Originally Posted by
_wendy_
well, so you think people who work arent entitled to mental health support? dont you think people who work are allowed mental health problems either? im sorry you cant get help, but just because some of us work doesnt make our problems any less.
I never said that people who work shouldn't get mental health help. What I said was that I'm basically amazed any MH team will take them on, as in my experience, they have an incredibly high threshold for accessing help, and holding down a job would definitely come under some kind of everyday functioning test or whatever it is that they use to determine you're 'ill enough' to help. I'm DEFINITELY not saying this high threshold is a good idea - for one thing, it's better to catch problems early rather than letting someone deteriorate as they do now.
And in a way someone's problems ARE a LITTLE less if they can still hold down a job - I'd give anything to be able to do that! That's not to say they are any less deserving of help or that they are not struggling massively and needing care and compassion, but that it hasn't yet reached the point where everyday life is impaired to that degree.
Managing to hold down a job is a massive, difficult thing wih MH probs and I really respect and admire you for doing it - it must be very hard especially if people think you're not struggling cos they can't see it. Believe me, I can relate to that. The MH team used to be like that with me - "Oh, you've got a job now, you're fine" and thus I was left to struggle on until I kept getting fire cos I'd end up dissociating at work and couldn't keep it hidden anymore.
So I would describe myself as having worse problems now cos my life is impaired more. However that's not to say I wasn't in hell before. This is precisely why people in work/otherwise apparently functioning should be able to access MH treatment/support - before it gets worse and takes longer to get better, and the the person is dealing with the loss of career or whatever else they've missed out on.
Please understand I am currently at a dead end when it comes to accessing MH help. It is incredibly hard to see other people able to have a bit more of a 'normal' life who are accessing treatment when I cannot. To have lost my chance at the one career I wanted, to have lost job after job after job cos of my mental health problems and just want to be ok and have a normal life, yet be denied any MH help. I feel like I am not worth as much as other people, not worth helping. I am trying to deal with the grief of my lost vocation (nursing, but no-no cos criminal record/mh probs) as well as the lost years of my life (I'm 27) and desperately trying to find a way forward, a way to earn my own living an manage it.
I'm rly sorry I didn't mean to hijack the thread, just ended up writing what ive been trying to put into words for ages