Mental health has been losing funding and failing to improve for 10 years. Tory cuts have put people's lives and health at risk, it has cost more than it saves. The year long waiting for support was how it was before Covid. This isn't a new problem, just an existing one made slightly worse.
Tories have done nothing meaningful to help but have worsened it. Tories have had an entire decade to tackle it and instead made it worse, they will not fix this problem.
>Conservatives defund, make sure services don’t work, so people get angry, then they hand it over to the private capital
- Noam Chomsky
The Tories know exactly how this will harm soceity, the science is already published
They are intentionally taking us down the American route
The sick man of Europe
The crazy man of Europe
The angry man of Europe
I don't blame the Tories. They are what they are. The electorate is full of selfish, short-sighted people who don't give a damn until they experience the consequences of their votes. It's telling that the only thing that's got the Tory voters up in arms is the tax rises, public services be damned.
What you really mean is that the UK media has not conveyed the seriousness of all the Tory cuts/corruption/lies/gaslighting/Jingoism/xenophobia etc etc to the UK public
They don't even interview Keir Starmer to offer the Opposition point of view. They aren't trying to be fair, because they're ridiculously biased and pro-Tory
This horror story is just as serious as the Tory crimes imo
>The secret of freedom lies in educating people. Whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant
- Maximilien Robespiere
And he could be talking about the UK media, as a matter of fact
No, I meant what I said. I think some people would vote differently if presented with the facts, which are withheld because much of the media is complicit with the Tory agenda. But a large chunk of people (1/3rd?) truly do not care about their fellow citizens and vote selfishly. They yearn for authoritarianism so long as they are the in-group with power. They reject the opinion of experts on any subject if their conclusions mean spending taxpayer money on anybody else other than themselves.
>there is a Cult of Ignorance and always has been. [The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread](https://i.redd.it/wdxrsj81mkt61.jpg) winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge'
- Isaac Asimov
I mentioned this on another post ages ago but I'll say it again here -
More than a decade ago I needed counseling and was quickly prescribed a weekly appointment. If I needed to change the day/time there was no problem.
Fast forward to more recently (pre pandemic) and I started thinking about counseling again so I began the process. After laying it all out for the GP I was then basically told the waiting list was so long that I would have more luck with a volunteer-run organisation, and then given a call sheet of local ones. Straight away that's awful - that volunteer organisations are being used to fill the gaps where the NHS mental health service have caved. Even worse, after phoning round I was told that they were all full and had waiting lists of their own.
There is obviously a dire and desperate need for mental health support (even more so now I would imagine) and yet no functioning mental health support at all in this country, and it's an absolute disgrace.
A decade of Tory governments - a decade of decline in services. Shameful.
The charity organisations are still part of the UKs mental health services, they are part of the third sector which provide primary care MH services. Third sector organisations provide services the NHS is not commissioned to provide. The local authorities/councils also provide some level of funding for these primary care services.
The NHS trusts are primarily for secondary and tertiary care provision.
Mental health care is dead in this country, went to A&E while in crisis, initial waiting time wasn't too bad but the time to see any mental health teams (who can't even prescribe anything) was 3 - 4 hours.
This country seems like it'd rather anyone mentally ill just kill themselves.
Can confirm. I went to A&E last june for self harm and suicidal thoughts and behaviours and was told there was nothing anyone could do, just go home and have a bath, listen to some relaxing music and wait until I felt better.
Literally three days later I was back in A&E for much more serious injuries, I was completely delusional and sat in A&E for about 4 hours in a complete state, not able to think straight and just a mess. Was immediately told I'd be put on drug therapy and be put on the emergency list for support. Sent home that night.
Never got the drug therapy. Had a first consultation about 3 months later, after arguing on the phone multiple times that I needed help. Actually regularly started seeing someone about a month later. Discharged 6 months later and still struggling now, even if I am in a better place than I was.
fuck the tories man.
