Social prescriber

Honestly I thought of asking to be referred to a social prescriber because one of my biggest issues with mental health is social isolation. But they can’t really refer me to services that don’t exist can they? It’s not like I’m agoraphobic or super anxious. I just don’t get on well with most people. And even when I do I don’t really bond with people if we don’t have some special interest in common.

most of my friends have been made through

• anime / Japanese popular culture 
• exotic science
• Obscure music that’s waining in popularity (goth / industrial)
• lewd intrests I couldn’t possibly repeat in an upstanding forum like this.

by far the most successful has been anime and I’ve tried everything to either get involved in or start a new group based around anime. I doubt a social proscriber could help me with that.

I already:

• go to the one monthly goth night in my area (it’s nice but not a great place to meet new people)
• tried to set up a club to go to anime at the cinema. 16 people signed up online but after 5 outings not one has come.
• a long time ago, tried to set up a club for PhD students to put on lectures about weird science. No one signed up and I wouldn’t know how do do something like that any more with out a student unions backing.

you can’t say I’m not trying but the services that might help me be less isolated just aren’t there. Which is I expect exactly what a social proscriber would say.

I even signed up for charity that does dating for autistic people and people with intellectual disabilities. And I know how that looks but I made a point of asking them if it was suitable for high functioning persons first.

but they’ve discontinued their dating service and when I enquired about their friend making service they couldn’t match me with anyone. They events are largely attended by on the whole lovely but not very talkative people with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities.

even the services that on paper should be there to help people like me in practice aren’t there.

I did end up getting refused by every single MH service but that wasn't the SPs fault. I went for a SP after I had an incident where I used the email provided on the website, only to receive an auto reply saying that the email wasn't monitored and to ring the phone number instead. It also took having an in person appointment with my GP for them to give me an email to contact them by.

And despite every single mh referral asking them not to call me without making an appointment first and preferably not doing so at all, every single mh service ignored that. Including one where they got off a call with my SP not 5 mins before in which he said at the end "please remember to not phone them out of the blue" and they promptly did just that. I've come to the conclusion that they don't care.

It is utterly ridiculous that they can't make even the most simple of changes

That sounds like fantastic support you had and I really need someone like that in my life.

Unfortunately my experience with a Social Prescriber was nothing like yours. I was referred for help with a specific issue, that was overwhelming and distressing me and needed to be dealt with by phone. It was agreed that the Social Prescriber would communicate with me by email and then make phone calls on my behalf. However in practice she was not making calls when she said she would and then not responding to my emails chasing it. I found that impossible to deal with and stopped using the service.

Phone calls are a huge problem for me too. Nearly every organisation apart from GPs and MH Services will allow contact by other methods, such as email or live chat. I do not understand why they make it so difficult for autistic people to access help. I think they should be making reasonable adjustments. I have stopped trying to access help, due to these issues, but it leaves me so angry and frustrated with the system.

Still it gives me some hope to read your experience, and to know that there are people like that who genuinely try to help.

Hi, I have had a social prescriber for over 6 months and I understand that their roles vary hugely between providers but this is my experience.

I've just lost my Social Prescriber but in my case he was amazing. I was unable to access a load of mh services because a lot of them relied on phone calls which I can't do. He basically acted as a mix of advocate and interpreter, making phone calls when needed, making referrals, calling places up to see how things in my referral were progressing. They are designed to help you access other services, rather than provide the services directly, and also help you organise the tasks you need to do.

He also helped me plan and write emails I needed to in order to try and set up support at uni and helped me get a GP appointment that I was struggling to get because again, phone calls, that allowed me to get the medication I needed to manage my menstrual cycle that was causing me a lot of problems and started a finally good relationship with a GP which leaves me in a better position for the future. 

My issues were MH, yours might be different so here's some examples of what they could do: Help get you access to employment support, help access activities that may be good for your wellbeing

Yes they are a referral service, but unlike most services in this NHS they are a long term and person focused referral service and in my case did absolutely not believe in dumping as soon as the referral was made, and kept trying and working with me no matter how difficult accessing the other services were. I'd give it a go, and keep an open mind for what they suggest. 

So they do basically pass you from place to place….

that worries me slightly if I’m honest 

Hi. I’ve recently started seeing a social prescriber that my mental health nurse at my surgery referred me to. Have only had 2 appointments so far but the first one was mainly asking about what my life was like and what I struggled with that I’d like to maybe change and needed help with. I live a very isolated and lonely life generally and would like to change that so after we talked about what I’ve liked to do in the past and various other things they sent me a lot of suggestions for me to explore. The next time we met we talked about if there was anything I was interested in and the barriers that might stop me. That’s as far as we’ve got so far but they were really nice, kind and helpful and it has given me a lot to think about. I’m a little hopeful that they’ll be able to help me actually do at least one new thing before too long.

Pass-the-parcel.

To add to my post-google NHS social prescribing.

There was an article on the news recently where a surgery could refer someone to a gardening club. Perhaps your surgery has someone who can discuss what options might be available to help you.  The person they spoke to said the experience was very helpful.

never heard of that before. i googled it and it just says it is a person who refers you to other services...

which is funny... because that means they are referring you to a person who will refer you to another person.... who will also likely refer you to someone who will refer you to someone too lol i bet its like those things where they all get paid for referring people to others