It's all in the title...'Failed by the NHS'

Continuing with BBC Three's It's a Mad World season, last night saw the broadcast of a documentary entitled 'Failed by the NHS.' The doc, presented by Jonny Benjamin, covered the stories of 7 young people affected by mental illness who felt that they had been let down or abandoned by healthcare provision.
What could have been a very effective and interesting investigation into the availability of services for those with mental illness was in all honesty a bit lacklustre. I was disappointed in many respects, firstly the majority of the hour was spent with anecdotes, presented as individual cases where the care that was inadequate. This is undoubtedly a problem, there are difficulties in accessing care across the country, but there was little perspective or context given to the true gravity of the problem. It's terrible that people were sent away from A&E feeling like their concerns weren't listened to, and that people may have ended their own lives because of feeling unsupported, but how many feel this way? How significant are these problems? How common are they? What can be done about it? In the end I feel like the documentary did nothing, I was underwhelmed.
The program consulted one doctor, Dr Ranj Singh, who was very eloquent and clearly passionate about the shortcomings in the availability of mental health care for young people. He covered the issues of falling in the gap between CAMHS and Adult Services, of extended waiting times for treatments such as CBT, of people turning up to A&E presenting with self-harm and not receiving adequate psychological assessment, of cuts to funding, of GPs misdiagnosing or misunderstanding mental health, of ineffective links between different departments and of an over-worked, under-funded and over-stretched NHS. He had the statistics: only half of those admitted to A&E with self-harm were given a psychological assessment, and just 4% of those who transitioned from CAMHS to Adult Services would describe the transition as smooth. These findings are shocking and needed further investigation. His input was what gave the hour-long documentary its substance and kick. His air-time? About 10 minutes. The rest was padding. I feel like they could have done so much more with it, and spoken to professionals about the reasons behind apparent failings and what they would do about it.
Jonny's meeting with MP and Care Minister Norman Lamb left me angry, obviously we didn't see the full extended cut (or I sure as hell hope that wasn't it) but considering the entire program had essentially concluded that budget cuts were placing a strain on the care the NHS can provide it seemed ludicrous that Lamb wasn't challenged on this. Here is this amazing chance to air the grievances you have and to put pressure on the man-in-charge to improve mental health care, you're backed up by statistics, you're filmed by a television crew, and yet nothing is made of that opportunity.

My last little nit-pick is the title. 'Failure' is such a strong word, and I don't think it was at all fair to use it. I know that people feel let down by the health care that's available. I know that there are some doctors who don't understand mental health as well as they should. I know that young people have to shout to be heard, I literally did have to shout and scream until my face went purple. I know that the gap between child and adult services is fraught and unnecessary. I know that there are excessive waiting times. I know that, unfortunately, some people have ended their lives because they've not felt like they had anyone to help. I know all of this from personal experience, and from the experience of friends. But you know what? Yes, I had to yell at a psychologist to get her to listen to what I was really saying. Yes, the transition between CAMHS and Adult care was, actually, virtually non-existent. Yes, I was misdiagnosed and mismedicated. Yes, I faced long waiting times.
In the end though, I have been saved by the NHS. The vast majority of doctors and other specialists I have met along the way were beautifully understanding and helpful. I have had access to medication, and complex treatments and therapies for free when in other countries I would have never been able to afford it. The National Health Service has got a terrible job. People get ill, and if they aren't perfectly fixed straight away then it's the doctors' fault and oh isn't the NHS failing us how dreadful how dreadful. I blame the system and behind the scenes bureaucracy for the hiccups in my treatment, and I blame the politicians for the cuts to funding. Unfortunately there will always be cases where people fall through the gaps, and where people have to wait to get treatment, but that does not mean that the NHS has failed you it means that the NHS is trying very desperately to help you but doesn't have the resources or training or money or people there to do it. The NHS cares, and understands, and is struggling along valiantly. It is not failing anyone.

Video of the day...The stand up kid

I have loved this for months now

Video of the day: Cameron Russell, Looks aren't everything

Concealment culture?

I've just read this NewScientist article about the existing 'taboo' that surrounds suffering from a mental illness and revealing it to others with confidence.
Despite a wave of celebrities openly admitting and embracing their mental health problems it would seem the majority of normal every day people still fear the stigma of being 'crazy' or incompetent, and so hide their diagnosis from family, friends and colleagues. This instantly saddened me, but what affected me more was reading that almost 80% of people with depression experienced discrimination because of their condition in 2010 alone, and that a quarter of sufferers have been rejected from job positions because of their mental health.
Erm, are you freaking kidding me?? Firstly, I would just like to say that, really, if your work environment is one that couldn't possibly be accepting of any mental health that wasn't 'perfect' (and there is no such thing, don't kid yourself) then quite frankly I wouldn't want to work for you. But I can't say I'll always be able to be as picky, what if times are tough and I need that job? If you discriminated against me because of my gender, race, age, sexuality then that's a big no no, mental health is kind of....meh. Unfortunately people still seem to feel that if you're depressed/schizophrenic/anxiety-ridden/obsessive compulsive then you'll be of no use to their workplace and a drain on sickpay etc etc. I am just as competent as the next person you pluck off the street, and it riles me that one day I may feel like disclosing my mental health history on a job application isn't in my best interests.
There are two quotes I remind myself of when I'm feeling particularly aggrieved at the naff hand I was dealt by the Gods of brains. One is something my lovely GP said to me, and the other is from Bill Clinton, from whom I don't ordinarily take life guidance.

'Depression, and any mental illness really, is only a flaw in the chemical make-up of your brain, not a flaw in your character.'
'Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, but stigma and bias shame us all' - Bill Clinton

The piece cites Ruby Wax, who is famously outspoken about her own experiences with depression and one of my girl-crushes. She's funny, she's human, and in an amazing TEDtalk she gave last year (which you should definitely make time to watch) she said something that completely rang true with me:

I guess what got to me most was reading about the cyclical nature of mental illness. Society still has a bit of an issue accepting and understanding ill-mental health, so those who are given a diagnosis don't reveal it to others, don't want to embark on any new relationships and because of this feel more alone and excluded and more unable to reveal their condition. Equally, everyday man-on-the-street doesn't challenge his perception of 'normal' or of 'depressed' because he doesn't realise that actually his own son has depression, and so did the girlfriend he had in uni and Joe from HR at work and his great-aunt Margaret. Work places don't want depressed people in their work place, so none of their existing employees feel they can disclose they've been having a hard time recently, no potential new colleagues apply disclosing a mental health issue and the work environment remains an unhealthy one.

Time to Change and other movements like it within the UK and across the world are undoubtedly helping to change the idea of what it is to be normal and what it is to be afflicted with a mental health condition. Whilst I feel confident that the stigma is reducing and changing, I'm worried that it will never disappear entirely, and that as I grow older I'll be faced with the dilemma of choosing whether to openly reveal my history at the risk of being shunned or discriminated against or stay quiet and feel like I have to face everything shamefully alone.
Of course with the rise in employers using the internet to research potential candidates there's every chance someone is reading this right now. In which case: hi there, please give me the job!