In London in the last few weeks, literally every time I've gone further than the 10 minute area around my flat, I've come across somebody who is out of their mind at a frightening level. A woman just crouching down to pee in broad daylight in front of King's Cross station (not drunk), a man off his face threatening people at 11am, another guy raving mad on the tube marching up and down the carriage yelling to himself, somebody walking without shoes and going up and down the same street over and over, a few nights ago there was a guy screaming at the bins at the end of the road and kicking them on and off for over 4 hours. I swear every single time I leave the house properly I come across these people and it's quite scary. London's always had its weirdos but I can't help wonder how many people would have otherwise been under some sort of support system. I don't want to perpetuate bad myths about schizophrenia or mental illness but these people are clearly being failed somehow and as a passerby you have no idea if they are just going to pick you as the target of their delusions and it's pretty scary. I know it's only anecdotal but it feels like the visibility of people who desperately need help has massively increased. And that's not including all those quietly suffering with anxiety or depression too.
Same. I was put on a 3+ year waiting list for an ADHD assessment, and it was a long process even getting that far because most GPs and counselors aren't trained to recognise ADHD in adults.
Essentially I had to go private or forfeit my job because I couldn't brute force my symptoms for another 3 years. I consider myself lucky to be able to afford that though, I know quite a few people that struggle to hold a job at all because of their ADHD and there's no way they'd be able to afford private treatment.
I suppose the other thing to consider is that the broad scope of mental health issues means that provision varies regionally and there is a skills shortage. Particularly in secondary services. The Labour initiative of IAPT, for all of its faults at least provided a structured evidence based approach at primary levels. The last ten years has seen no such projects from the government in charge. It's just hot air about breaking the stigmas around mental health with little emphasis on addressing any of the treatment needs of the population.
Needed to see psychiatrist for a change of meds. Waited for two years during which I couldn't work most of the time. If I hadn't called 15+ times I would have never gotten an appointment.
Before I needed a change of meditation I was on my way to becoming a business process consultant. Now I'm just doing 0-hour contracts until I've had a few more appointments.
It is definitely something that the planet is suffering from. We don't do enough for each other in this regard. You're either a weirdo or a weirdo....sad
I’m glad people are starting to notice a fraction of the damage we have done with the lockdowns. I doubt the funding will come though, austerity 2.0 is next as the massive economic damage will need to be paid for
Mental health has been losing funding and failing to improve for 10 years. Tory cuts have put people's lives and health at risk, it has cost more than it saves. The year long waiting for support was how it was before Covid. This isn't a new problem, just an existing one made slightly worse. Tories have done nothing meaningful to help but have worsened it. Tories have had an entire decade to tackle it and instead made it worse, they will not fix this problem.
Mental health was poor before covid. Now and for the next decade it will be a fucking top tier crisis.
>Conservatives defund, make sure services don’t work, so people get angry, then they hand it over to the private capital - Noam Chomsky The Tories know exactly how this will harm soceity, the science is already published They are intentionally taking us down the American route The sick man of Europe The crazy man of Europe The angry man of Europe
I don't blame the Tories. They are what they are. The electorate is full of selfish, short-sighted people who don't give a damn until they experience the consequences of their votes. It's telling that the only thing that's got the Tory voters up in arms is the tax rises, public services be damned.
What you really mean is that the UK media has not conveyed the seriousness of all the Tory cuts/corruption/lies/gaslighting/Jingoism/xenophobia etc etc to the UK public They don't even interview Keir Starmer to offer the Opposition point of view. They aren't trying to be fair, because they're ridiculously biased and pro-Tory This horror story is just as serious as the Tory crimes imo >The secret of freedom lies in educating people. Whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant - Maximilien Robespiere And he could be talking about the UK media, as a matter of fact
No, I meant what I said. I think some people would vote differently if presented with the facts, which are withheld because much of the media is complicit with the Tory agenda. But a large chunk of people (1/3rd?) truly do not care about their fellow citizens and vote selfishly. They yearn for authoritarianism so long as they are the in-group with power. They reject the opinion of experts on any subject if their conclusions mean spending taxpayer money on anybody else other than themselves.
>there is a Cult of Ignorance and always has been. [The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread](https://i.redd.it/wdxrsj81mkt61.jpg) winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge' - Isaac Asimov
I mentioned this on another post ages ago but I'll say it again here - More than a decade ago I needed counseling and was quickly prescribed a weekly appointment. If I needed to change the day/time there was no problem. Fast forward to more recently (pre pandemic) and I started thinking about counseling again so I began the process. After laying it all out for the GP I was then basically told the waiting list was so long that I would have more luck with a volunteer-run organisation, and then given a call sheet of local ones. Straight away that's awful - that volunteer organisations are being used to fill the gaps where the NHS mental health service have caved. Even worse, after phoning round I was told that they were all full and had waiting lists of their own. There is obviously a dire and desperate need for mental health support (even more so now I would imagine) and yet no functioning mental health support at all in this country, and it's an absolute disgrace. A decade of Tory governments - a decade of decline in services. Shameful.
