Published on 12, July, 2020
So several months after see my GP and filling out all the paper work I finally get a response. I'm told that I have been accepted for a referral, but this will be "at least 20 months". I think I would have gone insane before then. Then Covid hits, so 20 months for a face to face is more like 3 years. Then I hear about Healios on here. So I ask my GP to be referred there instead. Again, fill out the forms! Then yesterday my GP told me that Berkshire NHS don't refer adults to the service!
I'm now 45, this whole thing is hard enough as it is, and like a lot of people on here, I have been pushed around the system for 20 years. Told I have anxiety, let's treat that, you have depression, let's treat treat. You finally end up with something that feels real and I can relate to and I have to wait 3 years to even find out if it's true this time.
I'm so upset, I really don't know what to do. Not only does the decision feel like age discrimination, but it makes me feel so unimportant in the world it's hard not to think "what's the point"
Hi Riddler, I understand your frustration. In a nut shell (my opinion only) all mental health services have been underfunded for decades in comparison to physical health services. It doesn't mean that the need wasn't there - just hidden or ignored. Now with changes in society with more people being open about mental health and seeking help, these services are still trying to 'catch up' - this, coupled with GPs now holding the purse strings for funding services, mental health is still the poor relation. This is where the NAS need to come in to challenge this politically, only then will there true equality. Good luck