Are all mental health teams as cold as mine??

[Smartleatherbag]

Cpn was ill so had to cancel, absolutely fair enough obviously. This was a fortnight ago. Am really struggling so called local team as invited to do so anytime and they are just so goddamn cold and uncaring. My own cpn is great but as a team, if you're not about to jump off a bridge they couldn't give a toss. It's not very encouraging. Samaeitans aren't really up to me!

Yeah, they are bad. For instance once saw my care coordinator who said she would be in touch with an appointment date for 2 weeks time, 5 weeks later still no appointment. Only got one because my 'so called' cpn asked her how I was doing, then realised she hadnt seen me in 5 weeks. You can tell them how suicidal you are, but all I ever seem to be told is "you are able to make the choices, you decide what you are doing", really no held when OD on painkillers daily.....
Anyway, hope you are ok.
Sorry for rambling

Thanks, yeah it's shocking really!

I have a lovely CPN and nothing is too much trouble but I know that when she retires (quite soon) I will be left high and dry. Thing is I think MH services are under a great strain, as is the entire NHS but only a very small fraction of the NHS budget goes on MH.

Having said that I don't honestly think there's a great deal they can do - I suffer from intermittent depression which can be severe and often feel suicidal. I used the MH thread a lot and there are people with complex MH problems and they get very little help - the crisis team often recommend "have a sit down and a cup of tea" /a nice hot bath/ go for a walk etc etc. There's a really witty poster and she was saying recently "There's nothing the crisis team can't sort - the magic bath, the healing cup of tea and the walk of wonder........."

It's scary really isn't it - I have been an IP on 2 occasions in the past for severe depression and there was precious little care or concern on the ward - just dishing out meds really - I am dreading my CPN retiring as I wouldn't even have one now if she hadn't kept me in secondary care. I've tried different ADs but nothing holds me for long. Sorry can't be more positive.

Yep, mine are dreadful. I was literally suicidal and screaming for help in every way I knew how and all I was told was that I didn't have the right diagnosis to access the parts of the system that could help me. Total nightmare and I ended up in hospital, very I'll. they aren't joking when they say that NHS mental health care is awful. From my experience, it truly is.

hi smart sorry you are having a hard time .but yes the services can be a nightmare .my hubby is very ill and while his physciatrist is great .the cpn,s are a nightmare haphazard at best .but if you really struggling just phone out of hours they usually see you .my hubby,s are always off ill or some other excuse .if i complain they say he has support ie me .i hope you have some support yourself .they get complaicant thats there problem.they can go home after each shift but the ill person has to live with it 24/7 .hope you are ok x

From my recent experience yes they're well meaning but they just don't have the resources to help all but the most severe cases.

Agree, mine are well meaning but pretty ineffectual really. I do get a fair bit of resources directed at me but it's all inappropriate. I see my CPN monthly but she has a poor understanding of my needs, and makes assumptions based on what the majority of cases in our area (deprived) are like but doesn't apply to me. We have an emergency service though, so if I was in a crisis I could access something at any time, but I haven't tried it and don't have much faith in it being particularly helpful for me.

In defense of some CMHT, there are good ones out there, no doubt due to better funding situations. I have the most fantastic CPN and a very good consultant. The acute response team is supportive and well resourced. I'm currently on the psych ward, which I can't complain about really, either.

Sorry, that probably sounds really cold or nanananana. I didn't mean that, just that I think most MH workers can e sensitive, supporting and caring-and do an amaZing job--If they have the resources.

I am waiting for a referral to the CMHT - sounds like there is not much point in holding my breath for it :(

yes - yes - yes
I am convinced mine are just goading me into topping myself
DBT therapists all left in September & no replacements so it got cancelled & have only seen my care co-ordinator & support worker once in 3 months !!
Turned up in a very sorry state when they finally sent me an appt earlier this month & they wanted me to go straight to A&E but I said I'd be ok.......
Then after 10 mins or so talking, they asked if I wanted to be discharged !

How can they consider me fit to be discharged when my consultant refuses to give me more than 5 days prescriptions & rejected my driving licence re-application ???

I can't use the phone so they let me fax them via internet - I have been begging for help at times & nobody takes any notice
I really do feel like they are pushing me just to see how far I will go ......
The voices say they are too
I'm not one to back down from a challenge either

With you all the way Freezingfingers but you could figure that as they seem to want to deal with people in this way you could be a devil and not do what they want? Keeps me going (sometimes)

OP

In the past I had a very good psychiatric social worker. However, when I was in contact with psychiatric services it was the only time in my life that I had been pushed to the brink of suicide by abusive psychiatric nurses.

The nurses were not just cold and uncaring they were psychopaths and the hospital in question had been under scrutiny by the police a few years earlier because of the very high rate of suicides.

I had problems with anxiety and depression because of my childhood. They were fully aware of my background and the abuses I had suffered yet, they felt it was their right to make me suffer as much as possible. I don't understand this attitude/mind-set and it's unsettling to know it is still happening.

This cold uncaring attitude is also evident in social care. My son works as part of a team in health and social care and he used to tell me how coldly many vulnerable people are treated. I had to tell him to stop because I found it so upsetting.

Can I buck the trend here - our local mh team are brilliant. Albeit they are the mhld team for ds (with ld) but the psychologists and psychiatrists even the receptionists there are all lovely and if ds rings them during one of his episodes they pull out all the stops.