to think that the NHS Mental Health Services are USELESS?

[TeenTwinsToddlerandTiaras]

I have been involved with them now for 6 years due to suffering from OCD, extreme anxiety and depression. I swear that I got worse since being involved with them in addition to the stigma and feeling of worthlessness that being diagnosed with a mental health 'illness' brings.

I went for my 2nd follow up appointment in 6 months with an NHS psychiatrist yesterday and I told him that I did not want any more involvement with them as I could manage without their 'help' and I was told that they would not discharge me from their services as they were not convinced I was better . They have had no involvement with me for 6 months since they threatened me with SS and I have never even seen that psychiatrist before! He insisted that I take a CRISIS card with the emergency helpline no. on even though I said I did not need it and never have.

I have been told that as I refused pills (tried them and they made me feel worse) I obviously did not want to get better and must be attention seeking , threatened with social services as being a risk to my children even though the nature of my 'illness' means that I am probably the least likely type of person to harm anyone which has been very well documented (I did get an apology but that still put me in a headspin), told that I would have to live with this for the rest of my life and must learn to 'manage' with it (that took me to the brink I must say).

I was absolutely no closer to getting better until I had the good luck to find myself a good counsellor a few months back, after trying a few duds, who taught me to empathise with myself rather than continuously beat myself up all the time for my failure to get better so exacerbating it. In fact she told me that rather than being mentally 'ill' I was reacting to my experiences and the mess that I had become was totally understandable and even normal as I have been in pain and I had to heal that before anything else would help.

Childhood trauma and abuse, the death of a child and the serious illness of another, the loss of a home and financial security were the cause of my 'illness' and it has been a complete nightmare but I am glad to say the tide is now slowly turning and my terrified brain is starting to calm down but I really feel the NHS offered me nothing but tried to force pills down my throat and a short course of ineffectual CBT which did not even scratch the surface. Has anyone else found this to be the case?

I went to my own GP a coupe of years ago to get some contraception. He was completely disinterested in me until her realised I was a nurse. He asked which hospital I worked at and when I replied that I was actually a mental health nurse he asked "so what nuthouse do you work at then??"

This is a health professional that will be a 'gatekeeper' for people accessing MH services. How can he do this appropriately with that attitude?

When GP's become the 'fundholders' through the Clinical Commissioning Groups we will see a massive negative impact on people with mental health problems. A survey by Rethink found that just 31% of GP's felt confident to refer to appropriate mental health services compared to 75% for asthma.

Tiredemma It's bad enough when members of the public come out with that crap, but when it is professionals...

I've been in with my GP whilst he was on the phone begging someone from the CMHT to assess me as I'd presented there with suicidal intent and a plan. He was actually begging them. The next morning I got the 'flush your pills' phonecall and that afternoon I was unfortunately discovered after having taken an overdose. I say unfortunately because I'd rather be dead than existing like this.

My sister has BPD and was sectioned and given ECT before we had chance to get a solicitor to challenge the section. She cannot remember her children being born. It made no difference to her BPD. Unfortunately it seems to me that we are still suffering from a 'stab in the dark' methodology in treating mental health issues in a way that would be completely unacceptable for physical conditions.

My GP was great with mental health, offered to refer to the Psychiatrist early on, and I only took up the offer before christmas. The mental health team (a male counsellor just out of uni and a female nurse who was training in MH) decided that even though a doctor who had known me my whole life had referred me, they didnt think there was anything wrong with me.

I have had depression ongoing for at least four years, and on and off before that. Yet as I have a 9m old baby, they wrote it off as PND. And refused to arrange CBT until I could think of a particular issue that I wanted them to solve. Luckily (ha) I've also recently been diagnosed with a long term health problem, so they also blamed that for my depression. And decided that the episodes my GP was concerned were manic were just how my anxiety was manifesting. Again, they aren't psychiatrists...

My experience with these two made me concerned that there are way too many MH professionals though of course, maybe just the two I met who dont seem to understand MH problems being an illness rather than something that can be solved by talking about it.

