The storyteller talks about their stories in relation to information and advice and mental health services and support.
Transcript
can I get you to introduce yourself? Hi, my name is Zara Campbell. Sarah, tell me, what's your experience of getting information, advice or guidance or support from adult social care or mental health? It's very difficult at the moment. I'm actually going through it right now with my medication review. I'm no longer on outpatients
They seem to have stopped that process and to contact the community Mental health team, you now have to go through your doctor. So I've just finished therapy group therapy, and I've been advised to have a look at have a medical review on my medication, as it hasn't been looked at in a couple of years. So I now have to ring the doctor who will ask me questions to then refer me on to the men Community Mental Health team
We'll wait for them to pick up the response, but I was actually told they can reject me now and we have to do it again. Whereas before I would just ring the community mental health team myself as I was on outpatients and say that I need to see a psychiatrist. I need my mental health review like my medical review and it was just done
Really easy. Now, I don't know how long I'm gonna wait. The last time I did this, it was about a four month wait for them to actually see me
Yeah, I don't know how long my doctor said the other day that they can reject me and I have to go through the process again. Being bipolar, it's not like I and being on medical like medication continuously. It's not something that you wanna hear that you could be rejected, especially when you're trying to sort your medication out
My doctor doesn't reckon that I should have been taken off of outpatients because I'm severely mentally ill. But the Mental Health Service do Apparently so sorry to hear that. Like, what was your experience before when it was more social care? Uh, it was like when I was when there was outpatients, when it was like the community mental health team and it was by kind of social care
It was pretty easy If I wasn't feeling well. I just phoned their number directly. Whoever was taking care of me at that time, whatever psychiatrist I was under at that time would call me back and make an appointment for me, and I'd go in and see him and we'd take, like, take it from there
But like I said, now it's it could be four months. The only reason it was four months last time was because I was in group therapy and the therapist said to me he can see how far my claim like, has gone through, not the claim of like, you know, like my appointment time is going through and he actually pushed it for me to be seen sooner. I'm not in therapy at the moment, so I have nobody to do that literally
It's I have nobody helping me. Can I ask, like when you need to get information, advice or any guidance around mental health services services in the community, things that might help you with your mental health? How easy is it to access via the like council website or like yeah, other ways of I've never accessed it like that. I didn't know you could access access it through council
I don't really know who to go to. I've not been told anything about who you can speak to. Oh, what impact does that have on your mental health and well, being a lot
I don't believe that we should speak as people's mental health should be in crisis before we get help. I think that we should be helped before we get there. It seems to be that that's how they want you
They want you at rock bottom before they're gonna help you. I don't I don't feel like there's support out there. It's part of people with severe mental illnesses like bipolar, to If I'm in a manic stage, I feel great and that I don't feel like I need help
Or but actually I do and I won't engage. I'm not gonna be the person to reach out and say Actually, I need help because at that point in time, I feel like I'm on top of the world and I can take on everything when actually I'm really ill. And when you've been in crisis and called the Council Crisis team like what advice or support, like the crisis line has given you, I don't phone crisis line, not after I had the experience with them where they didn't seem bothered and they just told me to go to A&E
I went to A&E. I sat there for 12 hours to have a nurse tell me that the doctors are really busy. Um, she's not gonna look me in my eye because she's too tired and that was it
I so I. I don't engage with Crisis Team. Can I ask, like, what impact does this have on like the your family and who who supports you? Kind of navigating like social care? Really? My mom, she's my carer
She deals with a lot of my stuff. Um, I get overwhelmed really quickly. I get frustrated really quickly
Um, they tend to not want to deal with me because I'm angry. I I'm swearing, and I just I'm frustrated. It It's confusing me what they're saying
So I let my mom deal with a lot of the stuff for me. What kind of things might she help you with when it comes to like the local council? Everything, really, she will write letters to the housing. If I need letters to the housing, she deals with my money
So if social needs, if, like the benefit system, need to speak to me about anything like they have done asking me to do, like, forms to fill out forms to, like, a bit like a review. They keep sending me and it's time for a review. So she will fill out the forms with me and she will speak to them on my behalf
And, yeah, she will deal with the council on my behalf, So I like there's not much I I do. When it comes to the social by myself, I find it overwhelming. And when you've had, like, assessments through social care, how have you found them? Difficult, Frustrating
I feel like I'm being victimised like I. I comply with everything that needs to be done. I give them all the proof that needs to be given
Um, I just feel like for some reason, they're picking on me, OK? And what would you tell to people that are developing information, advice and guidance offers to people like you like, what do they need to know how What do they need to do different? They need to be patient with us. They need to think about the words that they're using when they speak to us again. They just need to basically just show a bit of compassion
Hm. Anything else you wanted to share? No. What
