Care Opinion

Mental health

Posted By Vickzen

"Mental health"

About: General Practices in Grampian Royal Cornhill Hospital / Adult mental health

(as a service user),

Annoyed! As a child I was put up for adoption and put into foster care at the age of 8. Now I’m nearly 30 and my mental health has been affecting my relationships, personal self esteem etc and I’m on antidepressants (setraline)  I think I havd PTSD or something . Iv been on antidepressants since 2012 . 

For years Since 2015 I have been trying to get the relevant support from my doctors and they don’t review my mental health or get me the help I need or even get me tested. In September 2020 I OD and ended up in the psychiatric ward at hosp, they were reluctant to keep me in even though I had overdosed on six or eight Co-Codamol tablets and have a physical disability as well as a mental health problem. I felt they didn’t care. Not just me but I felt they weren’t trained properly to deal with mentally sick patients with Long term illness. The good thing that came out of that was the NHS finally took notice of my own mental health but now I am still facing trying to get through to them because of Covid it’s harder. I hear things and am hallucinating slightly and still I’m not vital.  It’s sad that the overdose is the only way I got a bit of attention from the NHS and to be put on a long waiting list for psychiatry help. I really do feel that mental health should be cared for more and this has got to change. I Understand we are in a pandemic and doctors and nurses are doing their best but mental health has been put on the back burner and those with long-term mental health problems are suffering. 

I was out into Care at the age of 6 (1996-7) to live with a family who treated me Less equal to them. I faced mental and emotional abuse from my foster parents and sexual trauma that has followed me into adult hood. Mentally I carry all this baggage. I was adopted at the age of 8 into a great loving family, however social services do not consider the MH of children in care still or after adoption.   I started counselling ten years later at the age of 18 after my mum (adopted mum ) noticed I had low self worth and esteem. I still feel yes social services   Take into account the interest of the child and needs but they don’t take into account the long-term mental health problems that that the trauma they faced will cause. As a adult now I am grateful my life changed for the best, however I have PTSD possibly and other issues which I will carry for the rest of my life. I’m saying please support children’s MH during and after adoption and throughout care. It’s very traumatising in the long run. My mum now is the reason I haven’t turned bad (drugs etc) although my brothers and dad (adoptee) have. It’s a very traumatic experience and Iv had ten years of counselling to   present to help with relationships( fear of men etc, loss etc) 

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Responses

Response from Les Petrie, Interim Chief Nurse, Mental Health & Learning Disabilities Service, NHS Grampian 4 years ago
Les Petrie
Interim Chief Nurse, Mental Health & Learning Disabilities Service,
NHS Grampian

Submitted on 13/02/2021 at 11:44
Published on Care Opinion at 11:44

Dear Vickzen

Thank you for taking time to feedback about your experience of Mental Health Services. I am sorry that you felt that staff did not understand your needs. I hope you were able to discuss your concerns with your doctors and Senior Charge Nurse of the ward. We support our staff to provide safe & compassionate care. I am sorry that your felt the service let you down on this occasion.

The Psychological Resilience Hub is available for anyone who is struggling with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting their psychological wellbeing. The service is for anyone in Grampian or Orkney. You can watch a video about the hub, self-refer and find other support available in Grampian. What is the Grampian Psychological Resilience Hub? (nhsgrampian.org)

You also talked about your experience as a young person. In October 2016, the Scottish Government made a commitment that Scotland would come together and “love its most vulnerable children to give them the childhood they deserve”. A review, driven by those with experience of care, set out to establish a full and proper understanding of how the ‘care system’ feels and what it is that children and families really need to flourish. In February 2020, the Care Review was published with a Scottish Government commitment to really listen and improve services; as well as an innovative directive to local organisations to work together differently to deliver on The Promise – https://www.carereview.scot/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/The-Promise.pdf

To help make the above happen for the children and young people of Aberdeenshire, an exciting and innovative whole systems pilot project “Our Promise” is taking place between Aberdeenshire Council, NHS Grampian, and the Police. The project aims to try out a different way of working together for children and young people in care and on the edge of care to maximise positive outcomes.

NHS Grampian CAMHS Complex Case Consultation Service is available for professionals where a child or young person has multi-agency involvement (and who also may be care experienced), alongside complex mental health needs. A key purpose is to prove a standalone reflective space for professionals only (such as social work colleagues), to indirectly support the wider professional network to support that child or young person. As part of the development of our Complex Case Consultation Service, we have created our Developmental Trauma Workshops. These workshops can be offered to professionals and carers following consultation to build on their understanding of the child or young person's presentation and therapeutic care needs and the recommendations made during consultation. We also welcome parents and carers of children and young people already held within CAMHS where it is considered to be a relevant and helpful contribution to ongoing work with the child or young person.

The workshop covers the following areas:

What is developmental trauma? Developmental trauma and brain development The impact of developmental trauma - living in survival mode Parenting a child who has experienced developmental trauma Self-care

Thank you again for shared your experience. We use the feedback provided to improve services and support staff to deliver safe & compassionate care.

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by Vickzen (a service user)

Thankyou for responding, it meant a lot to here. It is soo good to hear that the mental health of children in the care system now a days is supported.. sadly I was in care when Mh wasn’t important.

I got emotional reading that and am soo glad to hear. I am so glad that children in the care system are getting support. This is something I can tell my councillor about as this was a milestone/goal of mine to be able to share my experience of care and speak up for children in care. It lightens my heart to hear children in care are considered vunerable, therefore their MH will be priorised. I hope children in the care system have a better Experiance And their MH is affected much less in long term without support / help.

Thanx again

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