Midweek posting?

[scowlotica]

My new job has me searching for the nearest soap box. My experiences of mental health have been listening to the observations of academics, discussing with friends who have various types of depression and reading a rather good manic depression blog (written and experienced by an internet type acquintance of all things

Comments

[missyoshi]

go soap box! Oh the stories I could tell. There is a gap if you're 16 and not in school, because you don't qualify for a child psychologist, but you don't qualify for an adult one either, so you end up like i did, on various waiting lists and seeing like 5 different shrinks in one year who I had to tell all my problems to without seeing them for long enough to actually fix them. Woopwoop. Also group CBT for teenagers, there was a bad idea if ever there was one.

[scowlotica]

How can you apply CBT in a group setting? Especially with vulnerable groups, oh I dont know. Tch!

Could I pick your brains about what/who saw you? I'm getting a whole lot of closed doors right now, need to find the right "yes" before I can even set foot on a ward!

The 16-18 age gap is rubbish, because the law clearly says 18 but not all professionals work to that system.

[missyoshi]

EXACTLY. but anyway.

Sure. Ask away. Either here or drop me an email rproven@gmail.com, always happy to use my spasticness in a positive way

[many_angled_one]

As with most things in the public sector I suspect it is the same issue - "So why isn't more being done" = money/cost. So many projects crying out for the cash and not enough to go round so some go on the back burner on low-priority I guess. Still, lots of things can be done without costing much more I would think, if it's done right.

[scowlotica]

If its done right, and if all people are playing by the same rules. Which rarely happens!

[caged_liberty]

Because of the nature of mental health problems as opposed to physical ones where there is a more obvious course of action, there can't be a 'playing by the same rules' as there aren't the same rules in the first place. Basic procedures exist when a patient is diagnosed with a certain illness, such as going through a series of low dosage medications combined with therapy plans, but this doesn't happen as often with illnesses that do not have psychotic aspects to them as at least with those medication is often an obvious step to take

[scowlotica]

I think the playing by the same rules, whilst it cant mean a cookie cutter plaster for the metaphorical grazed knee, should mean having a procedure that all people follow.

Today I was on the phone to a woman who was in charge of a communications post for the whole of Scotland and said that the level of procedure that exists varies wildly from district to district. Some are welcoming of other agencies, working towards the mythical "multi disciplinary" model where "hey you want something? Let me get on the phone to this other professional that knows more...we all work together for the same cause, why shouldnt we share cases".

North Lanarkshire is only now getting its act together, this year they appointed someone who was put with mental difficulties and learning difficulties. Before now, if you ticked both boxes, there would be no room at the inn for you.

Labelling the under 18s is a precarious path, some professionals think that it needs to happen, others think it may harm you in the long run. Stupid I know.

[caged_liberty]

I have shouted at doctors and cried in their offices because I got to a stage where I was demanding help, but it was utterly offputting. It is very stressful for me to have to see a new doctor and I go in almost ready to argue with them. I can see people easily giving up on this and suffering on their own because it is just so difficult a thing to express. One thing that always worries me is how old misunderstandings of mental health may prevent people from visiting their doctors at all out of shame, although campaigns may change this somewhat. I once saw a phychologist who worked within a mental health ward in a hospital and going for my weekly sessions I'd be in among crazies walking around screaming at walls wearing their pyjamas. I can see how this could be intimidating

[scowlotica]

Homelessness etc (Scotland) Act would just have been coming into effect when you were that age, it says that under 18s should be given priority in housing lists and given extra help. Of course, any act takes years to get itself together, so in the mean time things like this happen

[caged_liberty]

Another thing: there are many instances in physical care when there are no problems for a new doctor to look at a patient's record of treatment and know how to continue this to maintain their health, or treat them effectively. With mental health and the precarious nature of treatment, disturbances in this such as moving to a new county or just a new medical practise can be very damaging as it takes such a long time to make progress with a therapist and the understanding the professional has of the patient quite often cannot be as easily noted down to passed on. There are cases of 'starting afresh' that are really awful for the patient - Yoshi has experienced this, ask her.

There are just so many ways for it to go wrong, or be so difficult to track or treat that to a great degree I can see why there are so many problems with the system.

[scowlotica]

The idea of the under 18s being treated like cattle is one of the main criticisms i've read about in the literature. They know a person who can help, but its 1000 miles away, but its for their best interest so who cares if it flouts the convention of rights for the child in several different places.

So instead a scared lonely child is placed in a different part of the country because the centralised nature of scotland's mental health service means that its Glasgow or nothing for eating disorders usually.