Regarding the NHS; starring JC+ and ATOS.
I'm depressed; and I have been, to varying levels, for years now. I don't know if this is fair, but I feel the NHS has been mismanaged with regard to mental health care.

The specific poor management? Well, apparently there is high demand for cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which is why local waiting times are estimated at 14 months last time I checked (I understand CBT to be the most effective treatment, especially when combined with antidepressants; the best hope for recovery when drugs alone don't do it). In the real world, if there is a high demand for a service you increase capacity; in the NHS you just keep people's lives on hold for over a year, all the while apparently hoping that somehow the growing backlog will just vanish. While I accept you can't train more psychiatry staff overnight, there has been underprovison for many years now; I'm just dropping into a long-existing problem.

Please note that mental health is quietly yet specifically excluded for the otherwise much-vaunted limits on waiting time, Sure, get treated within 18 weeks or get sent privately if you've got a surgical problem that occasionally affects you; but if you're nuts and it wrecks your life, forget it: You're waiting until the sun freezes for treatment. I guess crazy people unshaven in dressing-gowns aren't photogenic enough for politicians to fawn over; and people who never leave their house probably aren't going to vote anyway.

So, instead of being treated briefly and promptly for what was relatively mild depression; I'm getting worse all the time which presumably will take longer to fix. To use a metaphor, instead of using a fire extinguisher and putting out a small rubbish-bin fire; I'm forced to wait helpless as the fire spreads, possibly beyond the ability of the fire service to extinguish.

Overall, the drugs alone are ineffective. A couple of months ago, the GP and I found one drug-and-dosage that worked well; I got a few hours a day of functioning back: a perfect window of opportunity to begin treatment. However, after a few short months intolerable side effects developed; I was forced to discontinue, the window shut. CBT without a concomitant effective antidepressant lessens the odds of success.

It might not have been so bad, but there were additional months of delay in simply getting the GP to agree to put me on the waiting list in the first place; as opposed to getting my name down and cancelling me if a spontaneous or pill-based recovery occured.

There's extra layers of mismanagement in effect, worthy of posts of their own: Job Centre Hyper Mega Plus and their accomplices. Apparently, a diagnosis built over years by hours of consultations with several medical professionals isn't enough evidence of ill health; the sole fact of manageing to turn up on time for a single appontment with their subcontractors ATOS Origin is taken as proof that I am fully fit for work. Which is news to me. I do appreciate the irony; I can appeal the decision by completing a process I can't do because I'm ill enough to be claiming in the first place.

edit: I could fill this QOTW on behalf of myself and people I've known. Keeping more strictly with the spirit of the QOTW; there may be a post to follow about my previous employers, who are why I'm in this current mess.
(The Incredible Sulk Finally remembered his password on, Mon 14 Jun 2010, 14:12, 19 replies)

Get hold of a copy of the new NHS constitution.
Find out what your rights are, write a complaint to your PCT and copy in your SHA(strategic health authority). Be polite and professional but be sure to repeatedly quote the Constitution, watch the waiting lists disappear.
(PsychoChomp, Mon 14 Jun 2010, 14:44, closed)

Nah, OP is right
The magic entitlement to a second opinion disappears when they point out there *is* no second psychiatrist in the area available within 8 months to give you a second opinion. :/
(mmmm curry doesn't really understand this sig lark, Mon 14 Jun 2010, 21:31, closed)

Re: the job centre stuff
My mum had a similar problem as she has ME/CFS... they told her she had to come in to a 9am meeting to discuss the issues, and a week long "coping with disability in the working world" BS seminar. She said no- she can't function on any level for more than a few hours a day, and if she has to spend them in pointless seminars then she won't be able to shop/clean the house/function- plus it would actually make her worse.

They said that her refusal was an outrage, and that she "refused to try". Because of that, she had to reapply for some of her benefits and put up with loads of crappy phonecalls and so on... making her more depressed.

