are you scared of the mentally ill..and would you vote to keep them off the streets?

[zippitippitoes]

..the mental health Bill are you keen to see it enacted or not?

sunday times and it's mentally scarred leader

Yes, I am scared of anyone who isn't in control of their actions.

I think it is very hard to make judgement calls and I feel terribly sorry for the mental health workers who deemed any of the men/women who went on to murder as being OK to be released. It must be a very difficult job.

the thread title was because i'm interested to know whether people are scared when they read these headlines and because the Bill will be debated in this parliamnetary session

I am not prejudging opinion

I dpelore the lack of beds and safe places and know it is practically impossible to get psychiatric hospital places for many people when their needs are acute or ongoing

I guess it depends on who made the decisions foxinsocks, i certainly wouldn't feel sorry for someone who made the decison based on funding which I have seen. Of course it is done under the pretence that everything is fine but in the case it was money that talked.

Figgy, yes, they would have to be found, but if the bloke acting strangely 2 towns away already had a warrant out for him, instead of the current situation where noones any the wiser that would be a good thing?
Maybe not a full blown man hunt till they are found, but an instant warrant so that when they are found wandering the streets, or getting into trouble, and the police stop them to see what the story is theres a trail back to them getting out of hospital and the medicine wearing off and them needing some more on file.

I bet a lot of the decisions are based on funding - there aren't enough beds and they have to try and keep inside the ones they think will do the most damage (I suppose). I don't blame the funding problem on the nurses/doctors - the blame for that sits squarely with the politicians.

Yes charile I agree with that! But it is every individual don't you think? I feel angry reading about your brother and this sort of lack of necessary care is what give mental health services and clients a bad reputation, BUT there are good NHS services out there!
However more funding will always be needed, unfortunately mental health is an area which appears often overlooked!

I think articles like this and the general feeling towards mental illness in this country make (some) people scared of the mentally ill. I think because of this attitude articles like this can exist and also feed that fear.

People are scared of mental illness and headlines such as 'mentally ill murder 400' do feed that fear and ignorance, and that fear and ignorance itself leads to underfunding for the mental health service, because there are not as many people calling for change, or campaigning to stop things closing and budgets being cut and it isn't covered by the media in the same way as other health budget cuts are.

good post armadillo. We had huge demos here, lots of press coverage, didn't change a damn thing council still made the cuts.

no i don't think there is a great deal to do..or very low grade things like printing paper and old christmas cards and some nearly empty prit sticks and felt tips with no caps on and blunt scissors to share in the group

the chat can be quite funny though

and facilities that are available are not always used because of supervision..it's possible to stay somewhere and not for example it has a gym or if it does whether it's a gym for running around in or full of exercise equipment because you don't get told about it

I didn't think the article was that bad - and I do think people should fear the fact that violent paranoid schitzophrenics have committed these murders because in many cases, they were preventable.

IME the media are nearly ALWAYS bias about these type of incidents!

I once had a row via email with Richard Stott of the mirror! He wrote an article about a policeman killed by a man with schizophrenia, but knowing anout the case myself it was partky the policemans fault for not wearing any protective equipment, such as his stab vest, when attending an incident where a man was known to be in possesion of a knife, mentally ill or not!!
Unfortunaly when these types of incidents DO occur the balme ALWAYS lies on the mental health professionals and the media have a field-day!

Haven't read all the thread but the problem is people (as in the general public) are ignorant to the words 'mental health'. They don't realise people with mental health issues can range from phobias, depression to maybe multiple personality disorder. Mental health problems is the same as physical health problems IUKWIM. It's just the word 'mental' health that stigmatises.

no i'm not scared of 'the mentally ill'. i know so many people who have had or currently have some sort of mental illness that it would leave me with rather few people left.

'the mentally ill' is just one group of people who may or may not be a threat to my safety, same as men are a group, hoodies are a group etc etc..

isn't it the case that most murders are commited by family members? so we should lock up all our families then maybe.

That honestly doesn't sound like where i have worked Zippi, in fact craft activities of that level would have been deemed as patronising and childlike. All residents have a patient centred programme for the week, residents do college courses (proper ones), leisure activities (in the community), purchasing food and cooking it working within budgets etc, trips to shops, pubs, theatres, cinema, restaurants and other places of interest. some earn their own money in specialised environmenst such as a shop which sells wholefoods and plants and activities are NEVER done in groups as again this is seen as drawing unecessary attention and is not considered to be appropriate. believe me residents in this particular unit were rarely bored.

Zippi, I hope that people where I worked didn't feel that way!
Unfortunatly some places DO have lack of resources and/or staff! CLients are the ones who have made dramatic changes in some places by campaigning for more activities!

Not all OT is low grade art activities!
Just some avaliable on our in-patient units include: Women's/men's groups, relaxation, aromatherapy, anxiety management, anger management, depression/bi-polar management, relapse prevention and low key activities such as art and creative groups too, but also user led activies such as social groups!

no people who commit murder are not by any means bound to be mentally ill, most aren't many are gangsters, crimes of passion, retribution, for financial gain, etc

they sound very good..provision is not universal unfortunately

acute wards probably have the least provision

another unfortunate post code lottery.

use of community resources are promoted where I work too! clients are encouraged to intergrate into the community rather then segregate the mentally ill!

integration if done correctly can lead to improved realtions and understanding.

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH BOO!!!!!!!

Did I scare ya? Did I?

Figgypud, do you honestly think it is a policeman's 'fault' for being murdered because he wasn't wearing a stab vest? I am really shocked by that tbh. Do you also think rape victims ask for it, what with their short skirts and all...
I bet his family would love to read about how he deserved to die.

so those who work in "units" who are the clients? Are they living there or temporary residents?