1 wk to get help,afraid and desperate,advice please

Please all help me,I've had severe mental health issues for years and if you've read my posts you will see that I have a formal complaint going on with the NHS about the lack of help and the way my psych treated me.
After all these false promises I still haven't had any help and its becoming much more difficult to pretend I'm ok in front of the kids,they've noticed my irritability etc its like on the inside of my head I'm going crazy and hallucinating but outside im putting an act on that all is fantastic.
Things are getting that bad my mam is taking the children away for a week so I can begin to get myself sorted out,what do I tell the crisis team? I'm not going to kill myself but the hallucinations are getting worse thus affecting my seizures and other conditions.
My head is so mixed up I need to do something please help me out members,last time I called them they said they couldn't do anything unless I was going to kill myself! Which is also part of the complaint,I bet they will not even help because I've stood up for my rights
Advice please anybody?
JK

I'm sorry to hear that, JK. I'm having issues with the NHS as well at the moment, as I seem to be falling through the net once again and am left without a therapist or counsellor and I can't really afford full private counselling.
I think the mental health provision is pretty bad at the moment in the UK. If you don't get your typical six CBT sessions, which you're referred to by your GP, you have to have issues that are recognised as psychiatric in nature in order to get at least some help from a community crisis team or something similar and it's not always certain how long that lasts.
However, in your case you really should get at least that. Have you got a good GP?
Try to find one quickly and explain everything to them including the hallucinations and that you can't really cope and have children to look after. They must find some medical / psychological help for you even with the dissolving PCTs. Be very honest with them and make it as urgent as you can. I keep my fingers crossed for you that something good will come out of it. Please go and try.

All the best,

Shadow-world

sorry to say but NHS therapy is so over needed and under staffed that it will probably take around 18 months to get an assessement, then three months to be offered sessions and then you will probably get one hour per week for 6 weeks and only if you really need more may you be put back on the waiting list for another 6 sessions!
hope is on the horizon in some areas as the local councils/PCT are trying to see how they can improve the service... not much use at the moment though.
my advice is look into getting an IMCA advocate, POHWER is a great service, free and very well worth looking into, i had major difficulties trying to get Adult services to apply for a DFG to adapt my home among other things, after comlplaining to the head of my CMHT, head of adult servoices, the local council corperate complaints manager and my local MP i got myself a POHWER advocate, and within a month Adult services have agreed to support an aplication, they have yet to appy but hey it is a big victory just getting them to agree to support it after 3 years of bumping upstairs on my bum to get to a toilet!
the condition i have may have got better if i had received the correct treatment (physio and talking therapy running paralell) at the onset, but typical NHS i got physio ok but the talking therapy came far too late and was not long enough to make a difference, so my physio stopped too! two years on they still are messing me around!
POHWER are based in a number of locations in the UK, they have offices in Southwark for sure and the advocates are willing to travel quite a distance.their main number is not in london, but they will be able to point you in the right direction.. if you want the number PM me and i will get it to you.
Other places for advice/help in resolving your difficulties with the NHS are :-
your local PALS (patient advice leason service) ask at your GPs for the number or get it from local hosiptal,
CAB (citizens advice beuro)
your borough should have a mental health advocacy service, phone the council to find out, though if they are like the one in my borough you are better off without them!!!
try sending your complaint to your local councils 'corprate complaints manager' as talking therapies are funded by the council PCT (primary care trust) rather than the NHS.
good luck both of you x

Hi thanks for all the replies,there seems to be a lot of people having the same issues with mental health NHS.
I've got a great GP but she won't do a thing without a psychiatrists say so,and the practice manager has also been good but they can't do anything to help in the mean time.
PALS have been really helpful and supportive and have also investigated certain elements of the complaint,I got an reply each time I contacted them and I've asked them to see what's going on with the complaint as it is stated that I should be 'kept informed throughout the complaint' hmm well I haven't. I saw my neurologist and he is fuming due to the impact of my mental state regarding my epilepsy,he too is writing a letter.
Hard to believe this started last year with an urgent referral that took 6months,its not like I'm a stranger to them at mental health,I've been mentally ill since the age of 9!
Sorry for the rant guys and thanks again,take care
JK

please send a copy of your complaint to your local borough council corprate complaints manager and get an advocate, it will really make a difference. i struggled through a similar minefield as you are alone for over two and a half years, and when i involved the council complaints things really began moving forward.

General tip for getting a therapist, relatively quickly, on the nhs. I was advised to go to my gp and say i needed therapy, and that i was willing to see a trainee. The guy i got was a psych registrar so he wasn't totally green, and it worked pretty well. That was a few years ago, but i presume it still works that way. Not a great way to get a therapist but may be better than nothing.

just read that you are having hallucinations and are responsible for children, have you got direct payments to pay for help? if not tell your GP that you need to be referred for an assessment for them. on the grounds you are unable to carry out your duties to your children. I am not sure in your area who does the assessments, but here in Richmond it is the recovery team who assess you, be careful, here they assess your need, then deduct all but £20 of your care component of DLA before paying you the rest, you then have to account for the full amount including the DLA bitwith receipt/invoices! if you qualify then it is worth doing because then you can employ help or reward those who support you at present. if you want more info on direct payments look on the RUILS website (Richmond Users Independant Living scheme = RUILS)you can claim for help with things like cleaning, child care, help keeping you safe when alone, assistance to get out to shop, socialise etc, respite for your primary carer etc. tell your GP or the crisis team/ your social worker how bad the hallucinations really are, tell them you are scared, tell them about your mum taking the children .... it all will help your case both to get therapy quickly and to get help from direct payments in the mean time.

Hi yes I already get direct payments for personal care as I'm also physically disabled,I spoke to a /@ lasyt night who asked me if I wanted to be admitted and I maybe allowed home after 3 wks! Of course not! Where do I tell the kids I am I can't go out never mind stop in hospital!
I'm waiting for a call from my own GP been waiting since 9 this morning,this is becoming more like medical negligence in my eyes.
Take care
JK

I don't know anything about NHS, but here in the states, I would tell you to go to the emergency room and tell them that you are a danger to yourself and others. I'm glad your mom was able to take the kids. It's hard trying to be a good mother while dealing with numerous health problems, particularly mental health issues as well. Been there, done that. I had to leave for a week to stay at my mother's house, leaving the kids with their dad b/c if I didn't have a chance to just focus on me, I was going to have a total nervous breakdown.

Good luck! (((HUGS)))

Well the GP called and basically told me to get a CPN in again as its the quickest route for psychiatrist,honestly I could do the job of a CPN I've seen them that many times! I refused them initially as I believed that their time would be wasted on me and someone else would benefit greater from them.
Then I got if you need anything just call me I said I have done plenty times and you can't do a thing so what's the point?
So it doesn't look like I will be getting help this week then.
But this is the best bit I'm only going to continue to see the psychiatrist I've complained about OMG it will be like a lions den in that room.
Mental health services suck here in england
Take care all
JK

I'm not sure about where you are but here, if you mention hallucinations they will help you ASAP (because that can come from psychosis, not always though ofcourse). But that key word "hallucinations" will get you into treatment quick smart. Don't be embarrassed to tell them, just think of it as a means to get you the treatment you need. The keyword that opens the door, so to speak. And you wouldn't be lying, it would be the truth!

I am in the same situation as you but I don't have kids (that would make it wayyyy harder I bet!) so I sort of know how you feel about not being able to get treatment. Here all the beds in the psych wards are taken up by drug users that have psychosis from the drugs, and the legit mental health people miss out. It really sucks. No help for us.