Bunch of wankers, the lot of em.
(Sivvus trolley collision in the fruit aisle led to a jam, Mon 14 Jun 2010, 14:44, closed)

similarly
I suffer heavily with Bipolar-II, meaning that sometimes it's just too damned hard to even hit snooze on the alarm clock, let alone get out of bed. Had an early morning meeting scheduled with a new psych (transfer between juevenile in-patient unit and adult out-patient service) and missed it due to the aforementioned. I was instantly stricken from the register, and now despite numerous protestations from myself, previous services, home visitor (different service) and my GP I am 'blacklisted' and receive no psychiatric input whatsoever, meaning that my prescriptions cannot be renewed (since well over a year ago) and I'm not eligible for any kind of CBT or other therapy. I'm literally a ticking time-bomb and the National Hell Service trust in question gives not one iota of an airborne fornication.

EDIT: Oh, and the only way I can get back on-board is for a 'major incident' to happen - ie a suicide attempt or serious assault commited whilst ill as I also suffer from involuntary rage.
(hypnoticme is an anarcho-syndicalist commune, Mon 14 Jun 2010, 17:28, closed)

That's absolutely sickening.
You wonder if these people know anything at all about the actual people whose lives they're fucking up.
(Sivvus trolley collision in the fruit aisle led to a jam, Mon 14 Jun 2010, 22:43, closed)

ATOS are fucking fucking fucking (is that enough?) cunts
They called in a mate on chemo. He couldn't come in as one sneeze would kill him. His consultant had to threaten them with judicial review to keep his benefits.

They called me in, with my leg in plaster. How did they assess my fitness? By dropping a £10 note on the floor and telling me I could keep it if I could reach it.

The called in another mate with MND. His carer dealt with it by "accidentally" emptying his catheter bag on the floor.

Apologies for volume of flying saliva.
(all my scars face forward possesses 2.5% of a hyperalloy combat chassis, Mon 14 Jun 2010, 23:47, closed)

Ugh.
Just... ugh.

It's demeaning, dehumanising and an immense abuse of power for people to act like that. The fact that it's somehow condoned by the system is just disgusting. If someone's not able to work for reasons acknowledged by professionals, why do these people think that they're a better judge?

FFS.
(Sivvus trolley collision in the fruit aisle led to a jam, Tue 15 Jun 2010, 0:40, closed)

Professionals
Ask a GP which they prefer:

1. Talking to skiving mouthy cnut coming in every week (or more) with endless list of excuses for sick note.
2. Making up something fictitious for a sick note so said skiving cnut doesn't darken your door for another 3 months.

I once had a landlady whose sole occupation in life was benefit fraud. Her back prevented her from working, poor thing, although not from going running. Or eating my food. Witch.

I'm not saying ATOS are nice people, I'm just saying lots of their "customers" aren't either :-|
(steer, Tue 15 Jun 2010, 1:03, closed)

It does sound a workable strategy though.
Ignore a depressive long enough and they'll go away -- suicide doesn't enter the statistics*...
To add insult to injury there are professions you cannot join if you have been treated for depression which, for example, means a friend of mine could not train to become a teacher a few years ago but I could -- he's an intelligent, sensitive guy and I'm a moody alcoholic.
*humour, or what passes for it.
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Mon 14 Jun 2010, 18:13, closed)

Yes
a thousand times yes to this. I lived with a friend for 3 years who had fairly major depression and the mental health provision was shocking. Appointments were weeks in advance, miles away and half the time the nurse was late or didn't turn up at all. Apparently the waiting time for CBT here in Brighton is 4 years. 4 YEARS?! If that was for surgery there would be uproar! CBT seemed to be the only viable option left for my friend too, as she was on third line medication and had been hospitalised twice between the ages of 15 and 21. At 21, to be told you're probably going to feel like shit for the rest of your life and there's bugger all anyone can do about it is horrific. She worked for the NHS as a health care assistant and that was a scandal too - she was fit to work, but not quite full time or night shifts and would need the occasional day off when she just didn't feel up to it. She wanted to work and was technically allowed to work but the compromises needed to allow her to work meant her working caused problems for her employers - the NHS! Who were the people not treating her! It was ridiculous. You have my utmost sympathies. This country needs to get its healthcare priorites straight.
(Petite chien is going to do science to it, Tue 15 Jun 2010, 11:35, closed)

Man the fuck up
CBT is just a polite way of pointing out that you are a lying lazy self centred greedy fucker, and politely telling you to man the fuck up like any other "normal" person would. You can start by getting off your pity pot and changing your b3ta name.
( buffet_the_appetite_slayer ٩(●̮̃•)۶ jacked in to the ICE on, Tue 15 Jun 2010, 19:37, closed)

Subtle troll is subtle.

