What thing would help people's mental health

@ninjahamster It sounds as if you’ve been significantly impacted by the professional burnout that I was describing, I think people find it very difficult to work in this field longterm. 💐

Cash to do what though? As op said, what’s lacking?

what would a cash injection pay for?

I was very lucky in that within a week of my massive breakdown I'd seen a psychiatrist, had a cpn and was being offered a variety of support.

Since then I've had 2 years of therapy (on the NHS) but I'm still traumatised, still struggling. I can't take SSRIs and my GP just wants to refer back to psychiatry if I ask to try anything but I don't particularly want to go back.

I don't have a proper job and right now I feel like I never will because putting myself back out there terrifies me. I've struggled with perfectionism every since childhood thanks to my less than stellar parents and I don't know how to break that particular cycle. My CV looks good, I've gained another degree since my breakdown, I volunteer a lot so have great and relevant references...I'm just stuck in my own stupid head and I don't know how to fix it.

I agree that lack of resources is a huge issue.
i also imagine that the burnout rate of people working in these fields is fairly high -I don’t know this, I’m guessing-because surely it must be very stressful.

Plus, of course, the amount of training. A psychiatrist trains for about 12 years, I believe -medical degree then specializing in psychiatry. No wonder few people get to see one.

For me it would be consistent care from my MH team. I’ve been under them for 5 years. I’ve had 6 psychiatrists in the community and 5 in hospitals, all have given me different diagnoses. 5 care coordinators. A support worker who left after 5 months. 3 psychologists. I’ve tried multiple medications. Everybody I see has a different opinion and changes my care plan accordingly.
Ive had diagnoses of schizo affective disorder, psychosis, OCD, EUPD, autism, anxiety, depression…
Im just left utterly confused. It would also be helpful if my team actually gave a fuck too. I had a psychotic episode last week. Duty team told DH to take me straight to A and E or they would send an ambulance. Was seen by MH practitioner in hospital. Medication changed and told I needed a follow up the next day with my team and an emergency psych appointment. Nobody from my team has contacted me since I went to hospital.

Totally agree with this. People WFH and not seeing anyone, not having the hustle and bustle of being out and about and making small talk - even those of us with decent mental health (luckily) see the benefit in social connection and being part of something, the greater good, a collective whole etc.

I think a huge amount of it comes down to the lack of early intervention. Very like what @Serencwtch said above.

If people were able to get proper help when they first needed, their mental health wouldn't spiral while waiting, resulting them needed much more additional help when they finally get it.

At it's most simplistic level, if a broken arm was treated with waiting lists in the same manner as mental health, instead of getting a cast, operation & pins immediately, the patient would have to wait 12-18 months, the bones could knit back together badly, person could damage nerves and tendons etc and it's a much larger operation required with potential physio by the time they are eventually sense.

Same principle, those that want or need help aren't getting it quick enough so thry need far more help by the time they actually get it.

Oh and no, no amount of "making changes" or engaging with limp useless halfarsed "support" people who ask "what help do you want" (code for: We don't actually have any help so we'll turn it around and make you play a guessing game as to what we actually offer) will ever fix it when I'm in the depths of psychosis, but still some MH "professionals" believe it's my fault for not doing their shitty breathing exercises or whatever instead of just one of those things where I just need to wait for the meds to work and be looked after and stopped from offing myself in the meantime and once it's sorted I'll be back to business as usual and fully functional. No apparently I didn't do enough breathing or "help myself". 🤣

Conversely, the thing I have found best for my mental health is being alone, allllll alone…after a day of non stop demands from
kids, decisions, always having to be proactively doing something because I have a phone in my hand and therefore never stop low level working or thinking, I recharge by being SILENT.

when I push myself to go out in the evening once kids are in bed I am burnt out the next day. I enjoy myself but I need isolation in order to feel complete downtime. This in turn leads to more positive mental health this next day.

maybe this isn’t normal though

I am a Samaritans volunteer so talk to people every week who are having a terrible time.

What I’ve noted is that lots of people are missing really important things at the bottom of the hierarchy of needs (below).

Example- they have not slept, sometimes for months. Or they have an eating disorder so have not eaten well, sometimes for years. A young woman the other day had only one room in a hoarded, rat infested house, so no appropriate shelter and nowhere else to go.

The idea is you cannot progress to the next level of fulfilment without all the items on each level being met. So if physical needs (red) are not met, you’re going to be in a really bad way.

So what im saying is sometimes people’s basic needs are what is missing.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs

Often when I ask people what they want/need/expect, they really don't know. They just want "help". They are also unrealistic about what "help" will achieve. Anything with results short of instagram perfection mean they've been failed by the NHS and didn't get the help they needed. They are often unwilling to do anything that requires effort in the pursuit of help, they just want a pill to make everything perfect and don't realise they actually have to make changes if they want things to change

Yeah I've heard people on MN who are so-called MH professionals say this before. It's appalling victim-blaming and lack of insight that people with MH problems can't dig themselves out of the hole, that's literally why they were referred to you.

But whatever helps you sleep at night about the fact that most of you don't actually have any effective skills or knowledge to help the people who need it, who get driven to disengaging because they're so disillusioned with the system, really.

They want things that don't exist (anywhere, not just unavailable on the NHS), or unlicensed treatments they've seen in America on YouTube,

I think too the fact that the vast majority of treatments need to go through the incredibly restrictive NHS research/approval process doesn’t help. In therapy terms it means a heavy reliance on manualised therapies that can be reproduced for evaluation and a move away from relationship based therapies that are longer term (and therefore more costly) but that can bring about genuine change in people. While there’s a fair amount of quackery in the States they also have room for innovation that we just don’t have because of the way the NHS gate keeps.

