Please or to access all these features

Mental health

Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you have medical concerns, please seek medical attention.

How to access mental health services - advice please?

26 replies

losty · 18/04/2007 12:41

I suffer with severe depression. I have spent years trying many different things to help myself. The problem I have is getting any help from the medical profession. My GP is happy to give out pills and has referred me for counselling, but there is a long waiting list. I have been to a walk in mental health clinic and waited for over an hour only to be told there was no one available to see me until next week. I told the receptionist how desperate I was and she was apologetic but said there was nothing more she could do. It's ridicuous isnt it? It's like hitting your head against a brick wall. And I dont have any energy for that any more.

Does anyone else know how to access the mental health services that are out there?

OP posts:
WigWamBam · 18/04/2007 12:48

Your GP should be able to refer you to the local mental health team without the long wait that you'll face for counselling. A psychiatrist is not the same as a counsellor, and you should be able to see either a psychiatrist or a mental health nurse pretty quickly whilst still on the waiting list for counselling.

If it's really severe and you need immediate help, go to A&E and ask to see the duty psychiatrist.

Summerfruit · 18/04/2007 12:49

Message withdrawn

losty · 18/04/2007 12:53

Thank WWB and summerfruit for responding - GP didnt even know about the local mental health centre (differnet health authority apparently ). 'Pretty quickly' is next week round here. Grrrrr. I have many problems with A&E, but the main one is that I would probably be admitted. And that is not the answer atm. I just want some help.....

OP posts:
InTheHouse · 18/04/2007 12:54

This reply has been withdrawn

This post has been withdrawn due to privacy concerns

losty · 18/04/2007 12:55

Thansk InTheHouse - that is what I did, and went along in person. Only to be told to come back next week

OP posts:
lulumama · 18/04/2007 12:57

should be a crisis team , that A&E can refer you to, admittance is the last resort, and CPNs cna come to your home....

i was referred to the crisis team immediately...by GP...and given a number to call them directly

in the meantime, samaritans are there to talk to, day and night..

colditz · 18/04/2007 12:58

sadly, the mental health provision is paltry. If you feel yourself getting worse, getting more desperate, go back to your gp because they can shift you up the list if you need it.

YOu could always go to A&E if you need help now. Go there, sit there, tell them you want to see the duty psychiatric person (?)

colditz · 18/04/2007 13:00

God, if they didn't admit me after the hysterical fit I threw last year, they won't forcibly admit you. You have to be pretty far gone for them to section you.

InTheHouse · 18/04/2007 13:00

This reply has been withdrawn

This post has been withdrawn due to privacy concerns

losty · 18/04/2007 13:01

thansk lulumama - yes I have all that info - been down that route. And ended up at clinic today. Round and round in circles. I shall just have to wait for the appt they have given me next week. And be done with it. Why is it so hard to get help?

OP posts:
losty · 18/04/2007 13:04

thansk for posting colditz - I agree that the mental health provision is poor. Even in London. Especially in London? I have been back to my GP and he refused to 'push' me up the list - and just said it was unfortunate about things. My problem, I guess, is that I am not hysterical - but I am despereate. And I have told both the GP and the mental health team that. But they just smiled and said well wait another week. And tbh that is only for an assessment - not even with a doctor...

OP posts:
WigWamBam · 18/04/2007 13:09

If you go to A&E they won't admit you. They can't at this stage, without your consent. But they may be able to get you access to help more quickly than you could do it otherwise.

If you are so desperate that you truly can't wait until next week then you really should go to A&E and be seen by the duty psychiatrist and/or the crisis team.

losty · 18/04/2007 13:17

thansk WWB - I wish it was that easy. There are many other reasons I cant go to A&E atm, including significantly that I have worked very closely with the staff there in a professional capacity so they know me. I am also at a major disadvantage because of this in knowing the cr&p 'system' inside out and so know that without any 'evidence' that I need immediate attention there is nothing they can do to move me along. So I really dont know why I posted asking the question... I guess because I live in hope that there must be something else to help me. I am just so

OP posts:
Boco · 18/04/2007 13:22

We've been in this position with my dp - he asked to be referred to CMHT for severe depression, waited for an assessment - to be told by the social worker that he wasn't ill enough for a service, there was a years waiting list for CBT and she just suggested he did some breathing excercises. (wtf??)

