My interest in mental health was first piqued by a statement made by Lady Tebbit in the wake of her paralysis following the IRA bombing of the Conservative Party conference in 1984. She was confined to a wheelchair, faced with flashbacks from the trauma, and had minimal movement in any of her extremities. However, she viewed that her injuries, and ongoing disabilities, did not compare to the horrors of the post-natal depression she had experienced following the birth of her first child.
Mental health has thankfully been on the agenda of many of the parties during the election campaign. But can we hope to get close to the "parity of esteem" that those delivering or experiencing mental health care would wish for?
What is parity of esteem? In the words of service users, it is "if I become unwell, I use services which assess and treat mental health disorders or conditions on a par with physical health illnesses".
You may assume this already happens. We have all heard the much referenced one-in-four statistic and now know that mental illness is common. In fact, among people under 65, nearly half of all ill health is mental ill health. Moreover, mental ill health is generally more debilitating than most chronic physical health conditions. However, only a quarter of those with mental illness such as depression are in treatment. I doubt that 75 per cent of those with cancer remaining untreated would be seen as acceptable. Non-treatment results in costs of over £105 billion and leads to a variety of physical, social and economic problems.
Mental health services have suffered a loss of funding in real terms over the past decade. Currently, many services are only able to offer interventions as a reaction to crises. They offer medication to most, with only a small proportion of people with complex needs able to access an appropriate range of psychological interventions. Lack of access frustrates service users and clinicians alike - these interventions have been shown to be effective in amelioration of current episodes and prevention of future relapses. So parity of esteem remains a pipe dream - we are a long way off.
‘Mental health services have lost funding over the past decade’
The "Big Society Network" was one of the hot topics of the coalition government and was intended as a way that we would pull together to support those with needs in our communities. The acknowledged mismanagement of funding to achieve this aim has led to ideas of community support remaining only as rhetoric in most cases.
As a mental health clinician, I am proud of the way that the Jewish community contributes and supports those most in need and is beginning to challenge stigma. Fundraising is high on the agenda for supporting the structures needed to tackle mental health challenges.
Jami provides services, support and care for those who society forgets, but does this without statutory funding. We must continue to fight for (and fund) parity of esteem.
