Who supports mental health workers?

[Someone1987]

Does anyone else worry when we are told to reach out and seek help etc, that the people that are there to support us are likely suffering themselves? It's not like we are going to them with out own individual trauma. We are all in this situation. It panics me even more as I've not been well anyway but I feel so guilty for mental health workers. Who looks after them?

To be honest I was I could go to sleep and never wake up. This world is like a horror film.

They have the opportunity to access talking therapies themselves. A doctor friend of mine works in a specialist area of sexual health which involves hearing her clients talk about their sexual trauma and abuse. She has regular sessions to talk through the impact of handling it.

If you mean who supports them more generally - medics and carers are human like the rest of us. Many are on antidepressants themselves. They are often stressed or depressed and in need of formal support which they access the same way as any of us.

I work in paeds healthcare/safeguarding/emotional health, though I’m a nurse and not a counsellor. I hear some horrific things. It just escalates upwards. Band 5s are supervised by band 6s, 6s by 7s, etc etc - we have supervision sessions where we can discuss all sorts of matters. We contain the ones below us. It can be draining if you have a line manager who isn’t good at filtering out their own stress!
I’ve found it a little harder during this pandemic as the normal rejuvenating activities that we take for granted - friends/quiet cinema trips etc - have not been easily accessible and service need has increased, so at times it’s felt a bit like a shower of shit and I’ve really had to draw on my own resilience, especially when my small children were home during the first lockdown and I was balancing the very delicate and confidential/distressing work/professional liaisons with constant interruptions (single parent).
However, with that said - please continue to reach out! We are well practiced at seeking support and advice from peers/line managers. People want to help :) take care!

I'm a newly qualified mental health nurse and we have been offered support services through occupational therapy including a helpline and counselling. I have supervision with my line manager, who makes themselves available anytime anyone needs a chat, but most my support comes from peers which is invaluable getting through shifts at the minute. Prior to the pandemic, we had psychologists run groups for mental health workers where we could talk things through.
Currently I'm doing a lot of self-care practices at home to ensure my health is at its best to deal with pressures we're under at the minute. It's hard and draining at times but I love what I do.

I can only speak for the area I work in, but...

We are well supported. Through supervision, access to Occupational Health, counselling services, drop in groups etc. There is a lot in place, but the biggest support is peer support, we are always looking out for each other, colleagues are regularly checking in with each other

We look out for one another and that is ingrained in our work culture.

Please do not feel guilty, we want people to reach out when they need to- it is why we do the job that we do.

I'm a mental health nurse. We have regular supervision with management as well as clinical supervision with another professional of our choosing. We also have access to counselling through employee wellbeing however this is by telephone at the moment. If we need something more like CBT we can self refer to IAPT like the general public. If we are off sick with mental health and have an IAPT referral in we can be boosted up the list by HR (as long as we live in the catchment of our trust which many do).

However I know many nurses, myself included, that despite this end up on antidepressants. I think a big problem is that like many healthcare professionals it's very easy to tell others to look after their health whilst neglecting your own.

I'm a psychologist in the NHS. As others have said we have support structures in place in the form of clinical supervision from senior staff, as well as the opportunity to access counselling etc outside of that if we feel we need to. We are well supported

Oh and don't feel guilty about mental health workers. Seriously, I know I'm not alone in saying that my work keeps me going so much.
This past year has been the worst of my life yet I know for certain that without my work and helping others it would have been much much worse. My best memories of this past year will be the ones of seeing a long term patient id had for 3 years be discharged successfully with a bright future.

OP what a kind and thoughtful thing to ask. I’ve worked alongside many MH professionals in an ancillary role and almost without exception they are an amazing group of people who build a network of support withIn their teams.
I’ve moved on to another role these days but the people ( and clients) I met working in MH are some if the best of the best, kind, resilient, thoughtful and funny.

