No help for mental health

[Ilovemycatalot]

Just wanted to come on here to say how disgusted I am by the lack of help for Mental Health from NHS.
After going through a break down and being suicidal for many months I can honestly say there is no help out there.
My experiences
Being left in A and E for 12 hours suicidal and in a total mess then sent home by the mental health team
Dealing with the crisis team who are beyond useless. Never seeing the same person dealing with staff who could barely speak English and cannot relate in any way to mental Health issues.
Given wrong medication that left me suicidal with no monitoring in place which meant a second visit to A and E.
General lack of after care and no real support going through major mental Health crisis
I am now trying to get better on my own and am not taking meds as they have all made me feel worse and I have zero trust in the NHS.
Just wanted to say to anyone with mental Health issues I feel so much for you there is no real help out there unless you can afford private.
It really is a national disgrace and even if I was suicidal again my experiences would never make me reach out for help to the NHS again.

How come you were never referred to your local nhs talking therapy service op? Yes we have long waiting lists but I know of a lot of really good therapists who work in the nhs and I'm sure that would really help. Lots of good staff willing to help in the nhs 😁

The NHS is not to blame for the massive funding cuts voters have chosen over the past 13 years. You are blaming the victim. People cannot expect to have voted for austerity repeatedly without losing services.

I work at an university that has plunged close to £5 million EXTRA into mental health services over the past three years. It has hardly made a dent because so many people have problems. There are more people in my 300+ - person building who DO have serious mental health problems than who don't, and I don't even know everyone in the building.

The point is, yes, it's extremely difficult to access mental health services. I know because I have tried to get help for colleagues. However, people voted for this situation and unfortunately, British parents continue to raise children who cannot deal with normal life problems. It is not normal that so many people in the UK struggle. Rates of problems elsewhere are so much lower.

@sarahc336 Shame I didn’t experience any good NHS staff . My friend with depression paid for private treatment and had a positive experience. Only wish I could afford private to😥

I’ve never voted Tory and never will.

I had an abusive childhood hence problems coming out later in life. Past trauma can last a lifetime.

Is it really necessary to stick the boot into someone who's been unable to get treatment for a life-threatening health problem? You have no idea what OP has or hasn't done, and I can't see that all your protesting achieved that much anyway TBH.

I feel for you and am /was in a similar position. After having trauma caused by the NHS I was put on waiting lists, moved to other waiting lists and then moved to other waiting lists! I felt stuck I was too complex for talking therapies, not bad enough for impatient care, the gp wouldn't alter my medication as they said I needed to wait and see a specialist first so I weaned myself off all medication and then got told that wasn't a good idea. After 4 1/2 years on these waiting lists I'm currently having emdr on the NHS. People say xxx charity will help but I was screened out of many as deemed too complex, or go to your gp who say we'll refer you but that takes years (and nothing in the mean time), or ring the NHS crisis line (who told me to join a book club when I struggle to read due to brain fog)! It's not good but the majority of NHS staff are doing their best in a difficult situation of no staff and increasing numbers needing treatment. Chronic underfunding and not training enough staff are the real issues that this government have caused. Unfortunately now its going to take a long time for the next government to sort this mess out. They can't just magic experienced staff out of thin air or find the kind of money they need immediately. I fear this will be a long process with lots of casualties before it's improved.

@off thank you this was a post to highlight the poor treatment that I’m sure many of us with mental health issues have experienced.

It's not sticking the boot in. It's dealing with reality. There are so, so many people complaining about the state of the NHS. And so many of them voted for the destruction or stood by and did zero as other people voted for it.

The harsh reality is that NHS funding has been cut to the bone. Also, despite knowing that Brexit was coming since 2016, we've done nothing to turn the thousands of kids we cast on to the rubbish heap of low-paid, unstable hospitality and retail work into NHS workers. Our system is still set up to steal European workers trained at their own taxpayers' expense, but those workers aren't coming anymore because of Brexit. We don't pay to provide training for our own people so there are staff shortages.

We're in a perfect storm of a population that has a really shocking problem with mental health because of poor parenting techniques and life under austerity. Plus austerity cuts to the NHS. Plus Brexit cuts to NHS staff. It is what it is, but what it is NOT is the fault of the NHS.

Blaming the NHS is what readers of the likes of the Daily Mail have been told to do and that is not solving the problems because the problems are not the fault of the NHS. We are in a crisis and need people to deal with reality if we are to have any hope of solving it.

Blaming the victim? The OP is the victim here, and is not trying to talk politics.

You're not wrong OP.

You can dismiss the reason that there's no help as "talking politics." Venting and blaming the NHS when the situation is not the fault of the NHS has not improved anything for 13 years. The NHS is in crisis and it's time people woke up to why that is.

