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What is your experience of mental health?


AstonMartyn88

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Following the success of Bedlam on Channel 4, I thought it would be interesting to get people's perspectives on mental health problems, particularly as at any given point 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem in their lifetimes.

 

FWIW I have not experienced a mental health problem but I work in the field and find the stigma to be the worst thing, particularly in terms of stopping people looking for support

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People with developing or starting mental health problems are NOT treated accordingly by the NHS. The cheapest solution is prescribed, and any deeper help is completely unobtainable from a GP unless you kick off or actually KNOW what you want. The only way to get the treatment you need is through charities to help you do this, such as MIND, Rethink or iCope.

 

The UK is MILES behind on dealing with mental heath. I'm not talking about serious BiPolar or Schizophrenia here, I'm talking BASIC starting mental heath conditions that thousands of people experience.

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People with developing or starting mental health problems are NOT treated accordingly by the NHS. The cheapest solution is prescribed, and any deeper help is completely unobtainable from a GP unless you kick off or actually KNOW what you want. The only way to get the treatment you need is through charities to help you do this, such as MIND, Rethink or iCope.

 

The UK is MILES behind on dealing with mental heath. I'm not talking about serious BiPolar or Schizophrenia here, I'm talking BASIC starting mental heath conditions that thousands of people experience.

 

IAPT services are now providing treatment for the "basics" such as depression and anxiety, and most of them accept self referrals but aren't very well publisced (sp?)

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Someone who used to be very close to me went to the doctors to seek some help for a problem they had.

 

The first time they were helpfully referred for some CBT, yet the appointment letter never arrived. When she chased them up, the doctors surgery didn't want to know, insisting that the letter would eventually arrive. It never did.

 

After a year of suffering and waiting, she went back to the doctors. Instead of sorting the CBT out for her, they shipped her off with a prescription for some SSRIs, which she didn't particularly want to take.

 

So, all in all, not particularly helpful.

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mental people are scary to me and i have no idea how to act around them and so generally avoid them.

I don't know anyone close with mental issues so that probably why.

 

See what I mean

 

That's exactly my point - people with a mental health problem could be anyone. They aren't (as is commonly portrayed) people shuffling around or running around screaming bloody murder. Chances are ender4 you probably will know someone with a mental health problem, but you won't know it

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The term "mental health" is such a broad term, for literally thousands of problems, some people have stress, some have autism, some have OCD, some are batshit crazy, that's why there's a stigma to it, labelling someone with mild mental health problems as having mental health problems usually makes people think "they're crazy, avoid".

 

There were adverts not long ago about talking openly about it and talking to the sufferers about it, shame they took it off the air. 

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mental people are scary to me and i have no idea how to act around them and so generally avoid them.

 

Yup, me too. I had a friend who slit his wrists (and then ran for help). After that, to my shame, making contact with him felt like a chore. I still did, but a lot of the easy-going pleasure of hanging out with him was gone. So there certainly is a stigma, and people like me aren't helping things. Maybe advice should be more available on how to respond in situations like that.

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Someone very close to me is suffering from depression.

 

People usually associate depression with telling the sufferer to give yourself a boot up the backside and get on with it. I wish it was as simple as that and indeed i have been ignorant enough to utter those very same words up until i had a better understanding of the illness.

 

There are no courses to go to (certainly not in my area) only GP leaflets and my main source of information, the internet in which to learn how to deal with someone suffering from depression.

 

It is such a shock to see someone you love change into a completely different person. Symptoms of depression are lack of appetite, no energy and the worst of all, aggression.

 

The person i am referring to before her illness was the life and soul of any party, bubbly personality and wanted to live life to the full. However before her period of recovery she did not eat, did not want to go out and slept all day not wanting any contact with the people around her and when she did have contact it normally resulted in insults if she did not get what she wanted. That is the fourth trait of depression, selfishness! There is a fifth trait whereby the sufferer no longer takes any interest in her appearance and can be best described as through other looking.

 

This person is now in the latter stages of recovery. She is back to work, eating better and taking more care with her appearance but there are still those bad days and anyone else dealing with someone who has depression will know exactly what i am talking about. You get all those symptoms of the illness in one day and again you no longer recognise the person you love. To put it simply its like switching a tap on and off and for the carer you have to get used to it. It leaves you angry, frustrated, hurt and indeed very much alone when you are not getting support from elsewhere.

 

It is to all intense and purposes a horrible mental decease and i have every sympathy for carers who like me have to deal with depression on a daily basis because you don't know what you're going to get when the person you love awakens every day.