My wonderful lifelong GP died on christmas day :(

I have been in services for 8 years and have had wonderful support in the community from various professionals. I have had the same cpn throughout and she has saved my life several times. I am currently undergoing cat therapy and my psychologist could not be more caring and supportive. However my treatment as an inpatient has generally been appalling. I have probably had 10-15 admissions lasting between a week and 6 months. During those times I have twice been sexually assaulted, given heroin by another patient, found someone hanging in their room and not been kept safe countless times. These traumatic incidents only now add to my psychological difficulties. But the most upsetting experiences 'inside' have been how staff have spoken to/humiliated me. As I wasn't allowed laces, they confiscated my shoes so I had to go barefoot even when outside. They would routinely empty my bag on the floor to check I didn't have anything I shouldn't. As I have had a very good education and am from a middle class family I have been told over and over I am wasting my life and opportunities and although detained against my will that someone like me shouldn't be in hospital. My experience of inpatient care has caused irreversible damage and so I don't think yabu.

Not read the whole thread. But for different illnesses involving different people in different parts of the country they have been horiffic and without a shadow of a doubt made things worse. It really upsets me and when I wanted to complain to someone I was passed around untill I gave up.

"The opening lines of one doctor I saw were, "So I gather you have a mental health condition." Well yes, arsehole, I do. Strangely enough, however, I am unfortunately perfectly capable of suffering from more than one illness at a time."

Oh I love that one. If you have a mental health problem it also means that any other illnesses you struggle with will be written off as either caused by your mental illness or imagined due to your mental illness.

I think it will get worse, thanks to the bell-ends who voted Conservative.

Is out of order to secretly hope that some of them have breakdowns and find themselves without adequate care? Probably, but they would deserve it.

I'm tempting to track that doctor down and hit him with my ever-increasing-in-size medical notes folder now...

The one that humiliated me in front of a room full of medical students when first ill with ME / CFS was the worst though. She saw "anti depressants" and "self harm" on my record, and that was it, It must be psychosomatic. I was practically bed bound at the time, but she made me walk across the room without my stick, and said to them, "And this is how a psychosomatic illness presents itself".

sirboob when you track them down, dont forget to give them my patented lecture on causality

I've had so much trouble with various HCPs that I never dared mention that I thought I may have CFS. "Luckily" it seems that the diagnosis I have recently for psoriatic arthritis covers a lot of what I thought could be symptoms, so maybe it is solved now. Seems a bit weird to me though that they'd rather give me a list of common illnesses (asthma, MH problems, arthritis, fainting - cause unknown, possible fits, migraines) than consider that they are all caused by one thing. But, hey ho, I'm being treated for something now, so its nice to be taken seriously about something...

SirBoob I am fuming on your behalf.

Sir boobalot that is truly awful

I've generally found em pretty good - I've had admissions, ECT, antipsychotics etc, and with the odd exception found them really helpful over the years. I tend to go for years absolutely fine without any meds/support, then get really ill, need lots of input for a year or so, and then am gradually myself again. I did have a brilliant CPN though - she was ace! great at crisis management, helping me along, making me feel heard, and as I was getting better, helping me to get there with support and encouragement along the way.

One thing I have noticed though - is that the individuals in MH are great - but the services have seriously deteriorated over the last few years.

Like for admission, you have to be so so sick, and when you are admitted, the environment doesn't have time to be in anyway therapeutic, as it's busy coping with really disturbed people due to absolute desperate admission policies when people are really really ill. There is such a lack of beds, meaningful OT, and when you get out, the crisis team is so overstretched..

Having said that - I've found the individual people in it, with the odd exception- remarkable and helpful.

I've been well for a few years now, no meds, no input, and back at work as a HCP -touch wood!

Name changed for this. I work in mental health. I am more or less bullied at work because I care about my patients and want to give the best service. But as we are so under resourced, we are told to cut down on how much help we can give, so that targets on waiting times can be met.

I am, myself suffering as a result and don't think I can cope much longer. These experiences make me feel ashamed and demoralised. No-one cares about mental health compared to other illnesses.

It was several years ago now... But I can't let it drop. I was sent to a psych unit as a result, and was only released to CAMHS outpatients after I saw a psychiatrist who had suffered from ME / CFS himself. He insisted on my referral to a specialist. I dread to think how long I would have been waiting otherwise.

Blizzard you poor love. A big hug for you. x

Are you looking for other jobs, blizzard? Not every team is like that, even in this terrible age of cuts and targets, I promise. I am so sorry you are having a bad time of it.:(

Stunned and disgusted at some of the stories on this thread.

Thank you to all those working in Mental Health who do care and try their best to help. I'm glad that services are not universally poor.

Thanks Sirboob, you are lovely.

Sminko I am looking now, having spent a long time trying to argue with management. Too tired now. I wish everyone was educated about MH and they would realise just how common it is to have problems and how it can affect absolutely anyone. Indeed some of the most intelligent, creative, thoughtful and generous people I know have or have had MH problems.

