Many of those who present mental heath issues take great pains to tell me how they often feel that their encounters with the Mental Health Care professionals are a game of strategy and chance. They go looking for some kind of help, support and a glimmer of daylight in their darkness but the professionals they look to are, apparently, more concerned with seeing how quickly they can bang the gong and show them the door because they've said the wrong thing.
One of our local mentally health customers often tells me how they are refused support because they also have a drink problem and that this calls an end to anything before it starts. The problems they have lead them towards drink and the drink exacerbates the mental health issues. The Police are often called and the person is taken away only to be released, or on a few occasions merely leave without anyone noticing, back into the community and the same presenting issues!
Another person came and told me that they need help for their mental-health problems and when I suggested that we start on the 'Go' square of mental health support merely burst into tears. When I asked what was going on they told me that they'd been seen and told that they just needed to get involved with a local agency who were funded to provide strategies and support. They'd been to that and were passed on to another group who told them that they were full and to go back to square one! They'd been back to the start and were told that as they'd failed to get involved with the agency they'd been pointed to they'd failed to comply and so they could apply to be seen again in some time hence.
A third person told me that they'd been 'referred' to a new place and that when they arrived found themselves in a group where they were encouraged to revisit the problems that had caused their mental illness in the first place and 'name' the issues. Fortunately they legged it and left the (undoubtedly) well meaning muppet running the group to damage someone else.
Now there are many problems surrounding mental health and the care of those who suffer from mental illness. The first is that amongst the professionals I meet there are two apparent categories who struggle with their chosen task:
i. Professional, caring and over-worked, and
ii. Golgafrinchams (Doug Adams 'a load of useless bl**dy loonies'!)
I fear that many in group 1 eventually give up and either retire (and seek mental health care themselves) or join group 2.
I tried a mental health 'care line' this afternoon to see whether complaints about being ripped off and then dumped. My call lasted one minute fifty-eight seconds during which I was told that my call was important and was informed (four times) that I was in a queue as they were 'very busy' and then I was told that they were sorry for the delay and to try again later (or look at their website) and then had the line dropped on me.
I now understand why the mentally-ill person who'd used their last mobile credit was so distressed when they told me of their experience. I'm going to try it again a few more times before I contact the organisation a different way to discuss their shortcomings.
Mind you - I was privileged to sit in on a client consultation today and, well . . . I'll tell you more when I've had a chance to discuss it further with the client (or in fact 'non-client').
Know someone who suffers from a mental illness? Statistics suggest a one in four ratio - which means you probably do. How are they being cared for by society, health professionals and Church?
4 comments:
I find my depression gets worse when I have to deal with 'professionals' - always looking for a way of cutting their workload at the expense of those they are paid to care for. Problem is the problem is getting worse as the money dries up and the lack of money is killing people mentally, emotionally and physically.
I can understand your sentiments and will be one of many (I trust and pray) who will be looking to ways in which we can get involved to make a real difference in this area.
I'm trying but it's a very hard area to enter in to!
Dick,
I have real compassion for those with mental health issue or depressive illnesses. I've seen some in my own life experience with people close to me, and some in others, particularly within the service environment.
The problem is that Mental Health, despite it's recent higher profile in society, still seems to carry a social stigma, not particularly helped by the sort of media coverage which seems to denigrate mental health issues. So, its great to see prominent personalities such as Steven Fry speaking out about his problems.
People I know don't want to deal with those with mental health issues, it's to difficult, to messy or to difficult to get them the specialist help that they are crying out for. This is a place where the church could and should be taking the lead, and I know that the Archbishop of Canterbury, just last week signed agreements to bring the church much more on board with the issues.
I have a long standing friend, who is a military psychiatrist, 20 years ago, his workload was relatively light. He managed his practice with a secretary and one nurse. Now, he has 2 other Psychiatrists or Psychologists and a number of nurses and a practice manager. He's never been busier. He describes it as a growth industry. He can only deal with those serving, what happens to the hundreds who leave the services each year with perhaps, undiagnosed issues? The services shrug their shoulders and say it's now an NHS issue.
Charities like Combat Stress are prominent for their work with the ex-service community, along with many others. The NHS provision for mental health, struggle to deal with its normal capacity, is plainly cannot cope with the numbers of ex-service people coming through now with long standing issues.
I understand that a large number of ex-service people on the streets are suffering from undiagnosed or untreated mental health issues, as are the quite high percentage of ex-service offenders currently at HM Pleasure.
It's a huge scandal that resources are being removed from the NHS, and mental health services will cut back, along with other services, leaving even more people undiagnosed or untreated.
There is a large private sector dealing with mental health diagnosis and treatment, such as the Priory Clinics (used by the MOD for in-patient treatment), I don't know what capacity they have to help the NHS, but I believe that they should be required to provide support and assistance as part of their licence to practice.
Dick,
I have real compassion for those with mental health issue or depressive illnesses. I've seen some in my own life experience with people close to me, and some in others, particularly within the service environment.
The problem is that Mental Health, despite it's recent higher profile in society, still seems to carry a social stigma, not particularly helped by the sort of media coverage which seems to denigrate mental health issues. So, its great to see prominent personalities such as Steven Fry speaking out about his problems.
People I know don't want to deal with those with mental health issues, it's to difficult, to messy or to difficult to get them the specialist help that they are crying out for. This is a place where the church could and should be taking the lead, and I know that the Archbishop of Canterbury, just last week signed agreements to bring the church much more on board with the issues.
I have a long standing friend, who is a military psychiatrist, 20 years ago, his workload was relatively light. He managed his practice with a secretary and one nurse. Now, he has 2 other Psychiatrists or Psychologists and a number of nurses and a practice manager. He's never been busier. He describes it as a growth industry. He can only deal with those serving, what happens to the hundreds who leave the services each year with perhaps, undiagnosed issues? The services shrug their shoulders and say it's now an NHS issue.
Charities like Combat Stress are prominent for their work with the ex-service community, along with many others. The NHS provision for mental health, struggle to deal with its normal capacity, is plainly cannot cope with the numbers of ex-service people coming through now with long standing issues.
I understand that a large number of ex-service people on the streets are suffering from undiagnosed or untreated mental health issues, as are the quite high percentage of ex-service offenders currently at HM Pleasure.
It's a huge scandal that resources are being removed from the NHS, and mental health services will cut back, along with other services, leaving even more people undiagnosed or untreated.
There is a large private sector dealing with mental health diagnosis and treatment, such as the Priory Clinics (used by the MOD for in-patient treatment), I don't know what capacity they have to help the NHS, but I believe that they should be required to provide support and assistance as part of their licence to practice.
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