System theory

[aintnoregular]

So reluctantly today I went to the gp.
I've been heavily encouraged by my girlfriend to go to the gp regarding my mental health as quite frankly it's ruining our relationship and she can't deal with it.

I've previously visited the doctor and he wanted to prescribe sertraline and referred me to a talking therapies service. I went to my first session and I could not relate, it felt very much like I was in the wrong place. So I dragged my sorry bottom to the doctors surgery today with my girlfriend to describe my mental health in some more detail. I spoke about how I'd been to counselling but they had very kindly and subtly suggested they couldn't help and I needed more extensive help.

Once again the Dr suggested trying sertraline and spoke about a referral to a psychiatrist and how he doesn't think a psych would see me until I have tried some kind of medication, which I guess is kind of rational.
however this concerns me... I feel this might be where the system fails. It feels like if you have complex mental health issues but you are highly functioning you have to wait a long time for the correct treatment and the process is all rather complex, involving trying lots of different medications. It seems the easiest way to get treatment when you need it is to get sectioned? Am I wrong?

[BecauseIamaBear]

That is the basic issue with the NHS..

If it was a transport operator like Stobart, it would be more of a crash recovery service than a well managed transport operator.

Full of recovery and emergency repairs but no planned maintenance.
It never works in terms of prevention. So yes you will get looked after once you break down, but no support to prevent a breakdown.

[AnxiousCarer]

Agree with bear unfortunately MH services are horrifically under funded.

The NHS waiting lists for psychiatry are long (my GP told me 6 months in our area) so I suppose antidepressants provide a sticking plaster whilst you waitto deal with the problem. Do you work ssomewhere with occupational health? Mine have just refered me to a psychologist and told me this is a much quicker route in than NHS, might be worth exploring if this is an option.

[dangermouseisace]

I think that as well as underfunding sometimes medication can help/solve a problem. If your problem is solved with medication, then there would be no need to be referred further etc. But they won't know if it will help/solve yours if you don't try it.

But yes it's true- you only get help from MH services when you completely lose the ability to function. Therefore the scarce services there are at the moment are concentrated on the people fitting that criteria. But no, you don't need to be sectioned for that.

[dangermouseisace]

too many buts sorry!