大象传媒

I thought it pertinent to comment on on the 大象传媒 website.

Personally, I would agree with many of the findings, but many of my bipolar contacts are reporting a very different picture.

鈥淩elationships between psychiatrists and their patients appear to be improving鈥�

For me, the last two psychiatrists I have had have actually been human. Perhaps the fact that they are both female has had something to do with this. But both of them have been willing to answer questions I have asked about my treatment and have been participatory in their approach. I have not had to repeat myself several times in order to get the message across or to request a change of medication.

What I also value is continuity of care. I had one psychiatrist for 5 years and I have just changed to another one. However, I am aware that this is still the exception rather than the rule and my bipolar contacts tell me horror stories of never seeing the same psychiatrist twice or only ever seeing a junior doctor who prescribes antidepressants for bipolar disorder (this could send you manic).

鈥淢ore people with complex mental health problems know who their care co-ordinator is and are being offered copies of their care plan鈥�

I have a detailed copy of my Care Plan which was written jointly by myself and my care co-ordinator. This is regularly updated as necessary.

The last three care co-ordinators (Community Psychiatric Nurses or Occupational Therapists) that I have been allocated have been excellent and have really known their stuff. I have benefited from the 鈥渢eam鈥� approach that exists in that they have been able to report back to the psychiatrist on my progress and get minor changes of medication authorised or resolve other administrative matters quickly.

鈥淗alf of patients still have no access to telephone-based out-of-hours crisis care鈥�

This is completely unacceptable as many episodes of illness could be prevented if telephone consultations were available. From personal experience, if I am able to phone the care co-ordinator that knows me for an assessment and have access to medication within the first few hours of recognising a potential problem, then I can prevent an episode of illness. Allow the illness to fester e.g. over a weekend and it can spiral out of control.

I have a small amount of extra medication for emergencies like this, but many GPs will not prescribe these lifesavers. Why? I don鈥檛 know. It鈥檚 not as if they can be accused of over prescribing and all patients have enough routine medication to overdose if they wanted to.

Sometimes, an individual is just too sick to go to Accident and Emergency or visit the Out of Hours GP and wait to see a strange doctor. It has never happened to me, but I certainly wouldn鈥檛 want to see a stranger when ill in case they misinterpreted my natural personality for symptoms and tried to Section me. It is far better for your own GP to see you as they know you and don't get paid a fee to Section you (unlike the on-call GP).

What do you think? What is your experience of community mental health care?

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Advice and support for combating discrimination at work for people with bipolar disorder and other mental health conditions