14 May Students mental health is being ‘failed’ by UK’s healthcare services
(Pic: student behind books. Credit: Pexels)
All over the country students are victims of not getting the correct care they need for mental illnesses, reports Emma Parker
Over the past few years, there are more young people than ever before experiencing mental health issues within their day to day lives. According to Mind Charity, in the UK it effects 1 in 4 people each year, so why is the condition not treated the same as physical health conditions? It is a taboo subject that campaigners all over the country are trying to tackle, and it’s leaving young people and specifically students with the lack of help they so desperately need.
According to figures from the Office of National Statistics, 183 students at British universities took their own lives in 2016, and with the number growing each year it shows the true intensity of the problem. With the amount of stress and pressure that comes with university, it is no wonder why the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found that 15,395 first year students reported mental health concerns in 2015. Despite this figure, the IPPR also reported that students have to wait at least 4 months for counselling and mental health support.
One student, under the name of Lucy due to wanting to remain anonymous, has been suffering with mental health problems for the past 6 years. After being refused for treatment twice, she begged to be seen and finally got an appointment. Lucy claimed: “I spewed my heart out and completely laid myself out on the line to simply get a 10 minute chat, not an assessment”. When promised she would hear back within a week about her assessment dates and the start for a new diagnosis, she had no choice but to chase them up again when they didn’t contact her. Much to her dismay, when she contacted her doctor they told her she had already been discharged offering no help and no referral.
Lucy is not the only one who seems to have experienced this, in a survey run by Mind Charity, 38% of people feel they were discharged too early after experiencing a mental health crisis. With a mental health crisis being characterized as any situation in which they need immediate help such as having suicide thoughts or attempting to harm themselves, it means cases should be taken more seriously. However, the survey also found that 21% of people said they were given no notice at all they were being discharged, just like Lucy. The charity’s Director of External Relations, Sophie Corlett, stated: “it is shocking but unsurprising to hear of so many times where services failed to provide even the basics in terms of offering the right treatment, operating safely or treating people with dignity and respect”.
When Lucy was discharged, she was told by the doctors it was because she was punctual to her appointment, kept eye contact and was dressed appropriately for the weather which ultimately meant she appeared to have stable health. She told me: “this gives the impression if I was mentally unstable I wouldn’t be dressed and that mental health patients are crazy”. It made her feel less likely to talk about her mental illness and felt judged by her own health care so much she cannot trust anyone anymore. When asked how she would say the NHS treats young mental health patients, she simply answered: “patronising, stereotypically and not taken seriously”.
With the amount of students who get the courage to go to mental health services for help, comes the amount of students too scared or not seeing the point due to them not believing they will truly care or help. Research by the IPPR found 94% of universities have experienced an increase in students trying to access support services, whilst finding only 29% of higher education providers having an explicit strategy on student mental health and wellbeing. Undoubtedly a clear difference in numbers, so the biggest question remains – why isn’t mental health being treated the way it should?
Both mental health campaigners and charities have been trying to tackle the problem for years, but there is only so much releasing figures and having hotlines can achieve when suicide numbers are on the rise each year. The Guardian reports that at least 271 vulnerable mentally ill patients have died after failings in NHS care, with 701 alleged failings including misjudgements, inadequate training and a lack of staff or beds.
Charlotte Underwood, mental health campaigner and ‘After Suicide’ author claimed: “in the UK, mental health is not taken seriously in work, school or in the NHS. People in power fuel the stigma and prevent people from seeking help”. Underwood is just one of many that campaign up and down the country to bring attention to the true severity of mental health, but they all call upon the NHS to bring about the change. Highlighting the main problem as time and care, Underwood told me: “waiting lists for therapy are a year-long minimum and you keep getting thrown about. Charities try to do what they can but still, as an adult there is so much you can do other than call a hotline which many of us can’t”.
Another student, under the name of Amy as she also wanted to remain anonymous, has been suffering with mental health issues for around 4 years. She waited approximately 9 months to be seen and when the appointment finally arrived, it was pushed back another two weeks. She waited the full amount of time because everyone surrounding her knew how much she was suffering. After the long-awaited appointment, Amy came out worse as she claimed to be wrongfully diagnosed. She told me: “if anything, the NHS triggered my feelings of worthlessness and made me feel worse. I was not treated near enough as importantly as physical conditions are. I wish we could be equal”.
A new analysis by mental health research charity MQ found that £115 million is invested on mental health research on average each year, meaning approximately £8 is spent on each individual mentally ill person and 22 times less funding than cancer gets. Many consider that this is because you cannot physically see mental health, but the way in which mental illness can affect your mind and body can lead to serious and dangerous circumstances. A concept that isn’t entirely understood, and perhaps why mental health isn’t treated as seriously as it should be. Not only this, The Guardian reported that only 6% of UK health research spending goes on mental health, with only 30% of that focusing on young people. £26 million a year is spent on young people’s mental health, meaning the lack of research compared to physical health conditions can result in little being known about the cause of mental illness and what treatments are most effective.
Being a student at a leading university, Amy has kept on going to her studies despite also having to tackle her mental health problems. She told me: “being at university makes it harder. The stress gets the better of me sometimes, and I just wish I had a support system behind me”. Nonetheless, universities all over the country are taking steps forward in a bid to help their mentally ill students. Offering guided counselling, support groups on campus and placing motivational posters on the wall is one of many things Amy’s university now has to offer, however she is not convinced: “I see posters all over my university saying they will help, but do I really want to open myself up to disappointment?”.
Most people face the same problem. Seeing friends and family being treated wrongfully results in themselves being too scared to get help. According to figures by the Counselling Directory, only 230 of every 300 people who need help will get the courage to visit their GP. For those who do go to the NHS for help, the average wait time for effective treatment is 10 years.
The NHS has improved over the years, but they are definitely slacking in the mental health sector. Recent cuts to NHS funding could be to blame, but mental health research has always been lagging behind. The King’s Fund found that mental health trusts received a reduction in their budgets in cash terms by almost 50% in 2014/15 to 2015/16. Not only this, full-time mental health nurses have had a 13% reduction cut between September 2009 and August 2017. With this amount of nurses being cut, it leaves more room for failures in mental health care.
Physical health conditions have evidently always had a greater importance in our society, showing the priority of our health system. However, with mental illness numbers on the rise every year it should be getting the same treatment. With young people being the leaders of our generation it should be one of the top priorities to stop students losing their life due to poor health care. For now, a report by the IPPR suggests that universities should spend more money on student health services, better national data on interventions and better access for students to local NHS services. Just small steps in the right direction.
Maybe one day mental health will be treated with the same importance as physical conditions, and have the correct resources and funding to do so. Lucy and Amy are just a small fraction of students who have been treated unfairly, and need the help our healthcare should award. With more progress and campaigning by people like Underwood, there can be a better health care system for the mentally ill – or an equal one at that.
If in need, Samaritans is available 24/7 by calling 116 123, or via samaritans.org.
