Do you think mental health should be given the same level of treatment as physic!
Question: i strongly believe that mental health is just as important as physical health, yet there seems to be a low amount of support for people suffering from mental health in the uk compared to the amount of money and support offered to physical illness patients,
Agree or Disagree?
Answers: i strongly believe that mental health is just as important as physical health, yet there seems to be a low amount of support for people suffering from mental health in the uk compared to the amount of money and support offered to physical illness patients,
Agree or Disagree?
agree.
in australia "the burden or impact of bipolar disorder in terms of pain, suffering, disability and death is greater than that of ovarian cancer or HIV /AIDS" (Andrews, G. et al. (1999). The Mental Health of Australians. Canberra, ACT: Mental Health Branch, Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care).
it's incredibly similar for severe depression and other mental illnesses too. there is not enough support out there, not enough education to prevent those illnesses that can be prevented, not enough awareness of illnesses that do occur, not enough money spent on these things as well as rehabilitiation/psychiatric wards etc etc. it's endless and it's one of the things that annoy me the most.
i have bipolar disorder. i also have a serious heart condition. which do i suffer with most and feel impacts me the most? my bipolar. there is an abundance of free/cheap specialists, doctors, machines, meds, support groups, foundations, charities etc etc for my heart condition. as for my bipolar i struggle to pay for psychiatrists, medication that costs $270 a fortnight and have to deal with people hanging crap on me and telling me to get over it on an almost daily basis. as for foundations and charities... well i've had to start one up myself.
if the state of mental health care remains as it is, in my opinion which'll kill me first?
my heart? (i've had 2 heart attacks already)
or
my bipolar?
the latter wins hands down. while i have no desire to kill myself i'm aware of what i get like when i'm unmedicated and i have tried several times during those periods. my behaviour is also incredibly reckless during my episodes. if they continue to increase the cost of mental health care then i literally will not be able to afford to be medicated or see my psychiatrist.
There should be a level of treatment available to help recovery. I dont think it should be compared with physical illness. It is just as importaint and the very best treatment should be available for both.
I agree with you that mental health should have the same priority as physical health but disagree about the level of support there is.
Lots of money and facilities are spent on mental health issues and there are lots of good organisations out there to offer support and more and more GPs are looking for signs of mental ill health that could have an impact on that persons physical health, so more and more counselling etc is being offered instead of prescription drugs.
Yes, I needed BOTH to recover. Thankfully I got BOTH and now I'm ok.
yes I do think that mental health is just as important, you could think about becoming involved with service user involvement at the NHS, they are crying out for people because nobody knows what is going through someones head better than someone who is suffering, good luck.
I think that mental health patients should have exactly the same priority as physical health patients. Severe clinical depression is sometimes regarded as a terminal illness which just shows how serious mental difficulties are.
I agree. The mind is a part of the body, a very important part as it can cause one to be physically ill.
With a messed up brain, your body is pretty worthless.
YES!!!!!! (Australia is the same)
The amount of peopel with mental health issues grows daily and yet little is done to help.
A lack of understanding of the issue and stigma attached to it is also repsonsible for some of the problems with treatment.
I suffer from anxiety and depression - yesterday i went to my GP to tell him i felt i was getting worse - he actually asked me what is causing it and told me to fix my problems - like i wouldn't do that if it was that simple?
he then told me i needed to get my kids out of the house and find myself a man....................
I wasted my time and energy goign to that appointment....
Hi Plum
Here's some facts.
1:4 people suffer from some sort of mental illness
56% of us know someone who suffers or has suffered from mental illness.
When asked if they knew anyone who suffered from a specific diagnosis (they listed 7 different mental illnesses) a massive 77% said they knew someone who did.
Given that, the stigma attached to someone with a mental illness is unforgiving and ruins peoples lives.
So yes, I'd like to see money put into helping people with mental illness and educating those who don't.
If they paid more attention to mental health treatment,there would be much less time & money spent on physical treatments..A healthy mind,can bring about a healthy body.
Mental health is as much a medical situation as physical health. Here in USA, insurance now covers 80-100 percent. It used to be 50 percent.
Agree. I also wish mental health didn't have the social stigma it does. I don't really talk about my husband's debilitating bipolar disorder to anyone but it affects us just as much as any kind of physical illness. If it were leukemia or diabetes I think people would be more understanding.
Totally!
Sadly mental health issues are still quite a taboo in the UK dispite the high numbers of suffers and groups trying to increase awareness of this.
But truthfully, patients should be treated holistically. The number of times i've seen GP or consultants not treating the mental health issue as well the physical one particually in hospitals is shocking.
The amount of government money is terribly small, but in health care in general it is not enough. And know wich hospital trying to gain foundation status; patients especially mental health are being left out of services even more particuarly older people. Trusts are too interested in looking good finanically than looking after their patients!!
There should be more understanding about all forms of mental illness,there still seems to be a stigma attached to people who have had or are still struggling with mental illness. Insurance companies won't always give you life cover if you have been ill, even if you have made a good recovery.It's like a mine field! Any form of mental illness can be just as damaging physically as well as mentally. People who have never suffered don't know how physically debillatating it can be.Especially those who say what is spent and where. When you have had a mental illness some ignornrant people still deem you as being 'mad' or a bit 'funny in the head'. this needs to change and i think that more funding should be given to help train staff, to help people who have been mentally ill and sectioned, then released and go on to hurt themselves or others. this is the physical effects of lack of funding and consideration given. Good question! you certainly got me jumping up and down on my soap box!
yea
Yes I think we should have exactly the same level of treatment and that we should be seen as capacitous in our views on which treatments we chooose.
We should have the rights to refuse any drug treatment but mainly drugs with unwelcome side effects and ECT and other invasive procedures just as people with physcial difficulties are permitted to have a say in their health care.
The present system increases dependency and disempowermnet which makes us more docile and easily controlled.
How we are treated is really really bad and needs to be outed but society really doesn't want to hear, they just want us dealt with and out of sight.
couldn't agree more. i work in an emergency room and sickened by the way we treat the mentally ill. these people are "frequent flyers"....which means they keep coming back...I believe b/c of the lack of resources and proper treatment facilities. the person who said there is a lot of support obviously has never had any first hand experience with this. some states in America are better than others....but for the most part there is still a major stigma attached to mental disorders.
great ??
Agree.
The cases of mental illness are growing all the time.
It is a huge issue which needs to be addressed, more information and funding should be offered, and forget all this in the community care, some people NEED to a stay in a psychiatric ward, not everyone is suitable to be shipped off home after two weeks!
disagree