Central & North West London MHT - Mental Health Sup...

Mental Health Support

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Central & North West London MHT

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I had the misfortune of being involved with this mental health tust for 4 or 5 years, it was a awfull miserable experience trying to deal with these useless jokers, when i was i need of help, nothing but lies, and promises of treatment that never arrived. They try to pretend they are professional, but when you challenge them they don't know even basic mental health knowledge, then they clam up and try to change the subject, and won't look you in the eye, i have deppression but i'm not an idiot, i see straight through them. The CPN qualification they have means absolutly zero to me, it's worthless, and i would seriously question how and in what country they got it from. One of the psyciatrists i saw could not prescribe Citalopram, one of the most commom anti deppressants without looking up the dose in a text book. Most of the services they say they offer don't exist, they just string you along with never ending assesments .

The icing on the cake was when they tricked me into going onto a ward, saying i could leave at any time i wanted, and then i was locked in there for 48 hrs, no doctor arrived, no one spoke to me, no medication was given to me, i even had to get the cleaner to find me a cup to make a cup of tea. The staff talked to each other in African language, and treated the patients like cattle. When they started using the word "section" i knew i had to get the hell out of there, staff who would fail a Macdonalds interveiw , and could not care if you lived or died having complete control of you, no thanks.

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Hi

It's good to hear you having a good rage as if you have not felt helped then it's important to feel you can share that with someone.

It sounds like you feel really let down by the system. I agree some health professionals leave patients feeling the experience of seeing them has been useless. There are so many issues that affect whether they're any good, whether its psychiatrists, CPNs or anyone else - it depends on their personality, how much they enjoy their work, how pressured they feel, how well trained they were, how experienced they are, what's going on in their own lives - so many things.

However, when looking up the dose for medications I think that actually shows the person was being responsible as however experienced it simply isn't responsible to rely upon memory unless the person is highly experienced and even then some would struggle to remember all the different meds and doses.

I agree with you though about medics coming from other countries and often being inadequately trained or experienced for what we expect within the NHS! I've also seen health professionals who barely speak english well enough, lack normal social skills that we expect in this country, make no eye contact, have no 'bedside manner' in the way they interact (lack care), and are sometimes downright abusive! I've found that not just within mental health where I think sometimes the standard is better than in other areas of health.

One of the problems of challenging health professionals is that they often feel under pressure as a result of working within the organisation itself and have expectations upon them from within that as well as from patients, then if they are challenged they are likely to feel more threatened. You may well know more than some of them on some subjects although they are all likely to know far more than you across the broad subject than you unless you are similarly educated. I have degrees and post-grad qualifications and often know more than the medics I see but that doesn't mean they are a waste of time, it just means they are not knowledgeable about some things I know about - they can still be of help, particularly if their manner and care are appropriate. It sounds as though you've had experienced where that is what was lacking.

I agree about services being offered in theory but lacking in practice! Also the NHS is so full of beurocracy - I went today to join a gym, mentioned joint problems so need my GPs clearance before using a treadmill (walking!!), so took the form to the surgery and have to wait two weeks before I can collect it signed and take it back to the gym then I can start using it! Talk about putting obstacles in the way - see my latest blog!

Your experience on the ward sounds awful. I've been lucky enough to have been able to ensure that I have always sought out the most helpful people and situations but then I'm educated middle class and have enough money to get support privately when I need it. If I had relied on the NHS throughout my experiences of dealing with emotional problems I'd probably have attempted suicide and perhaps succeeded. It's a really unfair world, all you can do is to try to find the best sources of support for you, the places where you feel safest and most comfortable and accepted, and the people who you find most useful as sources of support and knowledgeable. Then that has to be enough as you won't find better. The world is very far from perfect and not nearly good enough, so we have to find what there is.

It would be good if you could harness your anger in order to bring about changes in society. Have you thought of joining the local branch of Mind? Also the anti-psychiatry movement is an organisation where users voices are taken seriously. You don't have to be millitently anti everything, but just to have your voice and experiences heard and understood can be liberating and result in helping other people to have better experiences. Perhaps you don't feel well enough for that? You don't say how long you've been out of hospital but I'm wondering how you are coping now? Keep on with the anger, it's healthy to feel angry in response to situations that do not meet your needs, just try not to let the anger become destructive or alienate people.

Take care, Suexx

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