Discussion How is mental health viewed and handled in your country and in your experience?

[Imgonnadie]

In my shithole state of Florida there's a reputation for the "Baker Act" institutionalizing many young kids as young as 6 years old in some cases. I saw an ad for a law firm on a public bench downtown that read "stop Baker Act abuse". In my experience when I needed help most, all I got was suspicion of being a threat with guns being as common as water here. I've never owned a gun in my life. Mental health seems non-existant. Vast majority of people seem to know nothing about it so it feels like the services that do exist are half-assed. Finally saw a therapist after a big shroom trip and it was terrible. From the first moment I could tell that that boomer would never understand me and she didn't seem to really get to know me before suggesting antidepressants. Guess she makes more money that way. What a sick incentive structure. I called that same office before asking about adhd diagnosis and the first thing the receptionist asks is if I'm looking for help for school and about medication. These people run circles around your average street dealer I bet.

I'd like to think that in enlightened western European countries it's all better and it probably is to a extent but I know shitty psychopathic human nature and the cultural consciousness won't evolve to a point of having anywhere close to decent mental health before the Earth is swallowed in a singularity. There's way too much shit to accomplish to even bring humanity to a decent material standard of living for that to ever happen. Makes me just wish all life could be extinguished and save everyone the suffering.

 

[Deleted member 17949]

I have no clue, so far my experience with the NHS here in England has been some bs. They take ages to do anything and I never know wtf is going on or when I will get certain things or see people. Communication with them sucks and you need to chase them up about everything.

 

[Leftover]

From my experience, in Berlin, Germany, they at least try to help you before they prescribe antidepressants. That means if you're lucky enough to get therapy. Waiting lists are long.

I've been in therapy for almost four years now. Was hospitalized two times and it really worked out - for a while. The thing we're missing here is a transition from hospital to "real life" because that's when sh*t gets real again (pun not intended, I'm just bad in English). No one is there to catch you when you stumble and finally fall. That can cause somebody to get in an even worse condition when one previously was - oh how I know.

The real fun is counseling. Like really.
One day, I was on my way to therapy, I saw a poster by "Telefonseelsorge" (~ telephonic counseling, non-profit stuff) that more or less translated into:
"Do you know someone who committed suicide or is suicidal? We are here to help you."
Sounds great, doesn't it? Well, no.
Because that time, "you" did not mean the person being either suicidal or well, dead. That really rubbed me the wrong way because - Don't get me wrong, helping the ones left behind is not that bad - why not try to help the ones in need? Why is nobody advertising help for suicidal people? Why don't offer help to one in more than just obvious need? Why do we have to die to get the attention we need, if we get any at all? I can't put my confusion and incomprehension into words.

So yes - if one isn't involved in this matter, they are most likely to be oblivious. The sole possibility of mental illness still is mostly swept under the rug.

 

[antigone_iris]

In Romania, mental health is disregarded. Everyone with mental health issues, suicidal or not, would be called "crazy" and be shunned. Pretty bad place for being hurt. People avoid going to psychologists, because they think only "crazy" people go there. "Crazy" needs to be redefined. Being hurt, rejected, depressed, overlooked doesn't make you crazy, and I wish people would understand that.

 

[Leftover]

In Romania, mental health is disregarded. Everyone with mental health issues, suicidal or not, would be called "crazy" and be shunned. Pretty bad place for being hurt. People avoid going to psychologists, because they think only "crazy" people go there. "Crazy" needs to be redefined. Being hurt, rejected, depressed, overlooked doesn't make you crazy, and I wish people would understand that.

Totally feel that.

 

[cii]

I don't want to say the name of my country but it's near india. Zero public mental health care, so all the mental health care is privatised and expensive. I went to the best psych in my state, he was extremely expensive, but his first reaction wasn't to drug me up but he tried to truly listen and understand what was going on. However I was very suicidal back then and he ended up prescribing me antidepressants because I made it clear I wasn't going to stick around in therapy for long (parents forced me to go). I guess the only reason he picked drugs was because he felt he had no other way to keep me alive.

As for how it's viewed. Younger people (millennials, gen z) tend to be open minded, anyone older than that tend to be very judgemental prolifers, not worth talking to them. I do remember after walking home from the psych's my sister told me to hide my head so people wouldn't think I was crazy for going there.

 

[Deleted member 1465]

UK.
Psychiatrist.
SSRIs (Mirtazapine)
Failing that, anti-psychotics (Seroquel)
Failing that, you are on your own unless you dramatically try and kill yourself because they got you doped up whilst not listening to you.
If you refuse to take their drugs, you are labelled as 'not engaging' or 'hypochondriac' and abandoned.

NB. There are some specific diagnoses where this doesn't apply, but in most cases there is a very routine and specific 'care pathway' that does more harm than good and winds up with people coming here, because the poor bastards have nowhere else to go. There is actually a flow chart that tells them what to do, thus bypassing any empathy or understanding of context or nuance.

 

[catalepsy]

In my country, we try to hide it behind a veneer of positive thinking and smiling a lot coupled with intensive psychiatric treatments. Sadly, it often results in people buying guns and shooting scores of their peers.

 

[BPD Barbie]

I believe in the UK its largely encouraged to talk about mental health and you're encouraged to seek help if you're feeling unwell mentally. They even run TV commercials for it. But it kinda changes once you start to seek that help, the GPs aren't sure what to do, waiting lists are huge for therapy such as CBT and DBT and meds are seen as a sort of quick fix and dished out like candy a lot of the time.
Overall I've had a pretty good experience with the NHS but I know it's not the same for everyone.
I think people are becoming more open minded to mental health and its importance.

 

[Peachycherry]

I'm in Canada, and my experiences look a lot like those from the UK. Mental health awareness is ok, but it seems to be centered only around a few moments of the year or events. For example, we have the Bell 'let's talk' event each year, were money is raised for mental health organizations and talking about mental health is encouraged on social media. With the pandemic, there's a lot more talk about mental health too. But the main problem is that it's only talk, barely action. Access to mental health services is scarce, and that seems to be a common problem amongst universal healthcare systems. You need to wait sometimes hours before being able to talk to someone on the suicide hotline (mostly because of pandemic though), you need to wait a few weeks before getting an appointment with your GP, you need to wait months for an appointment with a psychiatrist, you need to wait sometimes years before an appointment with a specialist... Basically, yes it costs you only tax money, but you pay in time lost. The only way you can access care quickly is if you go into private offices, which is only available to the financially well-off, which causes disparity in universal access. Now with the pandemic, people are only starting to realize that mental health is a ticking time bomb for the canadian healthcare system. I think I heard something like only 7% of the overall health budget goes into mental care, yet mental illness emergencies represent 50% of all consults in ERs on average The government didn't recognize mental health as a genuine problem until now, when most people struggle with it. Now we're going to be struggling to catch up for the years to come I feel...

 

[introspectious]

This is all really interesting, and quite sad. I've had a wonderful therapist here in the US, but of course they can only do so much. The hospital system doesn't seem good at all.
I'm curious to learn more about the systems in the Netherlands, Germany and Nordic countries.