It's time to talk...

Ross_Scope

Time to Talk Day

This is a day that is designed to encourage people to discuss their mental health. Many of us may be struggling, whether that be publically or in private, and it's never been more important to be open with the people around us about what we're going through.
The goal is to end the stigma surrounding talking about your mental health, and make sure that people know that support is out there for them.

Rethink Mental Illness

This is an organisation set up over 50 years ago, dedicated to supporting people with their mental health and mental illness. People with experience of mental illness, and those who care for them, are at the heart of everything Rethink does. They shape the organisation's expert advice, information and training, and over 200 services.
Their vision is for "equality, rights, the fair treatment and maximum quality of life for all those affected by mental illness, their carers, family and friends. As one of the largest charitable providers of services for people living with mental illness, we are well placed to make a direct impact on the care people receive."
The help and support Rethink Mental Illness offers include:

• a phone advice service.
• online resources and information.
• support for carers.
• peer groups.
• mental health training.

It's time to talk

You can visit this thread from January about banishing winter blues, this thread about Movember to discuss men's mental health, and find information here from Scope about managing your mental health during the pandemic.

• Does society need to rethink mental health?
• Do you think the stigma around talking about your mental health has somewhat eased over the last year?
• Is everything okay with you at the moment?  

leeCal

I think there is a lot of talk about mental health these days but little has changed with respect to mental health services, they are still difficult to access. In my opinion unless services receive further and increased funding they will remain unable to cope with current needs let alone increased needs due to the lockdowns. 

Incidentally i was once signposted to Rethink who then signposted me to Mind who then signposted me to Rethink. It was a complete waste of time.

further, I had regular sessions with a clinical psychologist for two years which was absolutely useless. I was ‘lucky’ I was told to have this privilege but frankly I could have had a better outcome talking to a pet.

chiarieds

Have you tried here @leeCal ?  https://www.richmondfellowship.org.uk/  not in all areas, but there's a postcode checker.

lisathomas50

@Ross_Scope I commented on a thread that cher scope  posted wales have alot of mental health support and the Welsh government have put in over a million pounds to help support mental health  there is also  a link on the thread  that @woodbine kindly put on the thread to evidence this i still can't put threads on here doesnt work for me 

leeCal

Thank you @chiarieds I’ll take a look. 

janer1967

It all needs sorting so much in media about talking and getting help but in reality there is no help unless you say you are going to harm yourself 

My friends 17 year old son been through young minds had his 6 counselling sessions now they have said nothing more they can do but he is worse than when he started 

I had dealings with crisis team took them 48 hours to call me back then just gave me some helpline numbers 

So many times we hear on here about how hard it is to get access to help 

lisathomas50

Sorry that you cant get help  for mental health  like we do  here we have 24hr help  if you were crisis with mental health here  some one from the area would come to the housr within the hour whilst the other person  would talk to you until yhst person arrived 

We have support workers that come out in the daytime  to see youvif you phone on the morning they are with you by the afternoon  and we have face time support  its pretty good 

chiarieds

I remember you saying that Jane....6 sessions to try & help a young man, & that's all you get is worse than abysmal. Also leeCal being passed from pillar to post, & he's meant to feel 'grateful' that he had 'useless' sessions of supposed help. I also agree with leeCal, if it's bad enough now, what will it be like after we eventually get through these lockdowns, where so many haven't been able to access the mental health care they need?

I know this thread is about mental health issues, but unfortunately it's just as bad if you don't have a well-recognised physical problem, as I know from personal experience. So, sadly, many disabled people are let down.

woodbine

There maybe hope, a leaked document suggest today that Boris's govt. intends to undo much of the damage camerons tories did to the NHS, hopefully that will include improving social care and mental health issues. I don't think we yet realise the damage that the pandemic has done to the nations mental health, I know mine seems to be shot to ribbons. We currently have a problem within the family that if I even started to unload it would have me in floods of tears.
Luckily me and senior management have each other to talk to, which really helps at the moment.

chiarieds

Also read that here: https://news.sky.com/story/government-planning-huge-overhaul-of-how-nhs-is-run-leaked-document-reveals-12210238  Only time will tell.

For now @woodbine, stay strong with senior management; you can't help how your children turn out despite the best you've shown/advised them. My daughter spends money she can ill afford, her younger brother is like me, & saves. He can't understand her either..... I'm giving them both a half share in a bungalow; my son, & his wife are incredibly grateful; my daughter is unsure as she would lose child, & working class credits. Something that I hoped would give me pleasure, as you can't see any inheritance after you've popped your clogs, is not what I imagined....

Seanchai

I,m afraid I have depression and PTSD....I have breathing prooblems .?..and anxiety 'One exacerbates the other , like a viscious circle .  
I,m slowly getting worse . This pandemic has taken its toll on man, many  peoples nervous system . I am one of the lucky ones who can call any of my family for help and they would be at the door  within minutes. 
We have always been there for them thriught their life. They know I'd they are in a fix, they would help me out . Any seriious decisions made by my family would br discussed with us ....we would always advise ...but we made sure they knew our advice . .....but....the final decision is down to them . My father ran my life for me , he wanted me to be like my brother and every decision was made for me ....or inwiukd be thrown out the house.  I would willingly give my life for any of my children . 
I see Boris is going to shake up the NHS in England ....of course that was on the cards for a long time now , I just hope he does not privatise more departments .
I just do not trust him 🤔😮🙄

lisathomas50

@woodbine sorry to hear that you have problems  but glad you have your wife to talk to and  your wife has you  I hope that things get better for you 

I am here if you need any help or support 

OverlyAnxious

The time to 'talk' has long passed, what we need now is action.

