Mental Health, the Taboo subject we can not ignore

Mental Health, for you, your friends, and your family.

1 in 4 people in the UK is affected by mental health problems every year!

(Source Mental Health UK, see here)

So the reality is it may be you, or a family member or friend, maybe a work colleague, and there is a chance you may not even know!

Through all our prior articles we stress as much as we can that if for any reason you feel different in yourself, both physically or mentally, that is thinking in a way that feels difficult then a visit to your GP is always the best way forward, but we know don’t we that in many instances we don’t go, men are especially famous for putting things off!

But if you can, your GP IS REALLY THE BEST PLACE TO START

For some time the Trust has wanted to include a section on its welfare pages about Mental Health and the issues the topic raises, a subject that is still seen as a taboo topic and one which is the most difficult to talk about.

It is an area of medicine which, at times, is shrouded in mystery, and often cannot initially be seen or appreciated. Why? Well, mainly because we, as “ordinary” human beings find it a difficult topic to talk about with our friends, our own Families and especially our own doctors, It is difficult to actually recognise or indeed accept that you may be suffering from a mental health issue and even more difficult for others to know, as often we put on a “brave face”, a “smile” and “false positivity” to cover our true feelings. We hope, in the upcoming series of articles to be published over the next month, to open up on the subject, to provide some guidance and sign post people to where they can get help, or just talk about the possibility that they may have one of the many mental health problems that can blight our lives by putting things off!

But if you can, you’re GP IS REALLY THE BEST PLACE TO START

However, in this first article, we want to try and set some ideas in motion and try and explain what can be done by yourself and by your family and friends. These ideas are designed to help you to help yourself and will be helpful for your friends and family to support you if you think that something is wrong. We will add some of the sites that are available on the web for specific guidance as well, but note we probably can not cover them all.

But first some facts.

Figures show there were more than 70m prescriptions for antidepressants in England during the year 2018.

A total of 70.9m items to treat conditions including depression and anxiety were given out in 2018, according to data published by NHS Digital.

This is almost double the 36m dispensed a decade ago in 2008. The 2016 and 2017 figures were 64.7m and 67.5m respectively.

The figure includes all items dispensed by the NHS in England, except those given out in hospitals or private prescriptions

(Source. The Guardian, Click Here for full article)

Also, Published in the Business Insider ( Link HERE) by Lauren F Friedman and Skye Gould

Feb 4, 2016, 4:52 PM

A few years ago, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) looked at antidepressant use in 25 countries and found something startling.

In every single country, the OECD looked at, antidepressant use was on the rise.

In Germany, antidepressant use had risen 46% in just four years. In Spain and Portugal, it rose about 20% during the same period. Iceland led the pack in overall use with about one in ten people taking a daily antidepressant — but that figure may underestimate the actual rate of use since that calculation isn’t restricted to just adults.

The United States was not included in the OECD analysis (we’ve added it to the chart below), but if it had been, it would knock Iceland out of the top spot: 11% of Americans over the age of 12 take an antidepressant.

But the information above is readily available on the web, there are various sites stating that prescribed medications for Mental illnesses has risen, yet we still approach the subject with reluctance, and whilst occasionally some may not want to discuss their physical ailments, most do, and these are ailments that are often visible in the main, We often ask a person how they are getting on with whatever physical ailment they have but invariably we fail to enquire about someone’s mental wellbeing, and that reluctance to talk is one of the main problems in dealing with mental health issues, it will be though something we will be covering under a topic called “talking therapies”, which we are all qualified to instigate and do, but more about that later.

So, what will we cover,

well we have been requested by several if we can cover the obvious,

Stress,

Depression, (In general 1 in 6 people will be diagnosed in the UK with this)

Anxiety Disorders (In general effects about 1 in 10 of us in the UK)

Bipolar Disorder

Psychosis and Schizophrenia (Covered in more general terms)

Personality Disorders.

Now, its important for us to emphasise again that we will be talking in simple terms, yes, giving some signs to keep an eye out for, some stratagies to help, but none of which will substitute for the careful clinical diagnosis that your GP or specialised health care person can do, so again we emphasis to those that feel unwell and to those that feel things are not right, where their daily lives become dificult, then if you can, please visist your GP. GP’s are trained now and have a much greater awareness of mental illness and the various routes which can be followed, so if your worried in any way about your mental health then see your GP, they really will understand.

Our next post will concentrate on the big buzzword “Depression” we will try and explain a little more on this vast topic which often manifests in many ways, hopefully, offer some practical tips and signposts to appropriate support sites.

Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, and we will explore the topic in more detail in our next post. If you have been diagnosed with depression then know you are not alone If you know someone who has been diagnosed with depression it may be appropriate to offer them a chance to talk about it, ask them, you may be surprised, but be tactful and respectful of their privacy, chose your place to ask carefully.

If you would like to read more yourself on the subject the following web sites will offer practicle help, idears and may even offer you the answers you are looking for.