Definitely not a waste or an unnecessary action.
It could possibly prevent problems in early adulthood such as depression. Not sure about later life, as we do forget things and perhaps need continual reminding.
I believe we do need better understanding in young people of such conditions so they can keep an eye on their friends and make sure they are well. I think social circumstances can contribute to mental health problems.
It would be interesting to find out if it could also reduce the incidence of schizophrenia.
I think nurses, psychologists and other doctors already treat "sick" adolescents with mental health issues. The problem is that not all sick people are seen by the nurses, so the nurses really need to do a bit more health promotion and proactively find ill youngsters. This could prevent the kids from commiting homicides / mass murders later down the track.
I really do blame the health professionals for such incidents as suicides and homicides, because not everyone knows it, but they do actually have an obligation to promote health and be more proactive about pinpointing illness in the population and stuff. Instead they often just wait for people to come to them. And even when you visit your doctor, they only seem to investigate what ever complaint you tell them about. Only people with private insurance seem to be offered regular physicals.
Change theories [that people need to be "ready %26amp; willing" before they can become healthier] are not really appropriate in this discussion because children %26amp; many young people are very impressionable. Change theories are more appropriate for encouraging people who are addicted to cigarettes to become non-smokers. People know cigarettes are unhealthy, where as there isn't always insight when it comes to a deteriorating mental health state. Ie it is ridiculous to expect a young person to visit a professional and say "help me i am sick" when they may not know anything about mental illnesses, so do not understand they are not well.If more money was put into the treatment of adolescent mental health, could adult services be reduced?
more money into mental health yes please ....
As a nurse i be live mental health needs more services for both the young and adult and even in the aged care sector
we need to realize that mental health affects the community in all areas of our life
days off work looking after family
days off work looking after yourself
loss of ability to work -maintain family's -homelessness- family violence- child abuse-drug abuse -the list is endless
All forums where this is talked about is good as we as a community need to accept people need help and support and fundingIf more money was put into the treatment of adolescent mental health, could adult services be reduced?its hard to say but in my experience, people with the mental health problems need to accept they have a problem, AND want to do something to get better, AND want to work at it themselves/take responsibility, this is a tall order for a child dont you think?
What would need to happen in addition to any extra services, would be better the belief in treatments- that they do help not just put you in a vegetable state while on drugs, acceptance of problems in mental health, people being posative about living a healthy life (insted of a doom and gloom picture presented to children today) and integration of mental health people and people without the problems, as at the moment there exists alot of fear, hatred and miscommunication which results in segregation and no one wants to opt to be ignored by society because they have decided to admit a mental health problem.
I have had mental health problems since I was 11, at first I felt stupid and weak, then I got too ill and became desperate, then I got worse as I battled to keep it quiet and "pull myself together". It was only when I was 18 and a secondary mental health problem (linked to the first) got so bad I landed up in an inpatients ward for mental health for 4 plus months.
Though recieving help today, it still takes me a while to stop myself walking away as the conditioning I have given myself have over time left their mark and it is hard to change the way I think, even if it makes me ill, I am just very very worried about what other people will think of me if I admit how unwell I am out loud, or about what I do to keep myself from suicide.
In short, would additional mental health when I was 11 have helped me? I really dont think so, not unless I felt able to use it and really knew that something I could do (as oppose to all the "good luck" things I did or calories I cut out) could help me and even make me well. In the back of my head is still the mindset nothing can help and I'll end up on a suitcase of drugs each month to put me into a vegetable state where I do not think or feel past my nxt foot step.
I think its not just the mental health sufferers that need to change, its thie attitude of those around them, the people who wind up saying "pull your selve together" (as my parents said to me on many occasion) or thoose who are afraid and those who think its a laugh.
Its not so easy as to just get more funding and services if there are no people using it properly.
No - I think prevention, and early mental health treatment is key. The longer mental health issues are allowed to go on, the harder they will be to resolve later on. Every illness is best caught early on - mental illness is no different.
If children are taught healthy coping mechanisms, from an early age, it could definitley help to prevent unnecessary stress later on. I think its always good to give people the helpful skills and tools needed to deal with life as early as possible. If problems are taken care of in childhood they have a better chance of recovery and normal functioning later on in life. There's no point in waiting - and prolonging their suffering. Early treatment and prevention is a necessity!If more money was put into the treatment of adolescent mental health, could adult services be reduced?of course it would. But that would make too much sense. Preventing social problems are much cheaper than dealing with them. Which is why we focus so little on prevention.