As with the experiences above, I just got passed from pillar to post in 2019/20 before eventually being told there's nothing available because of my 'complex' needs.  Just given a number for crisis for if I ever reached that point...  Previously had a similar experience but thought things might have moved on.  They hadn't. 

Tried to find a specialist through a condition-specific charity but just told there aren't any in my area.  And again, they'd be unlikely to help due to my complex issues.

Rethink doesn't operate in my area.  Mind aren't any help at all.

My GP isn't understanding.  Anything I mention must automatically be caused by anxiety so he's not willing to do anything else until I take SSRI's.  I'm not able to do that because of my other conditions but he's not interested in offering alternatives.

So I'm just left to try find a way through on my own.


As for the stigma around mental health, I don't think it has changed much.  I think it's more acceptable to mention the 'standard' anxiety or depression, especially for young lads...but anything worse than that still scares people.

Ross_Scope

Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts and experiences. I'm gathering that there is still so much progress to be made, and that those organisations who often claim to be there to help people struggling with their mental health are often failing to do enough.

leeCal said:

I think there is a lot of talk about mental health these days but little has changed with respect to mental health services, they are still difficult to access. In my opinion unless services receive further and increased funding they will remain unable to cope with current needs let alone increased needs due to the lockdowns. 

Incidentally i was once signposted to Rethink who then signposted me to Mind who then signposted me to Rethink. It was a complete waste of time.

further, I had regular sessions with a clinical psychologist for two years which was absolutely useless. I was ‘lucky’ I was told to have this privilege but frankly I could have had a better outcome talking to a pet.

I'm sorry to read you were passed back and forth, that sounds like a right mess, and it's a shame to hear that seeing the clinical psychologist didn't work either. I hope you are doing okay at the moment.

janer1967 said:

It all needs sorting so much in media about talking and getting help but in reality there is no help unless you say you are going to harm yourself 

My friends 17 year old son been through young minds had his 6 counselling sessions now they have said nothing more they can do but he is worse than when he started 

I had dealings with crisis team took them 48 hours to call me back then just gave me some helpline numbers 

So many times we hear on here about how hard it is to get access to help 

48 hours to call back and then you were essentially fobbed off to other helplines? That is shocking. I'm sorry to hear that's what happened to you. Of course those sorts of charities do great work for the most part, but instances like that should not happen in this day and age.

And just 6 sessions for a lad of that age, 17, doesn't seem to be anywhere near enough. At such an important stage in life you would think that they would be able to do more for him.

You have my best wishes at the moment too of course, I hope you're doing okay.

woodbine said:

There maybe hope, a leaked document suggest today that Boris's govt. intends to undo much of the damage camerons tories did to the NHS, hopefully that will include improving social care and mental health issues. I don't think we yet realise the damage that the pandemic has done to the nations mental health, I know mine seems to be shot to ribbons. We currently have a problem within the family that if I even started to unload it would have me in floods of tears.
Luckily me and senior management have each other to talk to, which really helps at the moment.

We've seen promises about improvements for the NHS so many times over the years, of course much of it has been false or a way of gaining votes, but hopefully this time serious change happens. The NHS has always been a superb system for the people of this country, but you would hope that if anything makes those in charge realise how amazing it is, it's the last year.

I'm sorry that your mental health is "shot to ribbons" at the moment. I am glad you have your senior management, as you put it, to talk t, but it seems as though you're finding it hard to speak about right now. I hope you feel better soon and please remember that we're always an email away if you ever want to talk.

Seanchai said:

I,m afraid I have depression and PTSD....I have breathing prooblems .?..and anxiety 'One exacerbates the other , like a viscious circle .  
I,m slowly getting worse . This pandemic has taken its toll on man, many  peoples nervous system . I am one of the lucky ones who can call any of my family for help and they would be at the door  within minutes. 
We have always been there for them thriught their life. They know I'd they are in a fix, they would help me out . Any seriious decisions made by my family would br discussed with us ....we would always advise ...but we made sure they knew our advice . .....but....the final decision is down to them . My father ran my life for me , he wanted me to be like my brother and every decision was made for me ....or inwiukd be thrown out the house.  I would willingly give my life for any of my children . 
I see Boris is going to shake up the NHS in England ....of course that was on the cards for a long time now , I just hope he does not privatise more departments .
I just do not trust him 🤔😮🙄

I'm sorry to read you're getting worse, do you currently have any support in place to manage those things?

OverlyAnxious said:

The time to 'talk' has long passed, what we need now is action.

As with the experiences above, I just got passed from pillar to post in 2019/20 before eventually being told there's nothing available because of my 'complex' needs.  Just given a number for crisis for if I ever reached that point...  Previously had a similar experience but thought things might have moved on.  They hadn't. 

Tried to find a specialist through a condition-specific charity but just told there aren't any in my area.  And again, they'd be unlikely to help due to my complex issues.

Rethink doesn't operate in my area.  Mind aren't any help at all.

My GP isn't understanding.  Anything I mention must automatically be caused by anxiety so he's not willing to do anything else until I take SSRI's.  I'm not able to do that because of my other conditions but he's not interested in offering alternatives.

So I'm just left to try find a way through on my own.


As for the stigma around mental health, I don't think it has changed much.  I think it's more acceptable to mention the 'standard' anxiety or depression, especially for young lads...but anything worse than that still scares people.

It's a vital point you touch on there. People are often given the Shout, or Samaritans number if they "ever reach that point" as you put it. However you would hope that in 2021 we would be at a stage where support was widely available from a way earlier point in a person's mental health cycle. 

Your GP sounds very unhelpful to say the least. I know we often suggest asking to be referred to a new one, however I accept that isn't always the easiest or most simple thing to do.



Everyone has my, and the rest of the team's full support. Hope you're doing okay this Sunday.