@Antst The NHS has not always distributed the funds in the right way. Change needs to start at the top. Staff not competent of the job should not be employed just to fill a vacancy.
If a surgeon was not competent would they still be employed? Some of the so called mental health team should have not been in the job they could not even speak competent English? Why are the NHS employing these people for such a sensitive role as a mental health professional?

I don't think hanging out on the mental health boards is for you tbh.

The OP has already told you she doesn't vote Tory so why don't you fuck off if you don't have anything nice to say. I really hope you don't work for the NHS with your complete lack of empathy and your 'where were you when I was saving the world' attitude. Honestly what an arsehole, go start your stupid rows with someone who hasn't recently been feeling awful.

I'm so sorry OP that you have been let done so badly. The NHS is a complete mess. So much money is wasted it's just ridiculous, the whole system is a joke (or so my MH nurse next door neighbour says). So many disinterested people just doing the job to get paid. I've had several crap experiences myself and as you say going private is a whole other world. I'm really sorry you can't afford to do that, it's just not fair to feel like there is nowhere to turn for help. I hope you have some family or friends who can give you a bit of support.

Examples??

You are looking for the easiest victim to blame instead of dealing with the reality that people voted for this.

There are massive staff shortages because we don't train anywhere near enough NHS staff. Until 2016, we thieved staff from overseas taxpayers. We did absolutely nothing to prepare for Brexit. So when the foreign workers disappeared, we had no one to replace them. At the same time, we throw our own kids away on dead-end (low-paid and unstable) gig economy and retail and hospitality jobs. Our kids could be training to be NHS workers but there aren't enough training places available. I already said all this and it should be obvious anyway.

Change cannot happen in the NHS because there have been massive funding cuts to the NHS and there is political interference that keeps throwing the NHS into chaos. My aunt just retired because her sector is being restructed yet again (to save money) and she and her colleagues were all being made to reapply for their jobs. Most of them quit for good.

Other comparable countries don't have these problems because their Boomers haven't voted to starve public services. You are continuing to ignore this reality.

You're right that I don't have anything "nice" to say. The problem exists. It is very serious. It affects many people. I'm not going to lie to make anyone feel better. The NHS is a mess for one reason: voters and complacency from everyone.

Social care and NHS have gone down the drain as the tories intended. We are now reaping their poor investment in critical services.

OP try to use voluntary services, Samaritans, mind and so on. Also do you have a proper mental health consultant rather than a&e. You need someone who can oversea and help stabilise, work preventatively.

@Antst we need staff from this country not overseas maybe even people that might have a slight understanding of mental health issues if that’s not to much to ask. I already said that you have clearly ignored that I have dealt with staff that do not have a good grasp of English so I am not advocating for more of the same! I really don’t understand why you are on the mental health boards guess your having a boring day.

@Ilovemycatalot we don't have those things because we are not training people and we have voted to take massive amounts of funding out of the NHS. We also need a major campaign to educate parents on how to raise kids who can deal with life so that only genuinely mentally ill people are taking resources.

I'm on the mental health boards because this is an overwhelming problem in the country. We've tried telling each other fairy stories about where the problems are coming from, and that includes (as you're doing) blaming the NHS. It is not the NHS that's to blame and if we don't put the blame where it belongs, the problems won't be fixed.

OP I really feel for you, having gone through similar myself recently. Wishing you strength and peace in your recovery 🙏🏻

Completely agree, waited eight weeks for a Talkplus appointment on the nhs. Then was offered a phone appointment, I had zero faith I’d be able to have a full and open conversation through this means but thought I’d give it a try. Appointment time came and went so I returned to work (after 45 minutes), they then called me later on that day before sending me a letter explaining I had wasted nhs time 🤣🤣🤣 I’m laughing at the piss poor ridiculousness of it, but in reality if I was at a lower point this could have been dangerous. Awful way to treat people with MH

I am a regular user of NHS mental health related services, and my experience is largely the complete opposite of your own. So perhaps over generalising is not the most constructive way to complain. Try complaining through PALs who will ensure your issues are addressed by the right people. GL

@Antst it must be a lovely world in which politicians do exactly what they say they will and never lie.

OP I agree with you it’s a terrible mess and life threatening mental illness gets little to no support in many areas. We experienced the same at the end of last year with my son, he was very vocal in his suicidal intentions and after urgent referral received rudimentary care. Now 11 months on he has still received NO treatment, medication or therapy, and we have had to fund privately. I honestly despair at the lack of treatment and I sympathise you had the same experience.
I hope you are now in a better place and continue to recover 🙏