Anyone else’s blood boiling about the “trial” for social prescribing of football games to men?

[RainSoakedNights]

I know men’s mental health is important.

But women’s health is constantly ignored. It took me eight years to get my sinus issues taken seriously - I was always told to lose weight and it would just go away. I can’t get my anxiety taken seriously (they tell me to just take time off work and lose weight), but my dad has one panic attack and he’s being prescribed medication and being referred for talking therapies.

The NHS can’t fix the most basic of women’s care, but they can run trials of sending men to football matches? How on earth can they think this is a good idea?

I think the priority should be healthcare. Not women’s. Not men’s.

I don’t know why your GP hasn’t treated you for your MH issues. Mine have been fantastic. Perhaps it’s a GP problem you have. In fact the biggest criticism is usually that they are so quick to give medication. Not that they don’t give it

Social prescribing already directs people to all sorts of different hobbies doesn’t it?
I know I’ve been given free passes for swimming in the past and the choir I sing in regularly has been recommended to people by social prescribers.

Because it’s medical gaslighting. Something women face everyday, but it’s ignored.

But the doctor did do something. It seems you look through a lens of negativity so even when something is done for you you stick to the narrative that they don’t do anything.

After six years of being on antibiotics for the entire winter, after six years of being prescribed steroids which only made the infections worse, after six years of having blocked ears and pain daily. It took six years for me to get a referral - it should never have taken that long. If I was a man, I doubt it would have taken so long. My male relatives have seen doctors and been offered basically whatever they want. Meanwhile I’m sat with raging infections and being told the only solution is to lose weight (spoiler, it wasn’t, it’s a problem in my sinuses!)

I am a woman currently being treated for breast cancer and the care and the NHS has been exceptional.

This just isn’t my experience. So many women I know have been prescribed antidepressants and mindfulness sessions run by the local authority

What? You dont think men who struggle with social isolation, anxiety or depression should get a GP appointment? Or a follow up appointment?

Do you think the treatment of men with anti depressants costs nothing? The drugs cost nothing? The appointments cost nothing?

That’s not my point, and I hope you recover soon.

My point is that if cancer were killing young men at the same rate as young women, it would be focussed on (in the same way men’s mental health is). But when it comes to women’s health issues they don’t seem to give a toss.

No - I’m saying that the trial will involve all of these additional costs to the NHS.

I have to say I think social prescribing is (mostly) a load of rubbish anyway. Its not like people don't know gyms/swimming pools/football matches exist. I put it in the same category as weight loss advice, everyone knows what foods are good/bad for you. I put mostly in brackets as I make an exception for things like Andys Mens Club that people might not know about.

Oh, me too. It’s a load of bollocks designed to make it look like they’re doing something. But yet again, they’re looking at how to make the system more accessible for men, and leaving women behind.

Well women have been offered cervical screening and mammograms for decades. Men don't get the same sort of screening for testicular or prostate cancers, at least my husband and sons never have but I've always had my invites.. Should we just stop the screening for women because it isn't fair or do we target the resources available for the maximum benefit.

Not everyone is lucky enough to have the money which might be part of their problems.

Screening is one thing, but what about when women present with symptoms of cancer and are dismissed as being anxious and hysterical?

Social prescribing is something I am involved in as part of my job and also in a voluntary role.
It's a great initiative with the potential to improve and maybe save lives - male, female and anything in between.
It is much more than just football matches for men. It encompasses Arts and Culture, physical activity, social support, practical support and nature-based activities.

For an interesting an in-depth overview, I can recommend the NHS website.

You wouldn't be unreasonable to highlight the fact that women's health issues are often not taken sufficiently seriously (this isn't just an NHS problem, I believe it's a feature of all health systems regardless of funding and organisational model).

However, YABU in your arguements here. The NHS still has to deliver treatments for men whilst it improves women's healthcare. In the same way it has to continue delivering support for physical health whilst improving it's mental health support.

Your suggestion seems to be that it should be as shit for everyone else as you think it has been for you.

My argument is that there are much more pressing issues than prescribing men football tickets. If FGR felt so strongly about it, they should run an initiative off their own backs - without the NHS being involved at all. The NHS should be focussing resources on what’s actually needed.

I thought the headline was about men being prescribed playing a game of footie .And thought fantastic, but watching?

We need to sort out our mental health, lm not sure this is the answer
My bloke had got very down and clingy, we found a hobby he mixed with similar men chatting arguing having a laugh and some physical activity and it's made the world of difference.

It's not a race to the bottom, but it can feel unfair when you take responsibility for your health and others have to be spoon fed. However realistically that's what has to happen sometimes.

Men are allowed to go to the doctor if they have a reason to.

I'm losing sight of your argument tbh

It’s about the fact that more and more nhs resources are being diverted to things like this, while women’s health is just ignored.

If a man feels lonely, he should take initiative and join a club. Like women would be expected to. Women are expected to take charge of their own health and bodies. Each appointment spent on the follow up from these football matches means that a person who actually needs healthcare is being denied it.

I wasn't so I don't know. In my case history of ovarian cancer in the family, I had some symptoms, checks done and all clear. I asked for and got hysterectomy including removal of ovaries and fallopian tubes and within six months had the op. Maybe some women and some men don't always get optimal care but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen and it doesn't mean it's based on sex.

An example of poor care if men, my husband was in hospital for some tests, he's anxious and they gave him something to relax him. Did the opposite and he was allowed to leave when unfit to drive due to the meds and agitation, this was after midnight and no one warned me, no one checked if he got home, no worries about the danger to him or others. I thought that was pretty poor care. I've been in hospital and seen a woman in a similar state and she was distracted, tea and cake with the sister, phone call home to let husband reassure her, explained doors controlled at night so would have to wait for security to arrive to let her out. She ended up back in bed. Bit of a difference there. Was it some conspiracy, don't they care about men or maybe the sister I saw on duty was just really good at her job?

You can be angry at the lack of women's healthcare without complaining about something that is being donated to help male mental health. It's not a race to the bottom. And it's these sort of comments that help fuel the incel view that society only cares about women.

Also worth pointing out that when it comes to male mental health, it takes a lot for men to seek help. So when they do seek help, it's taken pretty seriously as it's assumed they have reached crisis point.

If you want better help for women then campaign for it.

So now it’s women’s faults that incels exist, because we want good treatment?

Women attempt suicide at a rate of almost 3-1 for every completed male suicide. Men aren’t more suicidal, it’s just they’re more likely to succeed in taking their own life than a woman is.
So if women are three times more likely to attempt to take their own life, why is the scheme aimed at men.
Caveat - I absolutely believe men and women both deserve access to appropriate mental health support. But this ain’t it.