I have just been in chat saying how lucky we are here in NZ with our health system which is more or less the same as in the UK. Ppl take it for granted, or they grumble about the cost of healthcare (if only they knew, after reading all of the above)! The mental health system here, esp in the (small) city I live in, is fantastic. If you are put under the community mental health team you are assigned your own case worker (nurse), you have access to the psychiatrists, the social worker (who does needs assessments which allows healthcare workers to come into your and help with housework, domestic chores, personal aide, whatever you need), and all sorts of support groups etc, AND ALL FOR FREE. Where I live too, there a 2 day centres for mental health consumers- for a gold coin donation ($1 or $2) I get to go to the gym 5 days a week, and I could be taking part in organised activities etc also. As the song in my head is going... "We don't know how lucky we are". (Oh, and medical insurance isn't needed at all either...)