Mental health support

[howreyou]

Realistically what support is out there for mental health?

I’m really stressed at the moment and wonder if I’m going through a bit of a breakdown. However I’m also not really sure what would help me other then taking time off work perhaps.

I think it depends what area you’re in. I’ve seen a couple of posts on here from people who have received excellent NHS care and it has all been very quick. Others, not so much. The important thing is that you get the ball rolling so you don’t have to suffer alone or deteriorate.

There doesn’t have to be a specific reason for poor mental health. It’s not always a case of ‘solve this issue and the depression will go away’. Sometimes it’s a chemical imbalance in your brain. Sometimes medication is the answer. I know there’s a lot of people who are resistant to these, but they are literally a life saver and can let you see that you can feel yourself again. You might need to be signed off for a while. You might need cbt or talking therapy. Give your gp a ring on Monday (or emergency out of hours if you feel you can’t make it til then) and they’ll talk to you about what’s available 💐

Oh thank you. To be honest my main difficulty is feeling like I need to advocate for myself to get NHS support - I’ve been trying to get the ball rolling for a year with no luck.

I even had an NHS GP say that medication would mess with my head lol so I suppose I’m a bit resistant after those comments. What is medication like?

For me, medication is the difference between being here and not being here. I’ve found the one that works for me (sometimes you have to try one or two before you get the right fit) and I don’t suffer from any side effects. I can’t engage with therapy right now and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to do that in the future, but some time off work really helped (my job is quite stressful and it was just too much to cope with on top of everything else). I’m not recovered by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m a million times better than I was.

I can’t believe that a dr would say such an uninformed and incorrect thing. I hope it was just their really clumsy way of saying that they didn’t think medication was right for you in your circumstances. Is there another gp you could ask to see? My surgery has gps who specialise in different areas of health (mental health, diabetes etc) so that might be worth asking about. Also, does your practice have a mental health nurse? Mine does and she was wonderful. Really helpful. I do get what you mean about advocating for yourself though. I knew what I wanted, I asked for it and I got it, but that’s because it’s an ongoing thing for me and I knew what would work. If this is your first time, it can be terrifying when a dr asks what treatment you want.