MH worker here in 3rd sector (previously in NHS). Support patchy. Managerial supervision is helpful if your manager is empathetic & supportive, not so if not.
Clinical supervision is better but a bit ad-hoc.
Peer supervision is helpful for offloading.

My DP is NHS mental health specialising in working with survivors of sexual abuse. He doesn’t get much support but claims not to need it. I personally think he does, he’s just very closed-down now.

I'm a mental health First aider and student welfare lead at a secondary school
I am the only support.
We have an in school counsellor who is part time and has a waiting list longer than the list of students thst she sees.
I recently had to deal with a difficult situation involving current sexual abuse for one of my students. The counsellor emailed me to ask if I needed support and then, before I could email back, she sent me another one telling me to "bear in mind it will be several months before she has the time."

I spend most of my time dealing with the welfare of students and around 90% of students who seek my support have mental health worries.

Thank you for thinking of us. Some days it is close to unbearable. I am OK and have not needed to seek support but I am hoping to move into a different line of work in the next year. I don't want to do it any more

Thank you everyone for your responses. I'm so glad you can access help and support yourselves. I am in awe of you all working in such difficult circumstances and doing the job you do. Please know the difference you make. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for mental health support. My 1yrold would have been motherless. I can't thank you all enough for all you do but please look after yourselves too. You are heroes and I feel you don't get the recognition you deserve as other workers do. Thank you so much.

For those finding it hard, please look after yourself first. You matter. Your own mental health matters. Sending love to you all. And thank you. 💐

OP- thank you. Your words mean a lot. As well as being a MH professional I’m also a MH service user with a severe MH condition and also would’ve left my DC’s mother-less recently if it hadn’t been for the crisis team. The difficulty when you work in MH services is that if you become really mentally unwell yourself if can be hard facing the prospect of being treated by your own colleagues so I’m under a team based in another city. It can be hard to admit we all have mental health and even us professionals can get ill.

Life-long depressions here on and off. Work with people with life-long diagnoses. The lived experience has helped to make me more acutely aware of my own mental wellbeing, so I'm better equipped to know when I'm getting to the point whereby I need to step back. You have to safeguard your own mental state, and while it's natural to feel empathy, you can't let the problems of the people you work with become your own problems too. You have to keep a degree of professional distance otherwise you are in danger of trying to take on too much of the mental load yourself, especially so if you are working with several people all at once.

The good workplaces are always reminding employees that their own mental health is paramount, but it's not everywhere that is actually a good employer.

Accredited professionals have regular supervision to discuss cases - including the impact on them as individuals.

Showers- in theory yes, but not always in practice (speaking as an accredited professional myself).

It should be the case and if not, questions should be asked. I too am an accredited prof working in MH.

Most of my SILs family work in mental health in one capacity or another.

My SIL works privately as a psychologist but her sister works within the NHS and she struggles terribly with the lack of funding and capacity to actually help people.

She hates that her cases are sky rocketing and the resource and support is not moving at the same rate by a long shot, it gives her many sleepless nights

When she started out she was moved and spent time within an A&E department and she found that really hard, but she has a great network around her but not in her management.

The job she does is amazing and its a shame she doesnt feel supported more from within.

@Someone1987

Thank you everyone for your responses. I'm so glad you can access help and support yourselves. I am in awe of you all working in such difficult circumstances and doing the job you do. Please know the difference you make. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for mental health support. My 1yrold would have been motherless. I can't thank you all enough for all you do but please look after yourselves too. You are heroes and I feel you don't get the recognition you deserve as other workers do. Thank you so much.

Those words really do mean so much, thank you.

I hope things become easier for you soon

I volunteer for Shout, a free mental health service that anyone can text for support. It can be very intense but it's so rewarding!

Our training involves an awareness of self-care and a lot of us volunteers support each other. There are also limits on how many hours we can shift for, and we have supervisors and coaches on hand too.

Ironically, helping others has improved my own mental health a thousand fold, and the self-care practice has helped keep me as positive as possible throughout this difficult year. :)