999 what's your emergency

[Messupmum]

If anyone watched this tonight, did it make you bawl your eyes out? It was too triggering, too close to home, was awful. It's so scary how the most desperate people get no help. Paramedics are lovely, and have been in my experience. But they have no say in what happens after they've taken the patient to a&e.

I shouldn't have watched it

I cannot watch such programmes. Paramedics can be lovely and it helps that their job ends at the hospital I think, so said a relative who was a paramedic.

It was just so sad :( I missed 1/3 of it, as baby woke up, but I just feel so sad and despondent about MH services (or lack thereof) in the UK :(

i didnt watch it but it saddens me to see how judgemental the call handlers are in the call centre.

I shouldn't have watched it but I am drawn to these programmes. I don't like how the words 'mad', 'strange' and 'difficult' were used lots. And the looks on the call handlers faces and their tone of voice, it made my blood boil watching them roll their eyes at another overdose or sh. Surely this is saying something. People aren't getting help when desperately crying out for it. When we're sent home after a night of feeling suicidal with no follow up care, it's easy to see why we feel invisible and worthless.

I felt for all of the people who were shown, and scarily identified with most of them. God it's so awful, and makes this daily struggle just unbearable at times. More needs to be done. They are relying on families to support their unwell relatives, and that's not fair on anyone.

I watched it. I really felt for the dad when he was questioning his daughter about her invisible friend!
That dog made me jump to when it came out of nowhere at him in the wood!

I caught the last half of it - it was heartbreaking.

what channel was this on?

I didn't watch last night's, but last week's was really harrowing.

I'm never sure if it's on the caring or car-crash (no pun intended) side of the fence.

The woman in deep psychosis due to alcohol use was heart-breaking, but the crew who went to see her had been there many times before.

I think you're right, the programme highlights many of the gaps in our Social Care

Yes when the dad was asking his daughter about her goblin friends, you could see the colour drain from his face. My dd has talked about seeing people, and I can tell she's picked up my anxiety traits. It's a horrible feeling to think it can be passed on. The worst in the world. Had a horrible morning today and got that awful guilty feeling in the pit of my stomach that I know won't go away.

It was really sad listening to the paramedic talk about when her dm committed suicide, really felt for her.
On reflection I probably shouldn't have watched!

My dad committed suicide 12yrs ago now and his box of belongings, suicide note & photos are still stored in my wardrobe, from time to time I'll look through the photos bu it's so upsetting even now :(

I watched this and really felt for them. The point they made at the end about how 1700 mental health beds have closed in the last two years was an important one. Mental illness hasn't gone away, its just being pushed onto other services.

There's only 4 female beds in a 30 mile radius of our town. This needs to change, it really does.

messupmum i agree, i didn't like the way the some of the calls were handled, it doesn't seem mental health is taken seriously.
there really isn't enough help for people suffering from mental illness and something should be done about it.

I feel for the paramedics. It is really difficult to deal with mental health emergencies with minimal training. On top of that resources to back them up are being cut to the bone. Inpatient beds are closing everywhere and community services are stretched. If a person needs an acute admission they often need to be sent miles and miles away from home and their support networks as there is nothing locally.