To think not enough is done about mental health??

[Majesticfirefly]

I may be being unreasonable here and it may be a personal expirence but all my life I've suffered from mental health issues, possibly a personality disorder, it was bad in my teenage years and I was in an abusive relationship from 14-18 years old, I wasnt attending college, I was withdrawn and nothing was ever done, college just wrote me off. In my adult life when things got really bad, I'd go to the doctor who would prescribe anti depressants and that's it, they never worked but I didn't really notice how bad things were until I got pregnant. I requested a c section due to previous rape trauma and I had to fight all the way through my pregnancy to get one, one was finally granted at 37 weeks which gave me 2 weeks to prepare and all through those 37 weeks I was having nightmares, panic attacks etc but apparently this is normal. A month after my baby was born, my dad passed away after a short illness, my husband left, my granddad died and my mum needs support for additional needs, I spoke to my health visitor about all of this and how it's affecting me (I don't sleep, I get about 2-4 hours despite my baby sleeping 12 hours) and she said I wouldn't qualify speaking to the perinatal team and to speak to the GP and do a self referral, GP offered anti depressants and I have yet to hear back from the self referral. I just feel so helpless and next month I'm back at work, working 10 hours everyday and I don't know how I'm going to cope, I truly understand why people take their own lives.

Sorry for the rant, I just needed to write it down.

MH is woefully under-resourced. Supposed increases in MH spending have barely covered inflation.

My CCG can offer 6 sessions of counselling for things like depression and anxiety if they think it will help. After that, you're on your own. Imo, 6 sessions is barely enough to explore the tip of the iceberg. And there's a long wait for that.

Primary MH services are really understaffed and staff have huge caseloads. They also seem to have high staff turnover; clients with MH issues have had constant changes of lead practitioner and a massive reduction of the amount of input (which has been mainly by phone/Zoom during Covid).

I've also had clients resort to serious self-harm, criminal damage and other crimes in the hope of getting sectioned, because they are so desperate to get some meaningful help. And then when they get discharged, they're left to fend for themselves for weeks on end until they get a new lead practitioner assigned.

I'm not an MH professional, but all my clients have MH issues. When I raise a safeguarding concern about a client, 9 times out of 10, fuck all happens. I just hope I get to retirement without ever having to give evidence at an inquest or anything.

Sadly, I think it's a bit of a post code lottery. It's also about how 'lucky' you get with your GP. In my experience some of them are very switched on to mental health and proactive in their support and referrals... others are the complete opposite. I work in MH and where I am what you have described would definitely have for you a referral to the Perinatal MH team, and likely to the primary MH team for a CBT assessment as well.

Services are stretched yes, but the service exists for a reason and you are clearly having a very hard time and need some support. I think, as shit as it is, you should keep pushing for that support. Services have time frames they have to adhere to, if you have self referred for IAPT they will need to come back to you to offer assessment with in a certain amount of days. I'm in Wales so we follow the welsh measure, which means an assessment has to be completed within 28 days. If you don't hear back, chase it. You shouldn't have to, I know, but you need the support right now.

Might also be worth exploring what support is available from 3rd party providers locally. Perhaps starting with MIND who will likely be able to fill you in with what's available in your area. Bereavement counselling is normally self referral and can be accessed for free through several charities e.g cruse, Paul Sartori... so that might be of some help too.

Sorry you're having such a tough time right now

MH services are generally underfunded and understaffed in the U.K. Many people opt for private care or therapy.

@StrangeToSee

MH services are generally underfunded and understaffed in the U.K. Many people opt for private care or therapy.

Unfortunately I cannot afford private care or therapy.