An Early Morning Mental Blog

‎Watching BBC News this morning over my cuppa I saw a report that 7 Mental Health trusts (I think that's the right term) are joining together to campaign for better primary mental health care. They believe that better treatment when someone is initially diagnosed with a mental health problem could massively help their outcomes and chances of recovery. 

I couldn't agree more, if you compare say Bipolar like I have to a physical condition let's say a broken leg. Now what doctor would turn around to a patient and say "well your leg only has a minor break so here's some painkillers, come back if it gets worse and we'll consider putting it in a cast once you've jumped through the necessary hoops". My question is what is the difference between a fractured leg and a fractured mind? Both are painful, debilitating and often have a long recovery programme. Sometimes people never fully recover and it then turns to coping strategies to help them function as normally as possible - if you have a broken leg that is. In my experience, due to limited budgets, GPs are only able to throw tablets at someone complaining of depression/anxiety et al. In addition to my 'painkillers' I received a referral to a Health In Mind service that I've spoken about in previous blogs who decided to cut off my sessions without telling me. 

An early holistic approach to a mental health condition would save so much pain and fear for the person involved and the people around them. Too often we are given a diagnosis and left to research the condition ourselves (I have however found that Youtube is a surprisingly good place to find documentaries and information videos). 

I have to interject that ‎I am not in the business of bashing the NHS, aside from being my employer, it does a fantastic job. I hear first hand in my own office how much it has helped people and their families cope with palliative care and the fantastic support given at that horrendous time.

All I'm asking is that Mental Health and it's provision of care is moved higher up the agenda to ensure that having a mental illness doesn't mean you can't contribute to or function in society. That people are given the tools to just get on with our lives because that's all we want at the end of the day. 

Love Jen 

XxxX