It is simplistic to think meeting people is going to help many people with mental health issues. Often isolation is the result of it rather than the other way round. When I’ve been depressed I don’t want to engage with anyone even though I have family and friends around me.

As to not hearing about ‘mental health’ before now, are you unaware of ‘mother’s little helper’, valium given to women in the 50s and 60s? Do you not think that many people with problems with alcohol/drugs have underlying issues? This isn’t a new thing, it just hasn’t been openly talked about. It is only recently that some of the stigma has lifted but now people like Badenoch and this government seem to be minimizing anxiety and depression and I fear the stigma will return.

What is your role? You said you ask patients what they want and don’t like the response when they suggest things but also don’t like the response when they don’t know. The phrase can’t win seems to come to mind.Personally having 3 children let down massively by the NHS causing huge harm I’d say I want professionals who actually know what they’re doing,are properly qualified, informed and experienced,who are informed re ND and don’t rely on patients to do their job for them. All the above seem to be sadly lacking.

I also agree with others, that information overload plus cost of living is taking a huge toll on the mental health of people who would not have found it so difficult to function 30 or 40 years ago.

I also see many people who need much more practical support with everyday life tasks than we want to acknowledge. There is a whole population of people without learning disabilities who just can't really function on a day-to-day basis, and end up burning out again and again when they try to live independently.

I think most would probably do well in a supported living environment where they could have independence and privacy, with a lot less decision-making, and help with things like shopping and cleaning and cooking and admin. But who is going to fund it?

Dismantling capitalism.

Joining in more socially. Too many people are addicted to their phones/the internet etc. ‘back in the day’ we went out, danced, joined groups, helped at Brownies etc, all brilliant for mental health. Plus, joining a community choir should be top of the list, numerous members of our Choir have overcome poor metal health by singing in our Choir. There’s no feeling quite like it.

I have schizoaffective disorder. I had my first psychotic episode when I was 19.
I did not get the correct diagnosis for a further 15 years. It took many further years of poor care with poor communication, high turnover of staff etc which meant I was not on the correct medication to stabilize it.
Each crisis involved the services bouncing me between them - each referal leading to an assessment which only led to a referral to another team and so in. Repeatedly left until police were called for section 136. Followed by a brief assessment then discharge & repeat.

I lost the important teenage & young adult years which you can never properly make up. Plus the longer you leave a mental illness without adequate treatment the harder it is to get under control.

The correct care would have been referral to the correct service & continuity of care - not being assessed & bounced. Then ongoing longer term care to stabilize & support.

Ideal would be: Referral to crisis intervention/home treatment from a&e or section 136 for say a month then community service for 12 months after then say 6 monthly check ups ongoing for life.

This is not what NHS care looks like. Section 136 are almost always discharged with no follow up. Home treatment/crisis services & inpatient are so far over capacity that very few meet the threshold, community teams are now short term (6 sessions) intervention followed by discharge.

Have you any awareness of mental health services OP? as I'm confused as to why you need to ask these questions.

I've been in hospital often with chronic illnesses...

I've seen a few people sent home the next day after suicide attempts.

I've seen a MH professional after struggling with months of severe illness/sepsis, stuck in hospital. It was diabolical. I knew more than them. They actually scared me. Recruit and retain high calibre people? ( Not going to happen right now sadly).

I have a number of suggestions -

• Encourage access to therapy - good therapy long term. Not 6 weeks CBT bullshit.
• Address this huge obvious element where we have an incredibly large ND population who deserve an assessment and access to trying medication without being gaslit
• Let people openly talk about suicide. Yes that's right, I used the word suicide ffs. People want to talk about very real feelings and contemplations. I believe this does not make people do themselves in
• Can we move away from normalising pretty damaging things like SMedia, women working to death and juggling kids like such a good wife 🖕No. This is so much for women and it's not right.
• Society needs to change dramatically to address all the things that really make it so hard for people to feel good. The list is too long for that. The school system is my first place but that's beyond anything we can change right now.

For me - getting away from incredibly damaging toxic family ( yes they really are. No buzz words here )
Time with animals and nature
Saying no more often

😘❤️

The amount of people who miss / don't engage with mental health services when they are offered an appointment is staggering.

So true

The NHS is under tremendous pressure so waits are long and not all treatments are available in all areas.

However, people's expectations are often unrealistic. They want things that don't exist (anywhere, not just unavailable on the NHS), or unlicensed treatments they've seen in America on YouTube, or they think they need a treatment that isn't designed for the condition they have because their auntie's neighbour had it and he's much better now.

Often when I ask people what they want/need/expect, they really don't know. They just want "help". They are also unrealistic about what "help" will achieve. Anything with results short of instagram perfection mean they've been failed by the NHS and didn't get the help they needed. They are often unwilling to do anything that requires effort in the pursuit of help, they just want a pill to make everything perfect and don't realise they actually have to make changes if they want things to change

Obviously not all patients, but a frighteningly large proportion!

For a lot of people, affordable, decent, secure housing. Mental and physical health would improve for many.

I think mental health problems wouldn’t be so prevalent or would at least be less serious in children and young people if there was a massive cash injection into schools, particularly SEN and also a whole curriculum shake up in both primary and secondary.

I've heard the expression didn't get the help they needed, so what is that?

Appropriate and timely intervention in order to avert a crisis. It could take the form of a psychiatric evaluation and medication, hospitalisation, home visits or support to meet people and reduce isolation.