they identify themselves now that the traditional working class ways of working have been eroded. To them, one gets more respect from peers saying 'I am poorly' than 'I work in Poundland'.

There was a documentary on PTSD awhile back where critics of the diagnosis and compensation system (for example, for injuries in a car crash) says that the sufferers subconsciously exaggerated or clung to their symptoms because it mattered to them that they were seen to be authentic sufferers because they were facing rewards for being a victim. The documentary didn't say the sufferers were faking it, just that their self recovery was compromised.

lukieboy96

I think it would be good for her to accept the counselling if the doctor is suggesting it. As others have said, you are very lucky to be offered it.

Having depression/phobia's is sometimes part of other diagnosis' too. I have MH problems and have a CPN. My diagnosis is BPD, PTSD and Chronic Depression. I can feel ok one day and the next feel like the world is closing in on me. I wish that I didn't feel like this.

StormyWeather_2

zak2012 wrote: »

How this may go against her?if she refuse thanks .

we (friends/family told her good for her to seek treatmeabt but she dont like too she had meantal health and CPN for 2 years before they discharched her .

Can you (friends/family) all work together to take her to and from the appointments for a while. If she only has to walk from the front door to the car and then from the car to the door of the hospital, and she has someone with her, it might seem a bit less daunting.

Also, it does say on the page you linked to:

Alternatively, your GP can refer you to us by sending us your details and you can ask your GP to notify us of any special requirements in accessing our service, for example if English is not your first language and you require an interpreter.

Maybe she could ask for a friend to be in the room with her for the first few visits. Then gradually draw back. So the first week, the companion sits through the meetings with her. Then the companion sits through the first half of the meeting then leaves them alone for the remainder. Next stage the companion leaves them at the meeting room door and waits outside and so on ...

Might she need an interpreter?