A new Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy - consultation

Better understanding of issues relating to mental health and wellbeing and greater level of support.

1. Carers responsible and who play a key role in supporting people with mental health problems, in particular, mental illness should be able to access support. Many elderly people, who may themselves have health problems, suffer from mental health problems and tremendous anxiety because they on a continuous basis support family members with serious mental health / mental illness issues.
This includes practical help as often those who are ill are unable to maintain living standards and acceptable levels of hygiene and live in chaos and conditions that are at odds with good mental health. Many carers are physically unable to clean the homes of their relatives who, for example, have schizophrenia.
2. There is seldom a role for carers/parents, who could work with health professionals to improve strategies, for example, encouraging and reassuring people with serious mental health illness to accept medication.

Yes. At the moment there are very few facilities, groups, organisations both official and voluntary that enable support to be provided from within the communities.

There are some excellent examples e.g.Golden Friendships, Dalmuir, Clydebank. A voluntary group.

Local psychiatric services have no groups or organisations set up within communities. The aims of this part of the strategy is dependent upon activities and organisations actually existing!!!

These aims are highly laudable. Given that there are no longer community development workers, including, any that I know of working in mental health, then these aims exist in a vacuum. Many practical steps and funding needs to be in place.

Many years ago as a community worker with Strathclyde Regional Council I had the job of setting up a mental health befriending scheme in Clydebank. Based upon such a highly successful scheme in Drumchapel. Nothing like this exists through social work, mental health services and the community working together. We have gone back the way.

Great deal of funding is needed, and change of attitude.

Regarding early treatment. It used to be the case, and I have had cause to do this on more than one occasion. You could go with your sick relative to Gartnavel Royal Hospital and the ill person would be assessed by a doctor and admitted for care.

There is no longer any such provision. In my opinion many lives have been lost because it is so difficult to access services.

Evidence from carers, who often have most knowledge of the circumstances of people with serious mental illness, need to be part of this process.

Should be working to make sure there is liaison with and support for carers, often whose prime role in life is keeping relatives with mental illness stable, out of hospital and alive.

Lack of support from psychiatric services for people with mental illness plus lack of facilities in the community. Absolute vacuum in provision of any counselling or therapy leaves much of the emotional and practical support for people with serious mental illness the responsibility of relatives or carers. This places tremendous demands on them and impacts in turn on their mental health and wellbeing.

My son has suffered from schizophrenia for 26 years. He has been sectioned several times under the mental health act and spent long spells in hospital in Scotland and in Ireland. The services available now are worse than they were when he was first diagnosed.

There have been no developments in care through the government neither in relation to medical support or support within the community.

There is no provision to provide support for carers, some of whom, like myself are now old. I am 75 years of age, I have chronic illnesses including epilepsy and lyme disease. I provide ongoing support to my son without any access to any provision whatsever.

What has the biggest impact on my mental health and wellbeing is the stress of supporting my son, who has schizophrenia and is often delusional, psychotic and vulnerable. He comes to my house almost every day and did so all during lockdown. It took immense effort to coax him to have Covid vaccinations - there was no support at all from psychiatric services. Indeed I think they have only been in touch with him perhaps twice a year over the past three years. He is not considered a priority as he is not deemed to be a risk to himself or others, although, he has not been on any medication for years and no effort has been made to encourage him back onto medication. He exists in a half life. The sadness has impacted on our family and affects their wellbeing on a daily basis.

As mother of a son who has had a serious mental illness for 26 years I can say in all honesty that there is no support for carers nor any activities or opportunities for the ill person in the community.
Psychiatric services or treatment has not moved on at all in all these years and the level of support on offer is woefully inadequate. My son has seen a psychiatrist once in the last three years.

Many activities have to be organised around the needs of the person with mental illness being supported so opportunities for all of the above are limited.

What mainly stops me as already highlighted is the daily and sometimes overnight care of son with schizophrenia who on no medication and for whom support by psychiatric services is practically non-existent.

Services have not improved in 26 years, in fact, they are worse. There are no activities or organisations in the community to offer support other than a fairly new organisation set up by local people.

I am 75 years of age and I am my son's main support on call 24 hours every day.

Money worries are not a concern. I am lucky.

What are they going to do? The problem is lack of effective mental health care for people with serious mental health problems. The weight of this falls onto relatives and carers. They do not have the luxury nor the time to think about themselves.

I was referred once to see a psychiatrist. He was the same psychiatrist that was assigned to my son with who has schizophrenia. The psychiatrist told me that I did not have a clinical mental health problem and it was no wonder I was anxious and depressed.