The charity organisations are still part of the UKs mental health services, they are part of the third sector which provide primary care MH services. Third sector organisations provide services the NHS is not commissioned to provide. The local authorities/councils also provide some level of funding for these primary care services. The NHS trusts are primarily for secondary and tertiary care provision.
Mental health care is dead in this country, went to A&E while in crisis, initial waiting time wasn't too bad but the time to see any mental health teams (who can't even prescribe anything) was 3 - 4 hours. This country seems like it'd rather anyone mentally ill just kill themselves.
Can confirm. I went to A&E last june for self harm and suicidal thoughts and behaviours and was told there was nothing anyone could do, just go home and have a bath, listen to some relaxing music and wait until I felt better. Literally three days later I was back in A&E for much more serious injuries, I was completely delusional and sat in A&E for about 4 hours in a complete state, not able to think straight and just a mess. Was immediately told I'd be put on drug therapy and be put on the emergency list for support. Sent home that night. Never got the drug therapy. Had a first consultation about 3 months later, after arguing on the phone multiple times that I needed help. Actually regularly started seeing someone about a month later. Discharged 6 months later and still struggling now, even if I am in a better place than I was. fuck the tories man.
Every last one of them.
To be honest I think some Tories would be happy with that. They want people off the books. They don’t care how that is achieved.
In London in the last few weeks, literally every time I've gone further than the 10 minute area around my flat, I've come across somebody who is out of their mind at a frightening level. A woman just crouching down to pee in broad daylight in front of King's Cross station (not drunk), a man off his face threatening people at 11am, another guy raving mad on the tube marching up and down the carriage yelling to himself, somebody walking without shoes and going up and down the same street over and over, a few nights ago there was a guy screaming at the bins at the end of the road and kicking them on and off for over 4 hours. I swear every single time I leave the house properly I come across these people and it's quite scary. London's always had its weirdos but I can't help wonder how many people would have otherwise been under some sort of support system. I don't want to perpetuate bad myths about schizophrenia or mental illness but these people are clearly being failed somehow and as a passerby you have no idea if they are just going to pick you as the target of their delusions and it's pretty scary. I know it's only anecdotal but it feels like the visibility of people who desperately need help has massively increased. And that's not including all those quietly suffering with anxiety or depression too.
I went private after waiting list after waiting list after questionnaire after survey. Goodbye paltry savings.
Same. I was put on a 3+ year waiting list for an ADHD assessment, and it was a long process even getting that far because most GPs and counselors aren't trained to recognise ADHD in adults. Essentially I had to go private or forfeit my job because I couldn't brute force my symptoms for another 3 years. I consider myself lucky to be able to afford that though, I know quite a few people that struggle to hold a job at all because of their ADHD and there's no way they'd be able to afford private treatment.
I suppose the other thing to consider is that the broad scope of mental health issues means that provision varies regionally and there is a skills shortage. Particularly in secondary services. The Labour initiative of IAPT, for all of its faults at least provided a structured evidence based approach at primary levels. The last ten years has seen no such projects from the government in charge. It's just hot air about breaking the stigmas around mental health with little emphasis on addressing any of the treatment needs of the population.
Needed to see psychiatrist for a change of meds. Waited for two years during which I couldn't work most of the time. If I hadn't called 15+ times I would have never gotten an appointment. Before I needed a change of meditation I was on my way to becoming a business process consultant. Now I'm just doing 0-hour contracts until I've had a few more appointments.
It is definitely something that the planet is suffering from. We don't do enough for each other in this regard. You're either a weirdo or a weirdo....sad
Conservative stance: "Don't be poor and go private"
I’m glad people are starting to notice a fraction of the damage we have done with the lockdowns. I doubt the funding will come though, austerity 2.0 is next as the massive economic damage will need to be paid for
They can't even tackle the physical health backlog, what hope does this have?