Very difficult, more or less impossible. Nobody wants to help people with mental health issues nowadays, they are just making it into everyday life issues.

Not great.

Myself and husband have seeked help through the doctors and we don’t get anywhere. So I did some research and came across a site where you could email or text instead of phoning. So I tried that as I’m not confident on a phone or in person. But all I got was I should see the doctor and they are not here as a listening ear.

So I just thought what’s the point. I have been on anti depressants before(over 10 years ago) and everything went very straightforward and no messing about. Just not the case now.

Even asked for help in regards to my son, help that helps me become a better mum and how to handle situations as I was and still am getting very flustered with. I got told they would refer me to something and it’s been a few months and still not heard anything.

So now I just think the way to get better is through me, only I can change it, only I can do anything about it and I just have to tough it out.

I believe that if I needed help with my mental health, I would seek out a GP appointment. Having volunteered as a family support worker in previous years, I guess I have a good knowledge of family support services out there that might be available to me, so consider myself in a better position to find help and support than had this not been the case.

Hello everyone getting mental health support in my area is not that easy I’m still struggling with mental health support

The only mental health support I have been able to access for myself was anti-depressants, which my GP prescribed from a telephone appointment. I asked about receiving counselling and was told there was a wait list, I did not follow up on this and as a result didn’t receive the counselling. I am off anti-depressants thankfully, but I have been struggling with anxiety lately. Rather than contact the GP and probably be told there is a waiting list I have gone private through Better Health and funded it myself. I would rather make financial sacrifices, in order to help my mental health than wait for the NHS.

The problem with mental health support is that if you have to wait, your mental health suffers, which then impacts everything else. My son has recently suffered significant bereavements, my mum died in December 2022 and then his dad died in October 2023. I contacted his GP about getting support and was told they could only put in a referral for CAMHS, which again has a wait list, my son does not meet the criteria for CAMHS so that route was not available to us. My son’s paediatrician put in a referral to a charity called Winstons Wish, which helps children through close bereavements. The referral took 11 months before they were able to offer my son counselling, when I spoke with the counsellor it was decided that it was not appropriate for my son. My son is autistic and the counsellor said that their therapeutic model involved discussing the funeral and explaining the finality of death, I agreed this would cause more distress to my son.

My son and I have a faith in an afterlife, we do not prescribe to a particular religion and the counsellor said that they like to explain to the child that death is final, this does not align with mine and my son’s beliefs. I have explored private counselling options for my son, but he has said that he does not feel ready and is happier discussing his grief with me. I love my son dearly, and have supported and tried to help him any way I can through his grief, this has had an impact on my own mental health, which is why I am paying for private counselling for myself. If my son needed counselling now or in the future I would make financial sacrifices and pay privately.

I feel mental health treatment is not prioritised enough and the only thing that GPs offer to adults is anti-depressants and other medication. I feel the only time any mental health intervention is offered on the NHS, is if it reaches crisis point and there is a risk of serious harm to the individual or other people. I feel non-crisis mental health support is only available if you are willing to pay for it, which is not an option for many people.

Hôm nay tôi đã bị từ chối tị nạn, tôi đã rất cố gắng để gợi lại chuyện cũ trong quá khứ để trả lời phỏng vấn, và sắp tới tôi phải làm thế một lần nữa. Thật sự nó khiến tôi rất mệt mỏi và áp lực, nó ảnh hưởng đến cuộc sống của tôi và con gái rất nhiều

Today I was denied asylum, I tried very hard to bring up the past to answer the interview, and I will have to do it again soon. It really makes me very tired and stressed, it affects my life and my daughter's life a lot.

I am struggling hugely with my daughter at the moment, and just was in floods of tears to her Occupational Therapist. She is now in the process of helping find some support for me; but if I didn't have her, I wouldn't know where to turn. The GP waiting list for therapy is long and although I think it might be helpful, it will be some time away. I would like to meet parents who are also struggling so we can support each other, but I wouldn't know where to look for these kinds of groups. My mental health has struggled more since having children than at any other time of my life, and if I am not okay then it impacts my whole family. I wish it was easier to find out how to get help, when it is needed. I imagine there are lots of other parents in a similar situation to me.

I have been able to get support for my mental health issued at some point with a Community Link Worker attached to my GP clinic. And she was really helpful in terms of handling my mental wellbeing but since I moved away from the county I have not been opportuned to come across any help.

I could hear from friends though that there are some private organisations that help people in this area which I recommend to people even though there is a long waiting time before help could come to you.

There is a great need for quick access to people with mental health to get help before they develop into an illness that will deter their health

I live in a small town in West Yorkshire,

travel is fairly easy, quick to get to work and local places. However a number of services have reduced the support or completely shut down due to funding.

My children used to access local swimming baths, leisure centre, etc they have shut down too.

I don’t have much money now and am waiting for month end.

Not much healthy food in the cupboards and I feel bad that I have to cook bread and baked beans for supper most nights.

It was a bit of a blur for me. I was put on antidepressants at the time but I had to speak to my GP about my mental health. He could see the state I was in and agreed I could have help. I was signposted to different organisations and put on a waiting list to see a counsellor. My GP warned me that I would be flagged by social services. At one point I had my own family support worker who organised weekly food deliveries. This was over the pandemic. It was a while before I saw a counsellor online and I only had 6 sessions before they stopped. I received support quickly and was grateful for the support I received. I’m not sure about now. I think there have been lots of changes to the system.

I've found getting the right mental health support in my area fairly challenging.

This has mainly been because of a general lack of funding or an inconsistency of funding for projects that deal with this issue. I see this so often in some of the voluntary work I'm currently involved in.

In fact sadly I also believe that mental health is not often taken very seriously in our society, because sometimes it's difficult to prove to professionals that you have such a condition in the first place, unless you are severely mentally ill.