A few months later he had a total breakdown and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. The same social worker was then assigned to visit him at home every few days for 6 months.

I told her that if he'd been given help when he'd asked, he wouldn't have become suicidal and desperately ill. She said that there was a criteria for giving a service - and when he's seen her he was coherant, gave eye contact, and was not planning to commit suicide - so, no service.

I'm only saying this because if it's the same with your team, you need to really express how you're feeling at your worst - it's an awful feeling when noone seems willing to help - i had some really terrible experiences with dp being so ill and no one taking me seriously. In the end dp stopped speaking, eating, moving - it was horrible.

The most helpful service i found was saneline - it's not always easy to get through, but they advise on services, they explained what i could do, and they also provide a telephone counselling service - the woman i spoke to then called back every few days to check on us when dp was out of hospital which was kind of reassuring for me. They might be able to help.

saneline

Also, mind provide an advocacy service which might be helpful - they can help with counselling too.

good luck, i hope you get some help soon

losty · 18/04/2007 13:28

boco - firstly I am very sorry to hear about your dp. Is he doing okay now?

It is helpful to read about your experiences because I often feel as if there must be more I could do. But my experiences are the same. I hate the fact that we have to be at crisis point before 'they' do anything. when I have been at that point I have been in no fit state to do the running around I am now - or get myself to A&E - or contact helplines etc. Which is why I am doing it now.

Thanks for the tip re saneline. I have their info but have never called them. My experiece of other 'help' lines has never been good, but I will try them. Thanks again. I appreciate you sharing your experiences and posting.x

OP posts:
Boco · 18/04/2007 13:50

My dp is doing brilliantly now - he went back to work very slowly and built his hours back up. He's really back to his old self at last - which this time last year i didn't think was possible.

The thing that made the huge difference to him was CAT (cognitive analytic therapy). He'd had various therapies and counselling before but nothing helped, but this really made a huge difference. It was about 16 sessions, - quite an intense experience for him. There was lots of writing and homework involved and he found that really useful and still does stuff now. It gave him coping strategies he didn't have before.

The way he explained it to me was that before, he always felt like he had to get rid of the depression, repress it, ignore it, stop it. The CAT made him understand it and acknowledge it as a part of himself, and learn to change his relationship with it, find new ways of coping. He also had to do lots to find out where it came from and deal with some tricky things about his past. Not sure if this is making sense - but i'm so glad he did it. He's more well now than i've ever known him in 12 years.

You will feel better Losty, you have to remember you won't always feel like this. Hope you can find something that works for you really soon. x

losty · 18/04/2007 13:55

thansk Boco that is v v helpful. And I am so pleased about your dp.

OP posts:
losty · 18/04/2007 14:12

been engaged for 15 mins, grrrrr.

OP posts:
losty · 18/04/2007 23:39

still engaged what a laughe eh

OP posts:
InTheHouse · 19/04/2007 12:10

This reply has been withdrawn

This post has been withdrawn due to privacy concerns

Boco · 19/04/2007 12:13

Oh that's awful i'm sorry you were having such trouble getting through - did you manage to speak to anyone in the end? How's it going?

losty · 19/04/2007 12:13

awful

OP posts:
Nemo2007 · 19/04/2007 12:15

you can self refer to your community mental health team or even get the phone number for the crisis team.

InTheHouse · 19/04/2007 12:17

This reply has been withdrawn

This post has been withdrawn due to privacy concerns

DumbledoresGirl · 19/04/2007 12:27

Losty, I have emailed you. Please respond as I am sitting here waiting for you to do so.