@angel_of_despair Regarding my own care- I was working and had to pay for a support worker out of pocket because it was not the norm to have one for psychiatric needs. I also have previously had the experience that needing a support worker means you are not stable. So as I work in the health care profession- the expectation is that I do not receive that additional support. In order to work or study in this field means I cannot have a support worker- which feels very skewed. Mainly because the forms of support available are emergency/ crisis or not practical- and can only scratch the surface of functioning needs.
Regarding managing my own care, I find that I do most of the research and make many of the decisions that persons with mental health issues would either have family members or psychiatric/ mental health teams making for them. I see no difference in the various systems/ countries I've lived in- which makes me even more sad.
However, I do fully believe in managing mental illness in the community rather than hospitals- so a support worker goes very far in assisting with this. I've learnt that contracting with family and friends is very tricky because of the distress it causes them to see you unwell- and sometimes- because they are part of the problem.....
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