 

 

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Mental health covers such a broad spectrum. There's even many different types of depression. I myself have an anxiety issue which isn't noticeable to anybody on the outside but it has an effect on my sleep because i can't sleep more than 3 or 4 hours a night which has an adverse effect on my immune system. I found gps very unhelpful and not very knowledgeable. There are all too eager to push ssri's or other anti depressants at you and if you dont accept them which i dont then they have have nothing else to offer.

 

I have found the mental health support in this country very very poor. They have set ideas in how to help instead of looking at individual. i did goto to a counseller a few years back and he tried this tough love routine on me and said **** this this isn't going to work on me and never went back. 

 

On the other hand my only experience of a physical problem was 3 months ago when i had a problem with my right eye. The NHS were brilliant they referred me to the QE interned me, did all these tests MRI and lumbar puncture and found nothing but a course of steroids have sorted it out hopefully. From the consultant, Doctors in ward and brilliaint nurses - first class unlike the way they treat you if you have a mental health issue.

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Mental health covers such a broad spectrum. There's even many different types of depression. I myself have an anxiety issue which isn't noticeable to anybody on the outside but it has an effect on my sleep because i can't sleep more than 3 or 4 hours a night which has an adverse effect on my immune system. I found gps very unhelpful and not very knowledgeable. There are all too eager to push ssri's or other anti depressants at you and if you dont accept them which i dont then they have have nothing else to offer.

 

I have found the mental health support in this country very very poor. They have set ideas in how to help instead of looking at individual. i did goto to a counseller a few years back and he tried this tough love routine on me and said **** this this isn't going to work on me and never went back. 

 

On the other hand my only experience of a physical problem was 3 months ago when i had a problem with my right eye. The NHS were brilliant they referred me to the QE interned me, did all these tests MRI and lumbar puncture and found nothing but a course of steroids have sorted it out hopefully. From the consultant, Doctors in ward and brilliaint nurses - first class unlike the way they treat you if you have a mental health issue.

 

 

You may find these services helpful - most accept self referrals: http://www.iapt.nhs.uk/services/services/west-midlands-nhs-iapt-services/

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Mental health covers such a broad spectrum. There's even many different types of depression. I myself have an anxiety issue which isn't noticeable to anybody on the outside but it has an effect on my sleep because i can't sleep more than 3 or 4 hours a night which has an adverse effect on my immune system. I found gps very unhelpful and not very knowledgeable. There are all too eager to push ssri's or other anti depressants at you and if you dont accept them which i dont then they have have nothing else to offer.

 

I have found the mental health support in this country very very poor. They have set ideas in how to help instead of looking at individual. i did goto to a counseller a few years back and he tried this tough love routine on me and said **** this this isn't going to work on me and never went back. 

 

On the other hand my only experience of a physical problem was 3 months ago when i had a problem with my right eye. The NHS were brilliant they referred me to the QE interned me, did all these tests MRI and lumbar puncture and found nothing but a course of steroids have sorted it out hopefully. From the consultant, Doctors in ward and brilliaint nurses - first class unlike the way they treat you if you have a mental health issue.

 

 

You may find these services helpful - most accept self referrals: http://www.iapt.nhs.uk/services/services/west-midlands-nhs-iapt-services/

 

 

This is good work you're doing mate

Edited by legov
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Mental health covers such a broad spectrum. There's even many different types of depression. I myself have an anxiety issue which isn't noticeable to anybody on the outside but it has an effect on my sleep because i can't sleep more than 3 or 4 hours a night which has an adverse effect on my immune system. I found gps very unhelpful and not very knowledgeable. There are all too eager to push ssri's or other anti depressants at you and if you dont accept them which i dont then they have have nothing else to offer.

 

I have found the mental health support in this country very very poor. They have set ideas in how to help instead of looking at individual. i did goto to a counseller a few years back and he tried this tough love routine on me and said **** this this isn't going to work on me and never went back. 

 

On the other hand my only experience of a physical problem was 3 months ago when i had a problem with my right eye. The NHS were brilliant they referred me to the QE interned me, did all these tests MRI and lumbar puncture and found nothing but a course of steroids have sorted it out hopefully. From the consultant, Doctors in ward and brilliaint nurses - first class unlike the way they treat you if you have a mental health issue.

 

 

You may find these services helpful - most accept self referrals: http://www.iapt.nhs.uk/services/services/west-midlands-nhs-iapt-services/

 

 

Thank you 

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Actually never thought i would be discussing this on a football forum but it shows there's a lot of football fans with a very broad knowledge unlike the ones on the cricket forum i run  who have zero knowledge on mental health.

Edited by PaulC
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