Locked up for being ill

One can’t help but be concerned at the Panorama programme – ‘locked up for being ill’.

I’m only surprised that it took so long for the situation to be recognised. At Samaritans I have increasingly noticed an increase in the number of calls from distressed people who clearly have mental illnesses, often caused by long term substance abuse, or as a result of some early trauma in their lives. Many of these callers become dependent on the confidential, free service offered, when they are experiencing feelings that they are unable to cope with, which can make them feel that their life is out of control and not worth living. They can call as much as several times a day, because more often than not they have no close family support, and their friends, if they have any, are often in the same boat, unable to deal with their own issues, let alone help some else in a crisis situation.

Obtaining the help and support they so clearly need is becoming increasingly difficult as funding cuts across the services that they rely on mean that if help is there at all, then it can take weeks to obtain, and then only in limited supply. With the introduction of the new Health & Wellbeing Boards, and the statutory obligation for local authorities to act in the capacity of corporate parents, the current emphasis seems to be on providing advice for issues such as obesity and smoking. What concerns me, however, is that so far I have seen no evidence of anyone giving serious consideration to the underlying causes of such behaviour. People in general do want to live stable, happy, fulfilled lives in the company of loved ones, but until we look at WHY people do things that they know will endanger their well being we’ll continue to fight these emotional fires instead of preventing them, and stepping in before it’s too late. When you are pregnant, being abused, have no job, nowhere to live, and don’t know where to turn, I can appreciate that an extra packet of crisps, a drink or a fag might seem the only thing to do to alleviate the misery. The cost to society is just too high for this to be allowed to continue, whatever the funding issues might be. Thank goodness for Samaritans, the only free 24/7 service – you can’t predict when life is going to become all too much to bear.