Thanks to my friend Tom Frankland for requesting me to do an open letter sort of blog post. Never had a request before, but we will see how this goes.
My open letter to the NHS
NHS = Needles & Hay-Stacks
We’re the needles, suffocating unnoticed within the haystack of mental illness. The NHS are the magnets with the power to quickly attract us away from our turmoil. Back in school we learnt that opposites attract, scientifically speaking. But it seems that both us sufferers AND the NHS are negative. Is it any wonder so many people can’t keep positive! It’s hardly surprising that people in crisis are constantly repelled.
There is a widespread problem, that I have noticed myself & also hearing unfortunate stories from others. So many people are being denied the appropriate help for mental health problems, be it depression, anxiety, bipolar or OCD.
I would like to focus on a dissosciative disorder called Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder, because it has next to no recognition… A surprising fact for you here. If you are unfortunate enough to get it, and you discover its name, you probably already know more than your local doctor. You will have to tell them what you have, rather than the other way round. Why? Because they aren’t trained on such things.
Once I found out what I was suffering from back in November 2016, I was relieved to know this thing sucking the life out of me had a name. Then began the fight for acknowledgement & understanding. Even though I was severely depressed and living through the motions of a nightmarish existence that very few people understood, I was the one picking at the rations of motivation I had left in me, to get the help I needed. People say that speaking out and asking for help is the hardest part. If you think that’s hard, you’re in for a terrible surprise.
All of the NHS safety mechanisms I have experienced such as crisis teams, don’t really offer much benefit. It just feels like they are checking on how you’re feeling and if you’re eating. Just for the purpose of ticking a box to cover their backs if somebody decides to check out on life. I have only had one exceptional crisis worker who came to see me called Rachel. She was actually really engaging and reassuring, and came across as being genuinely motivated to help people. Everybody else I have seen, seemed to lack enthusiasm for even being there. Just constant nodding and asking textbook questions with dull, monotone voices, every day. No real benefit. I just feel like its a way for the NHS to say they were offering a helping hand. A lousy one at that.
I have had to constantly send complaints to the patient advice & liaison service (PALS) to get things moving with a referral to Maudsley hospital in London, who specialise in the treatment of Depersonalization. I honestly think it would be easier to sign up to travel to the moon, than to count on the NHS prioritising treatment for sufferers of mental health problems. I didn’t even receive my official diagnosis of depersonalization disorder until at least 14 months after having it. And apparently it is very rare to even get a proper diagnosis.
Suicide is the leading cause of death among young people aged 20-34 years old in the UK. And there are 3 times as many men dying by their own hands, compared to women. It is also the leading cause of death for men under the age of 50. So why is treatment always on the back burner, for something so blatantly momentous? Why isn’t the NHS prioritising treatment, and accepting referrals quicker for what is an extremely important issue. Is it true that these people didn’t ask for help in the first place, or do you think they did, but didn’t receive the care they so urgently needed in time?
If they were suffering from heart problems or cancer, they would be seen at the utmost importance. But with mental health problems that can’t be seen, they are unable to tell how long the person has left to live. It could be tomorrow, next week or next month. Who knows?
I’ve spent 3 hours sat in A&E to be seen whilst feeling extremely suicidal, and I ended up just walking out. It’s scary that so many people are learning they will be seen faster if they just act upon their thoughts, which will just put further strain on the ambulance service. It seems you have to prove your intent to actually be taken seriously.
Mental health problems need to be taken more seriously. Everybody wants to talk about it, but nobody wants to do anything. It doesn’t seem to be a priority anyway. A lot of people only talk about mental health when a famous person has died as a result of it, such as Robin Williams, Chris Cornell & Chester Bennington. It shouldn’t take that to raise a higher level of awareness for it.
I’m sick of seeing poor young children younger than the age of 15 in the papers, who have committed suicide, mainly due to bullying. Schools seem to be a breeding ground for the development of suicidal thoughts. And not enough is being done to prevent such things. It’s disgusting.
I speak on behalf of my friends, my family & everybody else who knows this struggle all too well. Why do suicidal people have to wait 3 months or longer to have a counselling appointment? Why aren’t there more serious punishments for bullying, especially when it has caused deaths? Why is it harder to diagnose somebody than to write out prescription after prescription of drugs? Why is the NHS continually pussyfooting around the issues right under their nose?
– Mitch Storer
MY DP/DR STORY 