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Child and Adolescent Mental Health cuts

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
So from tracking news on my other Twitter, I had came across this: http://www.cypnow.co.uk/cyp/news/1076558/councils-cut-peoples-mental-health-services?%20Young%20People%20Now:chin:

I feel as though, although I'm in CAMHS that there's a long waiting list in some areas, with some YP waiting around over a year to be seen to. I volunteer for CAMHS anyhow, and we look at how we can better mental health services for YP. Which I'm looking at bringing this up in our next meeting.

Early intervention is definitely better, I waited ages to speak up, and now I have a handful of things, not just depression that could have been tackled while it wasn't as bad.

Also, I think there could be an increase of YP suicides, seeing as there's only so much hope we all hold, and if they're fighting to get support, but sit on a waiting list for so long, I think there could be a chance of them giving up and giving in, sadly.

  1. What's your take on this?
  2. Isn't early intervention better then late/no intervention?
  3. Also, do you think there could be an increase of YP suicides?

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    What's your take on this?

    I don't have specific experience of CAMHS but I do think that all NHS run services for mental health need improvements and major ones...from my experience - if you get the right GP then you get the necessary referral to the right place - get the wrong GP and you end up in an endless circle of going back and forth to them and still getting nowhere. I appreciate with cutting costs, etc they run on limited resources but if you take the ownership away from the NHS and look at the Government they need to invest more into mental health services as a whole.
    Isn't early intervention better then late/no intervention?

    In some respects I agree early intervention is better but sometimes that doesn't happen because the YP themself is caught up in being afraid to ask for help for reasons such as; not knowing what the outcome would be, feeling like they wouldn't be believed or that they would be judged, etc. Again, it isn't directly relevant to CAMHS but waiting for much longer than I should have done to actually seek counselling resulted in a whole load of other issues arising that could have been prevented...but that wasn't the system, that was me. In this instance - I believe focusing on reducing the stigma surrounding MH and educating everyone (not just YP) on MH issues would be a good starting point. Reducing the stigma would result in less people not speaking up when they need help and would reduce the feeling of isolation. I do agree that intervention (be it early or later) is much better than no intervention.
    Also, do you think there could be an increase of YP suicides?

    I think we will continue to see a rise in suicides of all ages until the stigma surrounding MH is reduced, when people know where to go for help and when people have the relevant information about what will happen when they ask for help. I was so terrified of being locked up in hospital if I ticked the "agree" box to suicidal feelings at my very first counselling session - that I kept quiet about it until much later on into counselling. Had I been given the relevant and necessary information in advance, I could have been completely honest and been helped much sooner.

    I think it is important to educate YP on MH in schools like you would on physical health & wellbeing and sexual health. However, with parents and grandparents being from different generations - I think we need to be educating them too...my Mum still has the view that counselling is for severly depressed people who aren't safe to be on their own...that's not her fault - it's just the way she has been brought up and is her own experiences of how it was for her own Mum who was schizophrenic. Also she struggles to tell people the cause of my Dad's death because she has always been brought up that it isn't something you tell people because it isn't "normal". Not that she will admit to any of that!!!

    I guess my point to all of this, is that if we reduce the stigma, re-educate people and give them the relevant information and invest more in to MH services - we would see a massive difference and improvements. Like any business, CAMHS are unable to give the full support individuals need when they run on tighter budgets and don't necessarily have all the resources they need...its time the Government took notice of the figures that speak for themselves and did something to improve MH services for everyone.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    when I worked in CAMHS last year I saw skilled and well qualified clinicians being overworked and exploited because of the lack of funding and it was sad to see how bad it's got. it was almost ten years ago that I was referred to CAMHS myself (not the same service as the one I worked in) and I think we waited for four or five months to be seen. compare that to what I saw last year, which was families waiting for up to a year for an appointment. clinicians were having their case loads stretched bigger and bigger and undoubtedly that makes for a poorer service because they had less time to prepare for sessions and more cases to discuss in supervision. when two full-time members of staff went on maternity leave there was no one recruited to cover for them because there was no money. the length of time families were being seen was being limited because there weren't enough clinics to go round, and the threshold for new referrals was continually getting higher so children with mild MH problems could not be seen. the primary care system that used to have an early intervention role has largely disappeared. of course all of this might save money and resources in the short-term but I do believe that early intervention is really important for supporting children and young people when their difficulties are starting to emerge and could potentially reduce the likelihood of them needing services as adults.

    I think it's important to note that young people who are suicidal are going to be made a priority in any CAMHS service, if anything more now than before because clients have to be prioritised with the resources being so limited. I don't necessarily foresee a rise in suicides, but more likely a problem with recurring mental health problems because of the increasing 'in and out' culture and a lack of long-term support. also the fact that services are becoming more picky with who they will see means that there are many families who need support but have nowhere to go.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The entire system is being absolutely raped by the government. At the moment where I am if you're in need of medical attention or help for a mental health issue chances are you'll end up in the back of a police car. We're being used for everything now, there are never any beds in the specialist units and there are never any ambulances to take you there anyway.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    There's always going to be a challenge with limited resources and prioritisation, and resources are always going to be limited.

    The challenge is getting the balance right between prioritising those in the worst condition, and using early intervention to reduce the work load.

    Early intervention for some people may mean a relatively small amount of treatment is needed and can then be discharged from the system. On the other hand, if they don't get anything early on then things deteriorate and they end up much further down the line needing crises teams and inpatient treatment. And then so the viscious circle goes around.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    So we all agree that early intervention is important...

    Whowhere - it seems the police end up with more cases about mental health then they do crime cases, even if they say the crime is slowly reducing, maybe this has a stretch on them too? It sounds quite tough where you are!

    WhiteLillies - thank you lots for your in depth reply, I don't think there's any questions to ask you! Thank you :)

    Omghi - I guess it's teaching parents and teachers etc more about mental health as well, so they can intervene where necessary?

    ScaryMonster - I agree, with early intervention though, things could be a lot worse then what they look on the surface, so maybe it's a case of who needs it most, but also how they equal it out to people that will benefit from it earlier as well, so a more appropriate time waiting on the waiting list etc
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Considering the home secretary said the job of the police is to solve crime, nothing more nothing less its a joke at the moment. We're regularly taking people to the mental health wards only to be turned away. As for getting an ambulance, you wish. If it wouldn't reveal my identity I could tell you some horror Tories of having to wait for paramedics
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think the police end up under a lot of strain, I know from my experiences the police have been called a couple of times for my safety, and last time I was taken to hospital in an ambulance, I remember talking about mental health to the paramedic with me, and he was amazing at understanding, and basically saw it as I did. Whilst telling me he know's I'm trying to get better for the amount of work I do to help end the stigma.

    But I do agree that if there where more services for YP to go to (I'm speaking to the youth club soon about setting up a support group) then there would be less strain on the police, and other services.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It definitely needs doing, as amazing as I am I know I'm woefully Ill equipped to help someone with mental health issues which isn't fair on me and more importantly isn't fair on the person who needs help.
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