I’d just like to start by saying the support I received from my last article was overwhelming. More than 100 people read it which, to a writer starting out, is amazing and I’m extremely grateful for the positive comments. As promised, this article will cover my findings from a survey I conducted about Mental Health and Mental Health services on the island. I’ll try to keep it short and sweet; I know stats and charts aren’t particularly interesting, but I feel its important to share some of the interesting patterns and comments that arose from the results.
An interesting point to note is that the majority of participants were female, only 15 participants were male. This certainly could be because I don’t have as many male friends on Facebook/twitter as I do females, but I did share the survey on public forums too. Alternatively, could the low number of male participants be due to societal pressures? Societal expectations and traditional gender roles play a part in why men are less likely to discuss or seek help for their mental health problems. We know that gender stereotypes about women – the idea they should behave or look a certain way, for example – can be damaging to them. However, it’s important to understand that men can be damaged by stereotypes and expectations too. Mental health for men is not talked about enough and they certainly don’t seem to have the support. There is still a lot of stigma surrounding men and mental health.
Quick facts on Men’s Mental Health:
· Three times as many men as women die by suicide.
· Men are less likely to access psychological therapies than women: only 36% of referrals to NHS talking therapies are for men.
· In 2017, nearly 6000 suicides were recorded in Great Britain. Of these, 75% were men. Suicide is the largest cause of death for men under 50.
62% of you said that you had some form of therapy for your Mental Health. When asked about the wait times for these therapies, over half of you said that it took over a month for you to have access to a mental health professional/service. Over a month. That can be an incredibly long and potentially detrimental amount of time to wait for someone going through a crisis. I think mental health should be a lot about preventative measures, helping people before it spirals out of control. Unfortunately, the wait times often makes things worse.
The next question though saddened me even further. Despite having therapy, 70% of you advised that it didn’t help with your Mental Health. That is an exceedingly high percentage and extremely worrying. Many of you felt the reasons for this were due to:
· Wait times- either to be referred to a service or wait times between appointments.
· Inadequate Training- Professionals lacked empathy or tried to downplay things, wrongly assumed what you were feeling.
· Not knowing how to go about seeking help
As you can see, almost everybody felt there was a lack of support for Mental Health on the Island and I would back this theory. I understand that the survey was only a small section of our population however I have little doubt that my findings could be similarly applied to our population as a whole. The most prevalent disorders people suffer with are depression and anxiety, closely followed by PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). I myself, have had both positive and negative experiences in therapy so can relate to a lot of the comments people wrote.
It’s especially important to note however, that I am certainly not discouraging anyone from seeking help or downplaying the crucial role of counsellors etc. I would urge you to talk to someone if you're struggling. Sometimes just talking about it can be helpful. Not everyone’s experiences are the same and what works for you may not work for someone else. This article was more about highlighting that further support is needed. Extra funding is critical, this would enable us to hire more professionals to decrease waiting list times. We need more advertisement, more conversations and easier access for people, more online services or drop-in clinics. It might seem like we’re asking for the impossible but as Barack Obama brilliantly said “Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
Thank you to everyone that took the time to complete the survey. I will always continue to fight for Mental Health. Even if it doesn’t affect you directly, it will absolutely be affecting someone you do know. Mothers, fathers, brothers and Sisters, friends, colleagues, could even be your local hairdresser. Why wouldn’t you want to help make things better for them if you could?
- Megan x
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