What's going on with nations MH? *[Content warning: concerns suicide]

[Nuggetss]

Another one of my friends when I was at school ended their lives yesterday. This is the third person in 2 years we are in our late 20s. AIBU to think the government need to invest more money in MH. 3 people with their whole lives ahead of them gone. It's very sad one leaving behind DC . Is suicide becoming more common after COVID ? I'm absolutely devastated.

Sorry to hear that.
Could be covid related. My DCs MH suffered. A couple of my friends have really deteriorated mentally since covid.
i think if you were predisposed to mental health issues pre pandemic they would definitely be exacerbated by the lockdowns.

I'm not sure covid is to blame. Describing it as a 'trauma' is going too far. Maybe it was for some, but for most people it just meant staying indoors playing video games and watching DVD boxsets. It was hardly the battle of the Somme.

I do think there is a mental health crisis, however, but I'd put it down to other things. First of all, people are lonelier than ever. It's so easy to isolate yourself, which many people do, using video games, the internet, deliveroo, Amazon, etc. At the same time, however, we've got less and less space. The UK is suffocatingly overcrowded, with horrendous traffic and the majority squeezed onto new build estates in tiny, overpriced houses. We've got the worst of everything. The world's population has just hit eight billion. So there are more humans living on Earth than ever before, and yet we are lonelier and more isolated than ever before!! On top of that, we have 24 hour news pumping us full of negativity and fear, and social media rubbing our noses in other people's carefully edited 'perfect' lives.

What I find interesting is that we've never been more open, honest and supportive about mental health issues and yet the more we talk about it the more mentally unwell we become as a society.

I think social media plays a big factor in MH issues, especially in children and teens.

I'm not sure covid is to blame. Describing it as a 'trauma' is going too far. Maybe it was for some, but for most people it just meant staying indoors playing video games and watching DVD boxsets. It was hardly the battle of the Somme.

This is not a sensible take, for multiple reasons. One, it being a trauma for some people doesn't exclude other people having been absolutely fine. Two, staying indoors and watching DVD boxsets doesn't mean a person didn't experience trauma. And three, if your bar for trauma is the Somme then you might need a new bar.

None of which is to say covid and lockdown are the underlying reason, but if they aren't, it's not because of the reasons you give here.

I know five middle aged men who've ended their own lives in the last two years. Two were put down to work stress, another lost his business due to the lockdowns, the other two just had long battles with MH.

I can't believe how bad the MH services are in this country.

Covid is having a huge ongoing impact on a lot of people. I work with young people & many are struggling to process what happened in terms of missing school/college, losing contact with friends, high anxiety in adults around them. The impact of Covid will last a long time sadly.

Tbh I think we are all to blame. How often have you heard on MN people wanting to be ‘in their own little families’; or going non contact with family members because they are annoying. How many people chat to their neighbours or actually go into a shop to buy stuff rather than buy it online.
We have all become isolated from each other and this started long before Covid. So when we are feeling troubled we have no one to turn to for connections.

I don't think any 'investment' into mental health will help - that's a sticking plaster on a gaping wound.

We need to make our society a better place to live, particularly for young people and show that we are invested in them having some sort of future.

I agree about lack of hope, plus climate change is going to make this all far far worse.

Large and rising inequality is a big issue.

There is research showing that young adults are often very lonely, more so than older people.

I first had suicidal thoughts during covid and they haven't gone away. They are less frequent and intense but I still wake up sometimes in the morning thinking "I want to die". I have support so I'm OK for now, but it was definitely triggered by the first lockdown, the despair, all the things I lost, working full time while trying to homeschool 3 children, and the never ending feeling of dread.

And there are lots of people in the same boat, unfortunately. I'm sorry to hear you're experiencing this.

There have been 3 suicides local to me in the past couple weeks - ones that made the news anyway. All males, 2 were teenagers, it's devastating for their families and there needs to be more support, unfortunately I don't see any coming from the government any time soon

Agree.
I'm sorry OP that you're experiencing this, how very tragic for you and other friends and their families.

My DC17 is experiencing a mental health episode. Spoke to GP, had a referral to CAHMS and they had an online session within 2 weeks of referral. I was flabbergasted that it happened so quickly, but also very grateful. Hopefully it will help things and stop a spiral downwards 🙏

I said I was feeling suicidal on Tuesday to my GP (who was very good and referred to the crisis team straight away). The crisis team texted that they are going to phone me on Monday apparently... If I miss 2 calls they'll discharge me for not engaging (note at the bottom of thd text).

It's mostly passed but I'm so scared and stressed.

So if money were no object what would effective mental health services look like?

I'm so sorry for your losses Nuggetss.

Help with mental health problems is incredibly difficult to find and in my experience medical staff don't have enough training or time to deal with people who need help with mental health issues.

My DH suffered appallingly with anxiety. Twice admitted to hospital with suspected heart attacks...all tests negative and discharged with no suggestion that the symptoms he was suffering from could be panic attack/anxiety related. Only with our own research did we piece two and two together.

The person suffering and their close family are entirely alone in many cases. In this complex, confusing, isolating, divisive world I can really see how more people will lose hope.

that’s so interesting (and depressing). I wonder why suicide rates went up after the troubles? Not that the troubles ever fully went away but still, I wonder why these things have a delayed impact

I don't think it's Covid, although that will have contributed. It's a crisis that has been creeping up for a long time. When my neice killed herself I visited the funeral directors, one of them commented that he couldn't understand what was happening as they had 5 young people die in the same circumstances that week, he felt the problem was scarily increasing.This was 5 years ago. The help is just not available to people with serious mental illness.

I do think social media has a massive impact, young people feel both more connected than ever before but not necessarily in a positive way. When their lives don't look like the people/posters on line they feel depressed and isolated. Expectations are so high. I'm in my 50's and just thinking back to being a teenager, I was utterly miserable I have to say but at no time did I consider suicidal thoughts, it's a strange paradox.

Sorry about your friend.

I think the education system and the lack of cultural support structures - family, religious, community - are both big factors in MH issues among children and young adults in this country.

In Scotland John Swinney has just announced cuts to the mh budget. My husband is a cpn and the system is on its knees. Since COVID so many services have been slashed and centralised. Virtual psychology and psychiatry all by near me,a video call. Far from ideal for psychotic I'll people.

Don't kid yourself. Covid and the accompanying restrictions and endless lockdowns contributed massively, and still are, to an extent, to a huge increase in suicide, particularly among young men. It's a national scandal and it's only going to get worse.

I teach and the lack of resilience is truly shocking. Children who are unable to cope with normal levels of everyday 'worry' such as a spelling test or answering a question in class. Parents protect them from everything - does that make you worry a bit? Don't do it then. I am frightened for how they will cope at the next stage of their education, university, work. I don't know what the answer is but I feel that we should all be collectively concerned.

I have a friend at CAMHS - workload unmanageable due to parents exaggerating their child's MH issues, knowing what to say to meet the threshold for help, means many in genuine need can't access it.

I don't think most parents want their kid to have MH issues.