CBT, Maindiff Court and Reply to Nick Ramsay

After my second assessment with the community mental health team (at Maindiff Court - the first assessment was dismissive and therefore I threatened legal action to get another thorough assessment) I have now received a letter from them.

They have suggested that I should be able to access the new primary mental health team. This is for people who are between mild depression and hospitalisation. Previously people only got help if they had attempted suicide (they would be sectioned and therefore helped), or if they had mild or moderate depression in which case they might be referred to their GP's counsellor for 6 or so weeks of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

What can 6 weeks of CBT help fix? Well nothing more severe than the distress caused when dropping your custard cream biscuit in to your cup of tea, and later having to fish it out with a teaspoon. Anything more serious than that and it won't work. I really mustn't be facetious. On a serious note counselling only really works if you bond with the counsellor. I counter that 6 weeks isn't enough to bond with your counsellor therefore making CBT in this context null and void. Decent CBT would still require the client (that's you) to bond with the counsellor. This is why most people I've spoken to feel that CBT is useless. The reality is that CBT has been shown to work BUT, ONLY if given enough time. 6 weeks is not enough. In short the government are wasting their money.

They'd be better off upping the time to at least 16 weeks and halving referrals. Statistically this would mean that more people would get the help they needed. The people who got referred would have a MUCH higher likelihood of being helped. At the moment hardly anyone is helped so it's a complete waste of money.

Anyway back to Maindiff Court. I now need to make an appointment with my GP. Unfortunately my GP is off work at the moment but is hoping to return soon. My GP is amazing so it's worth waiting for them to return to work before making an appointment.

For once I feel positive about maybe getting the support I need. I replied to Nick Ramsay just now telling him that people with mental health issues shouldn't have to jump through hoops configured in a complex manner, in order to get the help they need.

Here is the email I sent to him:

Hi Nick (Ramsay)

Thanks for your reply. It means a lot to me. I'm not just saying thatas a passing comment that people habitually use. I really am grateful.Your email was very thoughtful! Impressive! 

I am not only trying to sort out my own mental health issues and getsupport. Along the way I am hoping to make sure that changes are madeso that no-one else has to be neglected in regards to getting supportfor their mental health. I understand that mental health is anextremely complicated topic, it's probably far more complex thanfinding a cure for cancer or AIDS. I have heard it said that the humanbrain might be the most complex machine in the entire universe, sothat probably puts it in to perspective. So I feel humankind has donevery well to get anywhere at all on this issue. 

Even though I suffer from panic attack, I managed to do a 5 minutetalk on Wednesday about reducing stigma on mental health (Time forChange campaign). I managed to do a good talk in front of eight or sopeople. The feedback I got was positive. So that's a start!
Yesterday I received a positive response from Maindiff Court (it hasbeen quite a game of tennis so far, with me as the ball!). Howeversomething seems to be shifting. Maindiff Court said that I should beable to access the new primary mental health team that has been setup. I just need to see my GP. 

I also got an amazing phone call from David Davies. He was about tocatch a train but called me. He was compassionate and very thoughtful.I feel that it is brave for a man to have the guts to talk to anotherman about mental health. I guess stigma is being removed enough forthis to happen.

I can only hope that this time the process of me accessing support isless complicated, and that there are less hoops to jump through. Ifeel that it has made me more ill trying to access mental healthsupport than not accessing at all. I think this needs to be addressed.People with mental health can often be disorganised or can becomeexhausted and demotivated. Over the years things have sometimes becomeso complicated in order to get help that it's all fallen about, andtherefore stopped me getting the support I need. Some people's mindsare so erratic and in a state that they can't jump through all thehoops required. It reminds me of the Joseph Heller's Catch-22. In thisbook if a fighter pilot is willing to fly then he is considered madbut willing, if a man refuses to fly because of the dangers involvedthen he is deemed sane (for being aware enough to realise the dangers)and therefore can't get out of flying by declaring insanity. In thecase of mental health, if someone is well enough to jump through allthe random and complex array of hoops then they probably aren't THATbad, however if someone is too ill to jump through all the hoops thenthey don't get the help they deserve. On an aside, people who are wellenough to hold down a job can afford private counselling, whereasthose who are too unwell to work can't afford private counselling. Soyou see these people just don't get help! This needs passing on to theappropriate persons!

My GP practice manager sent me an amazing email in reply. I feel thatsince I've put pressure on the mental health services and my GPpractice, they have really taken my call for support seriously. I justhope that this trend of needing to fight for scraps of support isimproved upon soon. 

I feel with your support we can make this change. 

In between my debilitating days I am trying to make changes to themental healthcare system. In fact this campaigning has given mesomething to focus on, and indeed this is a line of work that I hopeto get in to. I feel it is worthwhile to try and reduce suffering inthe world, and I feel this is my calling! It would be amazing if Icould get some voluntary work in this area. I might even try and getsome support to try and access funding to campaign and make positivechanges in this area. Who knows!? 

My attitude in life is that if a problem happens to me, I try andimprove things so that they are very unlikely to happen to me orothers again. My feedback probably needs to become a bit more tactful,however changes have been made over time. 

I wrote a letter to the health minister a few years back regardingpreventative mental health care and the response was positive. Changesare being made by all parties and people over time. BT and Eon haveintroduced mental health support strategies within their companies.This has reduced absenteeism relating to mental health, by 25%. Ithink one of these companies even has a mental health first aider whocould deal with panic attacks, anxiety, suicidal people and othermental health issues. I feel this is amazing. 

The UK employers lose £30 billion each year due to mental health, andthe wider economy about £105 billion. I believe that preventativehealthcare in this area could save a lot of money and of coursesuffering. These figures were from a government website (I can'tremember which one). 

Anyway I tried to highlight some positives in this email as well asareas that need improving. 

Apologies if I repeated myself. I really need to get things off mychest recently as really helps with my mental health. Bottling thingsup really destroys me in the end! I hope you 'eyes' aren't taking ahammering ;-) 

Best wishes to you Nick!