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.

I used to manage inductions in retail.... new starters from age 16

I agree with the teacher upthread

No resilience
No ambition
Anxious over everything
Common sense very thin on the ground
Little initiative

And absolutely addicted to their mobile phones

This ^^

MH services have always been underfunded compared to other parts of healthcare. The last few years have been awful - one trauma after another and a general feeling of hopelessness it will get better. MH services which were struggling before Covid have continued to be underfunded and are on their knees while the Tories kick them. And MH services are run by real people, who have had the same shitty few years everyone else has, so have record levels of sick leave, leaving the working staff in despair.

I also work in a school and, I do agree that resilience is a real issue. However, we had over 20 suicide attempts in the last Academic year. 4 came very close, 2 in an induced coma. All are crying out for help as they have issues such as previous sexual abuse, chaotic and neglectful home life and are classed as on Child Protection/Child in Need, or have undiagnosed/diagnosed SEN. It’s not acceptable. School curriculum doesn’t help IMO, it’s stressful and all the fun stuff is few and far between. Then the pressure’s to fit in and validation on social media on top.

As for suicide rates in young men, I too have lost a close friend in the past 2 years and know of a couple more in our small town. Completely out of the blue, no one saw it coming deaths. I find it so tragic and hard to comprehend.

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

Because in the middle of a crisis we are too busy surviving - it is only when we have time to reflect on how awful it was, and the implications going forward that we have time and space to feel the impact of it.

What can we do though? As people, members of the public.... if someone is in that bad place what can we do to help?

I see the term 'mental health first aider'

Even private MH services seem to be approaching saturation point. Many psychiatrists/psychologists are not taking on new patients as their caseloads are too high and they are booked up months in advance.

It would help but it wouldn't necessarily prevent suicide. People who get NHS mental health support may still have suicidal thoughts - as there isn't necessarily a cure for mental health issues It's something a person has to deal with their entire lives.

Someone could have everything going right in their lives from an outside perspective, but internally feels like everything is going wrong. There isn't an easy fix for that within mental health services

I Agree about lack of resilience in children. Also parents worried and anxiety feeds their DC.
One of my friends is incredibly anxious, her 13 year old dd is also very anxious and been held back by not being allowed to walk home, go to friends or just partake in normal day to day positive risk taking which 13 year olds would do.

Common sense isn't taught though- it comes with experience. You can expect people in their first job/16 year olds to always know what to do in a new situation

It’s very sad but figures seem to be down a lot in the last few decades, maybe up slightly now but not by much

On looking the difference between London and N is striking. London is a fair bit lower which I suppose makes sense.

This post nails it I think. It spoke to me anyway.

@mashh - Sometimes this is true. But sometimes people who suicide, or come close, don’t actually have mental health problems.

They are, for want of a better word, “sane”. But they have decided to end their lives because of something they have been through or are going through.

Witnessing the violent death of their child, surviving sexual abuse as a child but being unable to escape the memories, guilt (from someone who was in the military and blames themselves for the death of a colleague for example), a life limiting illness that they do not want to live with any more.. sometimes people really do consider it as a rational option and a choice, due to not wanting to live with the aftermath of a horrific experience.

Childhood sexual abuse has got a LOT to answer for in terms of adults who end up suicidal.

@binglebangle567 I was agreeing with a teachers observations

Actually suicide rates are declining every year, but rates for 'mental health issues' in general are skyrocketing, so the poster you quoted has a point.

I think there are a lot of children who do lack the basic resilience to deal with what would have been considered everyday stress.
They do spend too much time with screens and not out in the real work gaining experiences and learning how to deal with them.

So when this happens and they ultimately can't cope and need support, there is non there as mental health services are massively underfunded.

Is it actually increasing though? As a percentage of the total population it probably isn’t, it’s just that there are far more people now so there will be more deaths.

It’s the lack of HOPE.

That’s the cause.

^

Voilà

I agree 100% with lack of resilience. Not trying to be goady. People just don’t take responsibility anymore. Lots of people can’t seem to perform basic tasks they expect others to do it. I see it at work all the time. Customers expecting staff to almost parent them. Err no that’s not my job.

It’s been a pretty grim few years. And when covid was done it’s turned into this cost of living crisis. And the government has no real answers other than to let energy companies hike the bills and give us a little bit towards it. Hard times. I feel like this is only going to occur more.

I am so sorry for your losses.

I think social media has a lot to answer for, people (including me) have a device almost permanently screwed to their face. It’s not healthy. People don’t speak anymore, people are unfriendly, obsessed with looks, it has a huge negative effect on so many people.

A friend’s daughter has started self harming because she doesn’t fit the insta model look and the parents have had to pay privately for a Psychiatrist to treat her. She wasn’t being bullied, online or at school, it’s come from what she looks at online.