By 2020 ...

Wednesday 8th October 2014
08:24pm

So Nick Clegg has come into the news around the Lib Dems policy for mental health - by 2020 mental health patients should have a similar waiting to list for treatment as patients who have cancer.  Are we finally as a society realising that mental health can be just as deadly as cancer?  Knowing that just one of my diagnosis (anorexia) has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness - just shows to be honest how important changes to the system need to be.

I received the news on Monday that after 1 year 1 month and 27 (ish) days I am finally at the top of the waiting list for therapy.  To say I was happy was an understatement - I got off the phone and cried with relief.  My first few years in the mental health system I battled everyone, I didn't want help as I really believed I was okay.  The past year or so I have realised how much I really need to take the plunge and have the therapy I know I need, I'm scared yes but I'm ready.

The past few months I won't lie have been testing.  I have wanted to just give in to my thoughts - I've not but I think I've given in more days then I would have liked to.  On a bad day I realise how easy it would be to just give in to the persisting thoughts  and get on and end my life, on a good day I realise the positives and can ignore and continue as normally as possible without giving my thoughts to much of a worry.

My confidence is slowly building with college.  I believe I've coped okayish with a couple of hurdles which I have already faced, but feeling watched at my reactions been monitored is really hard especially with I know I just want to get my self to a safe place and either just have a good old scream or cry.

JBL had a school talk last week which also worked in well with the #yachall through the Young DPULO Ambassador side - tackling perceptions around disability is so important.

I really hope that the promises which are starting to be made for by the end of 2020 are taken seriously.  There is a massive need for improvement - I've been lucky in the fact that during my wait any episodes I have had the support of friends and family.

Let's see if this can be done, let's hope that mental health services can be improved ...