Go figure.If more money was put into the treatment of adolescent mental health, could adult services be reduced?
definetly would make a difference!
Great question......
Definitely one that got my attention..... especially since the organisation I work for is currently having to tell members that funding has been cut.... and so services will have to be reduced!!
Why is mental health funding always the easy one to target?
I think the key is to raising awareness, and stamping out stigma and discrimination!!
Having said that though, I do believe that if there was more advice and information, and services to help young people in their adolescent years it MAY help in the long run.
I don't see that as necessarily leading to being able to reduce adult services (as they are way too underfunded already....), but it would possibly reduce the strain on the services.
The perfect world, as indicated by your question, in theory would mean that younger people having more understanding could potentially lead to less people needing to access certain services. If people are caught early enough on in their illness it may be possible to be more successful at using preventative measures and helping with coping strategies that enable that person to lead to a more balanced and stable life in the future.
Current waiting lists, on the adult services, for services related to talking therapies.... counsellors and psychologists are so long that sometimes I cannot believe it. In my town at a recent stakeholder event, it was said the waiting list can be as long as 3 years! When making enquiries on behalf of a client, I was told by a secretary that the priority waiting list was at least 6 months...!!
So maybe if treatment for younger people had been more readily available, then it's possible that the need wouldn't be so great in older life, thereby reducing the number of people trying to access the servicee now.
I would hope that the benefits of doing as you suggested and putting extra money into young people's services would drastically improve their chances of achieving their full potential, as everyone should be allowed to do. But I also note the point about giving them lables too early on.
Adults suffer from being discriminated against, being subject to stigma and the whole, in general, negative response to any form of mental ill health - and it is hard to cope with. So being so much younger might be an added pressure for them to deal with.
I do also worry sometimes when I hear of children in the USA being diagnosed at a very early age....
Wow - I guess from this answer you will see how passionate and enthusiastic I am about this subject.......... lol
Please allow me to do a bit of a 'plug' for Mind week this year
http://www.mind.org.uk/mindweek/
and ask everyone to get involved with "Fly a kite for mental health. Thanks.
I'm sure that I could sit and debate this question all day, but I don't want to bore everyone, so I'll leave my comments and opinions there..,....... for now.
Further information can be found on the Mind website:
http://www.mind.org.uk/Information/Facts鈥?/a>
Hope this helps.If more money was put into the treatment of adolescent mental health, could adult services be reduced?
There is a definite need for more care for people with mental health problems.All this care in the community in the UK is really dangerous.
Not so long ago people were called mad, and were locked away.That was wrong.Now the way they are looked at has gone completely the opposite, they are left wandering the streets. There are so many cutbacks with funding for nursing staff to look after people that really need care.A lot of people, myself included, have problems that stem from our childhood.It's only in recent years that I have looked deep into myself and realised it.
You cannot stereotype people with mental health problems.We are all different.Some of us are a serious risk to others, some just to ourselves.Some maybe just need a trained professional to sit and listen to them.
This is a great question by the way, very interesting.
In my experience there is lots of money pumped into adolescent mental health. In the mental health trust I work in there are schools, units, centres opening regular, and about 200 nurses going for one job- so that they get the best. I work with older adults and they're closing our units down and cutting our resources. It should be equal across the board.
good idea but tell ur local MP and he might be able to do somethign about it. go tell him. good luck.
Hi Nancy C,
I think so. I have been suffering with depression and an eating disorder for afew years now. In my teens I sought help and was actually treated terribly. The resources for Mental health, especially in the NHS are not wha they should be and it means so many people suffering are actually having to fight for help, instead of it being offered to them or made easily avaliable and this can have tough consequences. For people suffering with mental health issues, seeking help can be sooo extremely hard, scary, daunting not to mention feelings of guilt, embarressment and shame..therefore the fact that its so hard to get help, means more and more people suffer in silence and this could be contributing to rises in suicides, especially amongst youths.
Even if the increase in mental health services for youths didn't reduce the need for adult services, i still think it is nesscary. Youths today sometimes have no where to turn and they are are under emense pressures from school, uni, peers, family etc (trust me i know)..there definately needs to be more services.
Why should physcial pain be treated much more superiorly, when mental problems can be much more painful and destroying at times.
I wish the government could address this issue and put more money into mental health practices, esp in the NHS as many people cannot afford to pay for private counselling or therapy sessions.
x
No. Some mental health problems are the result of drug abuse or old age. In fact, with more people living longer, adult mental health, especially EMI, needs MORE funding not less.
Not all mental health problems start in childhood or adolescence
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