Doctors, then met with my MP for a meeting, then went to a focus group about a new website to do with young people and mental health medication, then stayed over at Sabrina's! :)
@digitalrn I'm involved with YoungMinds who are an organisation giving young people with mental health issues a voice. They're creating a new website at the moment for young people about mental health medications because the information out there at the moment could be better and it all tends to be quite adult with no mentions of how it can affect social life etc (ie not being able to drink on meds), so they got a gorup of us together to answer some questions and go over some bits that they've got so far and feedback on them so that they can make sure they're doing the right sort of thing :)
@naomi That is great! I worked in mental health for about 9 years, and loved what I did, but so much has changed, our hands were being tied, could no longer spend the amount of time needed to help individuals who came inpatient. With the onset of HMOs, the insurances demanded short stays, back on the street, and thus began the downward spiral. The mental health profession needs a lot of help.
@digitalrn Tell me about it! I work with a number of different organisations and devote a lot of my time to it. The proportion of NHS funding spent on it compared to the proportion of people who experience it is ridiculous!!! It's so hard to get help here once you turn 18, you have to fight and fight for it, and the waiting lists are stupidly long, which only leads to people getting worse and costing the state more money because they need more intensive treatment! It's bizarre.
@naomi I was working in mental health when the States went through the huge deinstitutionalization process and closed down the State Institutions, forcing many individuals who spent almost their entire life there, out on the streets, and expected them to blend in to the community. The community was not prepared for that. I worked with individuals, teaching them independent living skills, but it was impossible for them to find jobs. So now, so many of them went from living in a State run institution, to living in County, and State funded group housing. The whole process is so frustrating.
@digitalrn That's horrible, I didn't know about that... It worries me what's happening in the NHS in the UK right now. I relly hope it doesn't become privatised but sadly, it's becoming increasingly likely. :(
March 11th, 2013
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