Today I had a conversation with my nan. My nan is 80 years of age, when she grew up there was no such thing as mental illness. Most of her life this has been a subject that was very rarely spoken about. Even so, she gets it. She has taken the time to listen to people’s story on chat shows or the news. She has friends who’s children had mental illness. She understands, not because of me, she understood before I even existed. She understands because she cares, she accepts that what may have once been explained away in ‘the olden days’ is actually a medical condition.
It wasn’t that people weren’t mentally ill back then, they were. However, there was no knowledge of such illnesses. But now even with knowledge as a society we aren’t doing a great job. The difference is we now have no excuse.
While we spoke her explanation really hit the nail on the head. Some people find it hard to accept that someone has got a mental illness because on the outside they may seem fine. When people have a physical illness or disability it is visible, people can see what is wrong and they accept it.
When your illness is invisible in many ways it is harder. I’m not taking anything away from people with physical problems at all. But mental illness can be so dangerous, no one sees it, nobody knows that it is there. Then all of a sudden it is too late to do anything about it.
I have spoken about the mental health system in the UK being reactive instead of proactive and I stand by that. I was trying to explain what that meant today and the best way I could describe was in comparison to a cancer diagnosis. I am in no way comparing cancer and mental illness, I would never wish cancer upon my worst enemy. However, it was the best explanation I had that is relatable for so many.
When someone is diagnosed with cancer they aren’t told to come back when it gets worse. They aren’t told to wait until their cancer reaches stage 4 and now there is nothing that can be done because they are too ill. But that is exactly what happens when you are suffering with a mental illness. You make an appointment with your GP because you are unwell, the GP offers you medication, puts you on a waiting list or tells you to self refer. You aren’t ill enough, there is no sense of urgency. So you wait. While you wait your condition deteriorates, you have waited so long for someone to help but all that happens is that you are on a waiting list. And then when you can’t wait anymore, when you have put up your best fight and you are absolutely drowning, you take matters into your own hands. If you survive eventually someone takes notice, if you don’t you are just another statistic.
This is absolutely not ok, why should people have to reach such desperate measures until they are taken seriously. Why should people have to try to end their own life before somebody sees that they need help.
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