Lack of sensible approach and understanding by psychiatric services. You are not able to discuss issues relating to relative with serious mental illness you are caring for with psychiatric services. For example, even if I telephone to raise concerns the psychiatric nurse informs my son that I have phoned. Clearly this impacts on my relationship with my son.

I am not aware of any support available for carers nor indeed activities or opportunities, organisations that my son could utilise.

The system whereby patients with serious mental illnesses sole support is a community psychiatric nurse means that they are wholly dependent upon the effectiveness of one worker.

It is difficult to access any support for carers, both emotional and practical. Many carers, like me, are elderly people (I am 75) who, as I do, suffer from chronic illness. The stress and demands of caring and being on call 24 hours for sick person impacts on mental health of carers.

There are no provisions in the community to support carers neither are there activities nor opportunities for the sick person.

The provision of services nor the treatment have not moved forward in any way in 26 years.

There should be groups set up with experienced workers in the community offering a range of activities for people with mental health and mental illness.
There should be practical support - for people living chaotic lifestyles often in homes that are not clean.
When I worked for Social Work Department as a CommunityDevelopment Worker in Clydebank for Strathclyde Region there were various groups aimed at the wellbeing of people with addiction and mental health issues. This included a Mental Health Befriending Scheme, which directly improved the lives of many individuals with mental health issues.

For those suffering from serious mental illness and their carers - traumatic and difficult life experiences are an intrinsic part of their life experience.

Proper psychiatric services and support in the community could vastly reduce the incidence of such experiences and support people in getting over them.

Lack of any therapeutic support or counselling within psychiatric services that is based almost solely on medicating people. Then, of course, many refuse medication. No time is spent attempting to encourage patients to accept medication.

Lack of any support clearly gets in the way of controlling illness and recovery from experiences. It was traumatic for my son accepting Covid vaccinations requiring massive input, encouragement by carer. I am sure that the numbers among people with mental illness not receiving vaccine will be far higher than in the population in general.

It is stressful for people with mental illness living chaotic lifestyles in accommodation that they cannot maintain to a reasonable or hygienic standard. Living in such circumstances is traumatic on a daily basis.

Some consideration of the practical support people require should be taken into account.

I am carer of someone who has accessed these services. Goldenhill Resource Centre in Clydebank.

Not satisfied. Services have not improved in 26 years. No idea what a Psychology Mental Health Team is but definitely my son has never been told about such a service.

Yes, there should be connections. People with serious mental illness do not have support from social worker. If they did then social work and psychiatric services should work together. There should also be connection with any community facilities. These would have to exist first, of course.

No positive experiences other than many years ago when community development workers working within Social Work Department in conjunction with mental healthsocial workers and community psychiatric nurses developed project in the community to support people with mental health issues and their carers.

Services have deteriorated.

I am very capable of accessing services if they existed. They do not.

Because there are no facilities provided within the community by local government or health services.

Vast recruitment drive is needed and imagination in establishing community groups, activities and facilities.

Monitor and evaluate so that patients are actually seen regularly and that effective and comprehensive treatment offered.

Provide training so that community psychiatric nurses are not merely ticking boxes but have a skill set and the commitment to effectively supporting patients.

Recruit and extend jobs. Undertake research into what is effective in other countries.
There have been no developments in caring for people with mental illness and mental health issues in the community nor medically for 26 years.

Workers are needed in the community to work with other professionals to provide services and tackle the loneliness experienced by many patients. This could significantly impact on reducing suicide.

Provide funding for voluntary workers and projects and assign a support worker. Most of the effective projects have to the shame of government and health services been set up by voluntary groups. This includes The Butterfly Project, aimed at reducing suicide off the Erskine Bridge (now folded).Also offered support to families affected by suicide.
The Golden Friendships Project in Clydebank offers wide range of services to people suffering from loneliness, learning difficulties and mental health issues - well used by carers and those they are caring for.

Best way would be through recruitment of community workers who widely carried out such roles in the 80s.

Evaluate what works and how it is done in other countries. And look at projects that have been in the past successful but lost funding and workers.

Employ talented managers who are totally committed and with correct skill set.

Good working conditions, regular and effective supervision by qualified staff.

Establish multi-disciplinary groups to support relevant community projects.
Encourage accountability to peer workers.
Community workers that are trusted by the community and work with them to develop relevant projects and encourage volunteers worked well in the past when many community education workers and community development workers created jobs and projects from gaps in services identified at grassroots level.

I think it is imperative to have these short term and long term goals are needs are urgent and some matters and gaps could be addressed more quickly than others.

I think the extent of the problem re lack of support and the treatment of people with mental health problems, wellbeing and the plight of people with serious mental illness has not been acknowledged for decades. There are many examples of activities and projects that could be established in local community centres e.g. Projectability art project in Glasgow. They could play a role in dissemination of their services and training others.