I saw this picture on Facebook yesterday. I was initially like 'HOORAY I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH THIS OPINION' and found it funny... then I realised that nearly 8000 people had 'liked' the original photo. 1300 people had shared it. Hundreds of people had commented, tagging their friends.
Then suddenly it was not funny anymore. My heart broke. I've always been fairly open about how shocking my experience with finding help for my mental illnesses has been and I have made it no secret how appalling my CAMHS experience was. Turns out, all these people feel the same way.
1 in 10 children and young people will have a diagnosable mental health condition. 850,000 children and young people between the ages of 5-16 have a mental disorder. More than half of adults with mental health problems had been diagnosed during their childhood. Shockingly, less than half of these people were treated appropriately in their childhood.
Now, lets assume that some of these adults had been seen by the so called professionals.. CAMHS earlier on in life. Less than half of them received appropriate treatment. Does that not mean less than half of people who unfortunately end up in the system are not receiving the treatment they need. Assuming those 850,000 young people with a mental disorder have been or are being seen by the variety of doctors, therapists and psychs at CAMHS. More than 425,000 of them will still be suffering in their adulthood. More than 212,500 of those will not have had the right treatment during childhood.
Imagine that those 212,500 people had received appropriate treatment. Would they still be suffering now? Some of them, maybe. Others, probably not. If more funding was put into CAMHS so they could actually help, instead of do well, nothing. Would not the demand on the adult mental health services be less?
I have been waiting 7 months for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. The only 'help' I am receiving is an appointment every 6 weeks just to check i'm not about to top myself. I am one of those hundreds of thousands of people who did not receive appropriate treatment. Had I of got the right help, would I still be worming my way through waiting lists today?
It is scary how many people are being failed by the system.
