I have decided after 3 years of getting nowhere with my local CMHT that i'm not going to engage with them anymore. My GP (who I trust) is fully in support and has stated that they are more than happy to assist me with any medications I may need. This is a total relief, to be honest. This particular CMHT has a really bad reputation of at best not helping clients and at worst, gross negligence (high suicide rates, multiple complaints to Mental Health Comission, patient and patient's families negative experiences published online etc).
My own experiebce has been of abusive CPN's, a neglectful crisis team who basically laughed when I was deeply suicidal last year and a psychiatrist who placed me on and off multiple meds too rapidly with no tapering, causing horrible withdrawals. I feel the whole experience has added to, not helped my CPTSD abd GAD. I shall be glad to close this chapter on my life.....
I hope you didn't mind me sharing. Thank you.
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Meredyn
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Community Mental Health teams are broken across England, I believe. There is help in the community available from the DWP (yes, really!) Disability support workers, peer support charities and even the county council. Google "support for people with mental illness in .........." and I am sure you will find some help. PLEASE don't isolate yourself though.
Pearwig, I'm in Scotland and I believe they are possibly even more broken here! The psych. wards are jammed to the hilt with people who are suffering from illicit drug induced psychosis, because they don't know what else to do with them and therefore the rot has well and truly set in. If you get an admission here for 'standard' mental health issues, you're extremely 'lucky'. I was admitted once, and never again! I feared for my safety the whole time I was in hospital and saw things I shall never forget for the rest of my days (no exaggeration)!
Yes. I have had similar treatment from mental health teams, they think they can treat you badly because of your health problems and get away with it. I have been called a liar about how much medication I was taking and spoken down to as if I was a naughty child. One nurse brought me tears. They did absolutely nothing to help me and my GP would not go against anything they recommended. Have now stopped seeing them and have changed my GP so am hoping things will improve. I really hope you will now receive the treatment you deserve. Take care and be strong.
I am so sorry you have experienced similar 'treatment' to me, Ward146. No one should ever be treated like that by people employed in a so called 'caring profession'. Take care, and I do hope you are on the road to recovery.
I have been through hell and back trying to get help from mental health. I learnt that they were not taking me seriously and called a social worker I had an assessment with to request that she erased incorrect information from her assessment.
I didn't think she had lied, I just thought she wasn't listening , her reaction was alarming.
Luckily I record all communication with health services now, so I have got a recording of her response.
I was very polite and explained that she had got a fact wrong and I would like it changing, she said.
I only write what people tell me
I don't write stories
I have no reason to lie
You tell me why would I lie
Bare in mind, I can prove that the information is incorrect, I told her that I can prove its a lie, to be honest I wouldn't have classed it as a lie, just that she hadn't listened carefully, it was only her totally erratic reaction to me saying it was wrong.
Usually I would react to this kind of erratic conversation with someone but I learnt that's what they want. So I remained calm and just kept repeating that the information is incorrect, I have the proof and I want it erasing from all records.
The whole report was that bizarre, I actually laughed at some of it.
The more concerning thing is, there are extremely vulnerable people using these services, I think all assessments and meetings should be recorded, and randomly spot checked for accuracy as what is written in these reports goes towards any future diagnosis and treatment.
I can't work out if some mental health staff got into the sector to try and understand their own mental health issues, or if they are just so used to making decisions for others that they think they can do this to everyone.
To be honest the mistake that she made, could have caused that many problems to a third party, that it was a very serious mistake, rather than her just saying, oh I'm so sorry can you remind me what you said and I will check it out and resolve it, she was immediately defensive and sarcastic, despite the fact that this was a very sensitive issue for me.
Something is seriously wrong in mental health services, clearly them hitting notes then writing a report is not working, so dictaphone to computer would be a better way of writing their reports. That would stop many errors, misunderstandings and as she puts it, stories and lies.
It is common sense to walk away from a service that is detrimental. Since you have a doctor that will accommodate your needs and you trust it seems your problem is solved.
Indeed, 91342. Thank you! I really feel that this problem is country wide here in the UK - I have been speaking to a number of people who have had similar experiences today. This just isn't good enough - often, GP's trust that CMHT's are doing their job properly and don't want to get involved if their patient is 'engaging with secondary services'. If things are going badly wrong with the care they are receiving, it then leaves them with nowhere else to turn (except good forum's such as this - where the peer support is excellent)!
Hi Merdyn nice to meet you I fear for this country now I really do the changes I have seen in my life in our NHS is shocking thankfully I am out of the inner cities but London is being brought to it's knees too many people and not enough medical staff, facilites or hospitals I am glad Im old now wouldn't want to be young again now that's for sure xx
I have recently requested my records, the first time I met them I took an advocate, so they didn't lie too much.
The second time I went, I just cannot believe the report she had made, she wrote the complete opposites of what I told her.
I hadn't assumed she had lied in the report but made mistakes, she speaks broken English so I thought it could just be a genuine mistake, but when I called her to question just one of the things she had written (which was very concerning regards a 3rd party)
I raised it with her, and she replied, I only write down what people tell me, I said but I didn't tell you that, I gave you a full explanation, she then replied why would I lie ?
At this point I just replied I can prove your lying, but I hadn't actually assumed she had lied, it was more in relation to her saying why would I lie ?
It escalated so quick, that I realised there is just no point in talking to these people.
Im devaststaed for the people who are stuck with teams, I know the sheer frustration I have felt from the very little contact I have had. Truthfully nobody should have mental health assessments without them being recorded.
The thing is, they tell you to be as honest as possible, but they either don't understand what you say or they write their interpretation of what they think.
It's wrong because people are being diagnosed due to what they say.
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