(Sivvus trolley collision in the fruit aisle led to a jam, Tue 15 Jun 2010, 21:32, closed)

You'll Marvel
how I don't rise to that one.

(He Marvelled! We all saw it!)
(The Incredible Sulk Finally remembered his password on, Wed 16 Jun 2010, 8:35, closed)

I know exactly where you are coming from, as I am right there with you.
The difference is, I have had CBT. My doctor wouldn't prescribe me with antidepressants as apparently "they have been getting in trouble for prescribing prozac without tackling the underlying problem". Did they attempt to try and tackle the underlying problem? No. Did the CBT help? No. The... therapist, psychiatrist, whatever, basically gave up on me because I was so depressed I couldn't do most of the 'tasks' on the CBT papers. How can they expect you to go into town and sit in a shop if you have to psych yourself up for 2 days just to go out of the house and converse with a single person?

So, here I am. 25, single, no friends, no help, never had a meaningful experience in my life. I am in such a deep rut, I doubt I'll ever be able to get out of it. I have given up on doctors, and seeing as most of the doors have been shut in my face, I am now vegetating in my house, surviving on ICB until they decide I don't deserve that any more (they did that last year, and forced me to go to a tribunal, where they said I was obviously deserving of it after I had a major panic attack in front of them. It took me about a month before I could even face leaving the house after that). I have no idea what will happen when they take my benefits away. I don't know how much further my depression can sink before I try and take my own life. I suppose that's one was for Mr. Cameron to stop people being on benefits...
( OneSullenBrit *air sandwiches*, Wed 16 Jun 2010, 0:29, closed)

i'll
be your mate. we mentalists need to stick together, always said it and this particular thread has hit it home. nutters unite!
(hypnoticme is an anarcho-syndicalist commune, Wed 16 Jun 2010, 17:50, closed)

YAY
We need a name. b3taheads?
(mmmm curry doesn't really understand this sig lark, Wed 16 Jun 2010, 19:44, closed)

Thankyou all;
for the replies and messages. Even you, buffet_the_appetite_slayer (When you're trying to make sense of senseless things, it can be helpful to be offered a contrasting view); although I believe your delivery needs work.

While I appreciate being informed of its existence; the NHS constitution is actually very slender on firm rights. It looks riddled with bland, reassuring, and non-binding aspirations instead. We have plenty of "rights to expect", we can expect until the cows come home; but we can't actually demand the "right to be treated in a decent timeframe without cop-outs" because we don't have that.

It's not all bad news for me. I have had an appointment since posting the OP; still not beginning treatment yet, but at least they're now officially aware of how bad things have deteriorated since the original assessment twelve months ago - I suppose that alone is some small help. Other wheels have been started turning as well; I'm trying to remember that a particular circumstance never holds indefinitely, and people making poor decisions can usually eventually be overuled or bypassed.

So; keep holding on in there, one and all. I hope those of us in similar waters can be there for each another; I'm just a GAZ away if you need a boost. Looks like we might have ourselves another b3ta support group...
(The Incredible Sulk Finally remembered his password on, Wed 16 Jun 2010, 19:02, closed)

The best thing to do
is to get a GP on your side. Stick to seeing the same one, make sure they like you, and they can fight some of the CMHT red-tape for you.

I wouldn't be where I am today without 2 amazing GPs: in fact, I wouldn't be alive. So woo!
(mmmm curry doesn't really understand this sig lark, Wed 16 Jun 2010, 19:47, closed)

Good luck :)

(Sivvus trolley collision in the fruit aisle led to a jam, Wed 16 Jun 2010, 23:02, closed)