Tonight it was the turn of mental health to be the focus of Channel 4's "999 What's Your Emergency?" series.
I sincerely hope that Jeremy Hunt or any of his other Health Ministers are watching this and weeping tonight. The programme tonight has clearly highlighted the horrendous failings in the UK's mental health services.
Even in the words of the paramedics in the programme the mental health services available to people in crisis are "rubbish" with one even going so far as to day "I'd far rather my friends or family members had a physical rather than a mental health problem as they would receive far better help" that pretty much sums it up for me too.
Whilst my family, friends and work colleagues have been fantastic it's the mental health services that have let me and other people I know who are struggling down, time and time again. The Health In Mind service in my area is laughable, I received a few telephone calls before they dried up for no reason with no follow up or discharge.
According to Martin, a Schizophrenic, on the programme tonight he has been told by mental health workers "They wouldn't help as I wasn't crazy enough". With Schizophrenia being one of the least understood and most demonized mental health conditions (yes The Sun newspaper I am talking about you) this absolutely disgusted me, Martin was in an incredibly dark place, even resorting to trying to take an overdose in front of the paramedics - if this doesn't deserve help then I don't know what does!
Later in the programme Martin asked "what do I have to do to convince them i'm not making it up and that I need help?" it makes me absolutely sick that in this day and age those of us with mental health problems are constantly having to 'prove' we are worthy of help and are genuine in our need. I mean would you accuse a cancer sufferer of making up their condition? Or tell someone in a wheelchair they have to prove they are disabled?
Another person we met in the programme was Matthew a depression sufferer who was attended by paramedics twice in two weeks after self-harming badly. On their second visit the paramedics asked Matthew what help he received on his first visit to the hospital. Matthew waited seven hours in A&E before being seen by the mental health team for 15 minutes and being discharged with no aftercare of support.
With national statistics telling us that 16 people a day take their own lives with 90% of this group suffering from a mental health problem why on earth are the government forcing the NHS to cut mental health funding and beds on specialised units?
The final part of the programme contained a quote where one of the paramedics hit the nail on the head when he said "society doesn't embrace the strange or crazy and would rather see it pushed under the carpet". This is where charities like Mind and Rethink are doing such valuable work in educating society about mental health and humanising us sufferers.
It's clear that something needs to be done about the appalling state of our mental health services and soon before more lives are lost or ruined through lack of action or poor care.
Love Jen
XxxxX
Ps in my next blog I'll be sharing with you my fightback against the poor mental health care I have received.
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