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Lowenna Waters
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It's no secret that the mental health services in the UK are over stretched, under funded and that they're sadly not providing the crucial support that people need.
In March 2018, a damning report on NHS mental health provision by ombudsman Rob Behrens found that mental health patients are suffering 'serious harm', and in some cases dying, because of 'serious failings' in their treatment.
The understaffing of mental health provision is cited as a key reason, with the number of mental health nurses falling 13 per cent between 2009 and 2017, and the report also found that England's 53 mental health trusts are short of approximately 10 per cent of their staff.
In an environment such as this, it's unsurprising that the advice people are receiving when they're in the midst of a mental health crisis is sub par to say the least.
And, it's equally unsurprising that when author and journalist Emily Reynolds shared her experiences of asking for help during a mental health crisis, hundreds of people reached out to share theirs, too.
In a string of tweets, she shared her experiences.
Many other people expressed they felt exactly the same.
@rey_z I liked when I went into my GP practice as a last resort, crying hysterically, like "Please I need to see so… https://t.co/YKANx5sWHd— Hannah Jane Parkinson (@Hannah Jane Parkinson) 1533652742
An artist was offered art therapy.
Others said they too had been offered the crisis number.
Others shared their experiences of A&E.
Some advice was down right bizarre.
@rey_z @Liz_T_M_D The psychiatrist told me I was ‘too pretty’ to have depression and anxiety and handed me a list o… https://t.co/RgUa9eiZjr— Beckie (@Beckie) 1533680789
@rey_z last visit to my psychiatrist (I get 30 mins roughly every 4 months) I tried explaining that I was starting… https://t.co/Xxnm8bLRbw— the girl reading this (@the girl reading this) 1533683193
And some shocking.
My local crisis line in suggested I cut myself so it would calm me down https://t.co/BjyXluxHSv— Phoebe Webb (@Phoebe Webb) 1533733524
@rey_z In A&E following a large overdose and needing stitches, a doctor asked me if I’d ever seen anyone with Down… https://t.co/qh3KfF3q6S— Iona (@Iona) 1533727180
One person expressed how comprehensively damning the thread is, and how it highlights how urgently things need to improve.
The thread of replies to this tweet is the most significant, comprehensively damning assessment of UK mental health… https://t.co/paFv3iWijI— Eleanor Franzen (@Eleanor Franzen) 1533738064
Others posted existing helplines and services.
List of suicide crisis lines Worldwide: #SuicidePrevention (5 🇸🇪Sweden: 46317112400 🇨ðŸ‡Switzerland: 143 🇬🇧United Ki… https://t.co/KlKAno41S3— Abbe Satty (@Abbe Satty) 1528465744
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