Dr Ken McLaughlin asks whether our desire to view the problems of life through a psychological prism is compromising treatment for those who need it most.
I worked as a social worker in an NHS cmht. Not only were we inadequately trained but the resources were not there to help people with social problems. The social/medical model could work but medical dominated and pathologised people who could have been safely treated in another way.
In some ways the people with psychotic illnesses were more straightforward as there was a clear treatment pathway. Obviously they had to be seen regularly. Closing cases due to non-attendance requires a big rethink as policy.
But getting very ill people into the system is not easy because of the sheer numbers of referrals. Its an inexact process.
The people who found life challenges too debilitating - and most had my sympathy - were not adequately catered for. Closing their cases often resulted in insults to staff and sheer panic by patient and family when there was nothing else we could offer, and often a psychiatrist was still available.
Resilience to a very complex changing world cannot be supplied externally by labelling people with non-psychotic illnesses into a mental health vortex. Coping skills need the things we are losing like community, meaningfull activity, feeling needed and loved. And enough money to be well fed and warm.
My fear is that having a mental health problem is becoming even more complicated by the « Munchausen by Proxy » parents who will reap the benefits financially while their child is given extra time & support at school.
This is a case which clearly needed early intervention. The government should have intervened very early on in the process of his family immigrating, and stopped it.
Yes. I couldnt agree more.
I worked as a social worker in an NHS cmht. Not only were we inadequately trained but the resources were not there to help people with social problems. The social/medical model could work but medical dominated and pathologised people who could have been safely treated in another way.
In some ways the people with psychotic illnesses were more straightforward as there was a clear treatment pathway. Obviously they had to be seen regularly. Closing cases due to non-attendance requires a big rethink as policy.
But getting very ill people into the system is not easy because of the sheer numbers of referrals. Its an inexact process.
The people who found life challenges too debilitating - and most had my sympathy - were not adequately catered for. Closing their cases often resulted in insults to staff and sheer panic by patient and family when there was nothing else we could offer, and often a psychiatrist was still available.
Resilience to a very complex changing world cannot be supplied externally by labelling people with non-psychotic illnesses into a mental health vortex. Coping skills need the things we are losing like community, meaningfull activity, feeling needed and loved. And enough money to be well fed and warm.
I don't know where we start.
My fear is that having a mental health problem is becoming even more complicated by the « Munchausen by Proxy » parents who will reap the benefits financially while their child is given extra time & support at school.
This is a case which clearly needed early intervention. The government should have intervened very early on in the process of his family immigrating, and stopped it.