Why are mental health services in the UK so utterly shit?

[Whichwhatnow]

Trying to get mental health support this week after multiple suicides of friends and other issues. Nowt out there available. I'm lucky, I can pay. But how does someone on benefits or NMW pay for therapy?? Surely this should be a basic support element of the NHS?

It's not taken seriously and there's still an attitude of it being a personal failing if you become mentally ill. I think people with psychosis are still treated if they're deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.

It beggars belief doesn’t it. Some areas have no counsellors at all.

Especially unreal as many issues are related to our mental health and some kind of talking therapy at an early stage could help drastically.

Although big pharma don’t want that. They want to be prescribing medicines so they can profit. There’s no profit for them in talking therapy. Hence GPs seem to prescribe medicines no bother. I don’t like taking them but do so if I have no alternative.

Im sorry for your losses. I hope you find help soon and get through this awful time.

I was lucky and got free counselling from a local mental health charity I found online.

Because it isn't funded properly.

It is terrible at the moment. I work for a charity and we help people on benefits / give out a few food parcels etc. I have at least 4 clients in severe mental health crises who just don't seem to be getting the support. It scares me everyday and I go home worrying about them but am not qualified to help them myself. They beg me for help but other than refer on to other services there is not a lot we can do. Some are waiting for specialist therapy, have been turned down for PIP ( disability benefit ) etc. This is before all the ones with addiction problems which are helped by a different team. The GP's don't seem to do much, I'm not even sure if CPN's even still exist ( if they do I never hear of them ). there are social prescribers at some Gp practices but they just seem to refer elsewhere. People are at crisis point but there seems to be little help. Have also had dealing with a few hoarders and things have reached crisis points and adult social services little help etc.

@Babyroobs

What is it you think adult social services can do with hoarders? It is an extremely complex condition with deep and long lasting roots, needing specialist intervention over months/years. Not what acs are set up for.

Because thick idiots keep voting for Tory governments.

That wasn't quite how I was going to out it, but came on to say this

Yes I understand it is a complex problem. I mean older people when they have agreed to help, but there's no always the help there to get rid of stuff for them.

OP Im very sorry to hear about your losses.
I think it depends on what you mean by shit and what your expectations are.
i work in MH and there is no doubt we are hugely under resourced in terms of demand which increases year on year.
People often have an expectation of medium to long term “support” which doesn’t exist as similarly to other NHS services its about offering treatment or recommendations for the client and GP to go away and work on.
Since austerity we get a large percentage of people presenting in emotional distress due to social and financial factors and a lot of substance misuse which also isn’t resourced within MH but externally and provision again is patchy.
Many people I see have been seen over and over but haven’t implemented any changes at all to self manage mild to moderate issues but still have an expectation of being made well.
Actual therapy (psychotherapy) is incredibly expensive to deliver so is gate-kept for the most complex and severe presentations. The self referral services (IAPT)offer short term CBT type input but again its not supportive its goal oriented.
services do generally do a fairly good job of keeping the most unwell people safe and cared for (psychosis, severe bipolar etc). The MH service is full of specialist services with highly trained compassionate professionals however working at 150% capacity for extended periods (basically everyday, forever!) leads to compassion fatigue and moral injury which makes it harder to be truly responsive to patients sadly.
As a-last point, there are lots of ‘low cost Therapy’ services which provide counselling and psychotherapy on a fixed low donation or sliding scale and these are the services I often signpost to.
In terms of support for you Op I’m going to dig out a number and post on here in a bit x

Well who is there for older people who have no-one if not ASC ???

Massive funding cuts, job freezes etc

Because the funding per head of population is laughable

Because at any given time a bed becomes available in inpatient at least 6 people could be vying for it.

That in situations where there is NO bed and a life threatening situation private providers have to be enlisted further affecting the budget

In my local area outpatient dept 2 psychiatrists serve nearly 1000 people

I’m afraid to say that there is almost no limit to the money we could spend trying to solve the mental health issues of the entire country. We could bankrupt the country pretty quickly if we tried.

I've had paramedics around twice in the last couple of days (sorry - TW) for attempting suicide after DV. I've been offered a place in a women's refuge hostel. That's it. No help. No therapy.

Yes but that's the general mental health of the country....no it can't all be solved

I'm talking about the essential emergency crisis end, which is scarily underfunded/defunded

@Whichwhatnow
https://uksobs.org/?doing_wp_cron=1686921097.5070579051971435546875

Do you know which mental health trust covers your postcode?

Do they have a Crisis Care line or drop in?

I was going to say this too , it beggars belief that people still don't understand that when they vote tory , that they despise public services .

@Whichwhatnow the refuge would beca good place for support to start though, no? And will likely be able to help you access specialist services for survivors of DV. In my area there is also trauma focussed therapy available via IAPT but as your trauma is very recent it would be advisable to see how things settle.
Did the paramedics give you any numbers to call to reach out if you feel actively suicidal again?

I feel you are talking more declutttering than help with hoarding disorder. It's so very much more than 'helping...get rid of stuff'.

I mean, if it was only that, home clearance firms will do that.

It's the BRI in Bristol. They've been absolutely lovely to be fair but there's just not much they can offer me. I'd be fine with being sectioned. My husband keeps calling them EVERY day even when I'm asleep. He just wants to get rid of me I think.

Yip. I work in mental health and completely agree with you.
The post with folks casually discussing earning £100k+ in their 20s like it's something we all do kinda says it all. Dreadful state of affairs when people can vote Tory despite the shit job they did in lockdown. But hey ho, typical I'm alright Jack attitude unfortunately.

MH services have been terrible in my experience too OP.

I won’t share because right now it’s not about me, but I just wanted to say that you definitely are NOT alone in being let down by MH services. I am so sorry

I really hope you get the help you need and sending lots of 💛💛💛💛💛💛💛

Hoarding is an issue beyond their remit and, frankly, skills in most cases. You might as well say why can't acs sort out wills or investments for lone old people
?