And health service commissioners and politicians need to be told that good quality services just can't be pared down and done on the cheap

Unfortunately it will get worse, they are allready cutting services

I'm a CPN. I went into work today whilst unwell because my workload is so huge and I didn't want to let patients down who needed reports from me.
All of my colleagues are over capacity on their caseloads. I work part-time and only one third of that is free for direct work with my own patients. The demands by service managers do not in any way reflect the immediacy of the demands from our patients. Betwixt the two I don't think we satisfy either group and worse still run ourselves into the ground trying to deliver

I have had a mixed experience. I have had dealings with the Mother and baby unit for nearly a year now. At 28 weeks pregnant I was convinced my baby would die. I was told it was a shame my referral had been lost (asked for help at five weeks pregnant) and I wouldn't feel better before birth. Got a CPN at 39 weeks pregnant who was about to go on holiday for three weeks. Was given alternate keyworker. At 40 weeks pregnant, I was in a terrible, awful state. Crying nonstop, unable to do anything, had major crisis at consultant appointment and wanted to die. Called unit. No response. No support at all in fact.

CBT referral came through week ds 2 was born. I failed to respond to the letter as was unable to and was discharged. Luckily I complained and the complaint meant I accessed CBT.

CBT has been very useful to me as it has been Mindfulness/ACT based and the therapist is head of service and very good really.

CPN has been destructive. She seems to think meeting me is like catching up on an episode of Eastenders, suggesting I would need to reconsider my marriage as Dh also had anxiety and using awful, depersonalising language about me. They all went on about me disengaging when I missed ONE appointment even though I was attending punctuality for CBT every week and had had upwards of 30 appointments across services in six months due to pregnancy concerns. Was told my concerns about ds2 were all obsessive even when he was actually beginning to fail to thrive quite severely. When I said it was tongue tie, everyone said I needed to trust GP and HV who were not concerned... though I am speech therapist and they never looked in his mouth! He couldn't even drink out of a bottle! Eventually I went private and he did indeed have an 85 per cent tie! He gained a pound a week minimum for the next six weeks, with only the same amount of formula and some first taste solids.

I would have been lost without the CBT because he helped me challenge the learned helplessness I was falling into and helped me see that a perinatal mh issue does not make me incompetent as a mum. Some of the other workers I met at the MBU were kind and insightful and a great help. It is a worry when people think they know you and what motivates you based on seeing you a handful of times though. CPN was just making it up as she went along. She had cheek to mention involving external agencies about ds and his weight issues after I went to doc and he said ds was wasted.... when I was only one chasing it up and showing concern.. she was laughing at my concerns prior to GP involvement! When I tackled her on it she tried to say I was catastrophising her comments... eventually she had to admit she hadn't even read the CBT formulation report. She had no clue about my history or why I was anxious and yet she stood there in front of me telling a colleague I was someone who had a complex about being a perfect patient and the doctor thought I seemed competent and knowledgeable and she had to tell him I was very deceptive and seemed like I knew what I was talking about when I was just being obsessive and unwell. My whole formulation was about my fear of not being believed in a healthcare or other context where others were in power due to experiences of abuse disclosure not being taken seriously!

An OT I met told me her pay grade and how she was just a lowly Band 6 when she supposed I was a Band 7 as we (speech therapists) were better paid. She also told me when I said I was worried about isolation as I can't drive (terrified of being in control of a car, had v scary experiences with my dad trying to scare us by pretending he was going to drive off cliff when drunk/falling asleep at wheel Tec) and she said I could walk the 5 miles into town with my 2 year old and 3 month old while suffering OCD and panic! After all, she was up at five that morning and she had had five kids and never let it stop her going anywhere! Woo hoo for her, eh?

thunk - that is truly shit! I hope you complain.

When you are a HCP/therapist yourself this kind of thing makes you despair even more.

It does inhibernation and I am not sure I can go back. It is so mechanistic these days and even some of my best colleagues buy far too readily into the idea of their own expertise when so much of what they say is subjective and not at all evidence based. This always drove me nuts but now I can see that actually it can be dangerous.

They are quite crap, so no YANBU.

The only people who will say it's fab are those who work for NHS Mental Health Services

That's right across the NHS I'm afraid I worked closely with HCP's who thought they'd grown wings and been awarded a halo just for turning up in the morning. I blame the processes and paperwork but really it's a different job these days, nurses aren't paid to care they are paid to move people through asap