I joined the Liberal Democrats partially due to the importance that has constantly been put on mental health issues by the party. I have suffered from extreme depression and have ended up in A&E due to self-harm and suicidal thoughts. A couple of weeks ago I was officially discharged from psychiatry and I’m using my voice – as it’s a loud one – for those who are suffering and have lost their voice due to mental health concerns.
Over a month ago I wrote to the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, about her apparent lack of understanding when it comes to mental health concerns. On a radio show involving young voters she claimed that Scotland did not have the same issues as England when it came to mental health parity because in Scotland they already had the same legal status. She even went as far to say to one voter on the panel:
If you don’t think we’re doing enough then I have to convince you we are doing enough.
This could not be further from the truth. That’s why I wrote to her. I wrote that the CAMHS targets are not being met. They say that no child should wait longer than 18 weeks for a referral. Only 78.9% are being seen within that time frame. If you up the limit to 26 weeks only 7% more are being seen. That means that of those who are needing referred to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services 14% are not being seen within half a year! I’ve included the link to these statistics at the end of the post for those interested. I’ll just copy and paste the response I was given:
Some successes to date can be seen in the improvement to Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS), where Scottish Government introduced a waiting times target that stated that from March 2013, no one will wait longer than 26 weeks from referral to treatment for specialist CAMHS – and no longer than 18 weeks from December 2014….We appreciate that there is still much room for improvement and we are working with NHS Boards to support their working in this area.
This response wasn’t even from Ms Sturgeon, who was our secretary of health for a very long time. It was from someone assigned to respond to me. The very targets I wrote about being a failure are the targets they’re calling a success. I also included in my letter that in the last 5 years – under an SNP government – the number of children and adolescents being admitted to hospital due to self-harming severely enough to require treatment has doubled and Childline in Scotland are noticing a 34% increase in calls from suicidal and depressed children in just a single year. There was no mention of that in the response I got.
I wanted to know what was being done to combat mental health failings but apparently the Scottish Government feel they’re doing so well and are even patting themselves on the back for their ‘success’. This post is for those of you who maybe don’t understand why mental health is such an important topic. It’s important because it’s not given enough attention. It’s important because it’s healthcare. It’s important because in the statistics I’m talking about are children wanting to end their lives or causing damage to themselves because they are mentally ill and they’re not receiving the care they need. It’s important because mental health is exactly the same as physical health. And it’s important because this response to an inquiry about mental health services in Scotland reads like a copy and paste from the government spin book when mental health is concerned. My condition is not something I’m ashamed of any more and I’m going to continue fighting for those who cannot.
* Rebecca Plenderleith is a member in Dumbarton and blogs at Some Ramblings.
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6 Comments
Good points about Scotland’s approach to mental health – keep making them, as people who don’t have direct experience will just take those like Nicola Sturgeon at face value when they say things are better in Scotland than England.
Wonderful post, Rebecca. The efforts made to improve mental health are a start. Just that, a start for further and necessary improvement. The time-frames for a referral still seem incredibly long to me. We need activists like you to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. Do keep us informed on how your campaign is widening and linking with others nationally – pioneering mental health improvements for young people in particular as they are surely the most vulnerable.
Thank you for sharing your experience & highlighting this Rebecca. I’ve seen how CAMHS (not in Scotland) had failed someone repeatedly and spectacularly, so even when one is eventually seen – the problems are plenty.
I and many others will be fighting right alongside you.
On a general note… What an odd way to respond to someone’s concerns:
“As someone with experience, I feel not enough is being done”
“Well it is, so there! ”
I hope our spokespeople will learn from that bad example, and when an obviously well informed person raises issues such as these, will at least try to understand them first, and actually give a worthy response.
I am glad you joined the Liberal Democrats Rebecca. Many lives have been ruined because of the neglect of mental health.
Mental health is the cinderella part of the NHS , despite the fact that most people with have a mental health problem at some point in their lives. It needs greater priority . I speak as someone who has had mental health problems, a pharmacist who knows the limitations of drugs, and a complementary therapist/counsellor who specialises in stress and anxiety. Mental and physical health are interdependent – so both need equal attention
As someone who like Rebecca, has required the services offered by the NHS for mental health problems in Scotland, I must admit to having a deep sense of pride when I see someone publicly challenging the current inequality between physical and mental health.
I am someone who does not want to be afraid. For someone who has mental health problems, that feeling of fear is an everyday reality. I have benefited from the good of the mental health provisions in Scotland, but also the negatives. I managed to build up enough courage in January 2013 to ask for help. Anyone who suffers from mental health problems will be able to relate to the struggle it takes to overcome that fear, that fear of asking for help. I waited. Weeks, months.. they passed and as I submerged ever deeper into the darkest realms of depression, that light at the end of the tunnel went out for me. July 2013, the 9th to be exact, I ended up in hospital. I saw the good side of the mental health provision in Scotland following that. I met a lovely lady, whom I will always remember, and for seven months met weekly with her.
Yes the figures need challenged, but for me society needs to be challenged in a greater way. The stigmas attached to mental health in public need to be challenged. I’m sure I wasn’t the only person who following the tragic Germanwings plane crash, shook his head at the portrayal of that pilot in the British tabloids. Some of us probably even went as far as to ask ourselves is it any wonder people feel scared to talk about something that in this country 1 in 4 people will face at some point in their lives.
Buses, TV, newspapers, radio – these are areas that we need to challenge. To communicate the message that if you suffer from mental health problems, you are not alone. That’s where a greater challenge lies. We need to challenge a society where generally it is alright to say you are suffering from a sore head, but not to tell of the sufferings going on inside your head.