0 
0 T Frances Beck
This week is MentalHealthAwarenessWeek. And we all need to both share our own experiences of mental health problems and support those who do. This so that we can help to raise awareness and reduce stigma and discrimination. We also need to support people who are struggling with their mental health and encourage them to seek out professional support if needed. This should be happening every day of the year though, and not just this week.
Adequate funding needed
I think we’re starting to see change with more people reaching out for support. But therein lies the problem. Services as they currently are, from GP surgeries to community mental health teams and psychological services, to inpatient care, are stretched so excessively that they can’t cope with the increased burden. And so are letting far too many people down. There are some fantastic charities that are trying their best to pick up the slack but the onus shouldn’t be on them. It should be on governments to properly fund these essential services, as well as adequately fund prevention programmes. Not to mention tackling the root causes of many mental health problems. Problems such as trauma, health inequalities, poverty, loneliness, and homelessness, to name but a few. However, they are not doing nearly enough or acting quickly enough and that really angers me.
Anger still surprises me
Anger is an emotion that still surprises me, both, in its unexpected appearances and in its intensity. Kubler-Ross states that anger is the 2nd stage of grief, coming after denial and before bargaining, depression and, finally, acceptance. As if grief is some linear journey that a person takes. I can assure you that it is not in the least bit linear, and I can go through all five stages in a variety of different orders in the space of an hour, let alone over the course of a day or a lifetime. That line looks much more like a child’s angry scribble.
Fifteen months on, fifteen months!! And I still get surprised by the anger that I feel at times. It’s not that I’m angry with Conor, he was ill, and it would be unfair to be angry with him. Instead, I’m angry that he’s no longer physically with us, that a set of circumstances led him to feeling that taking his own life was the only conceivable option. Angry that he was let down at different points by a system that’s broken. That he didn’t give me the chance to try to help him, that I wasn’t able to save him. That our combined futures have been ripped away.
A wasted emotion
I’m angry that the family haven’t been offered any support from authorities That Conor’s friends who have been deeply affected by his suicide haven’t had the support they needed. That every time I try to approach authorities because I want to try to help fix the broken system, I get brushed off.
I see anger as a wasted emotion, one that uses an excessive amount of energy and doesn’t actually change the situation. I do believe that anger is a punishment we give ourselves for someone else’s mistake. Thankfully for me, it’s not too regular an occurrence. However, maybe in this case it’s not such a bad thing. It’s going to keep me going, keep me determined to help make a positive change to prevent and reduce mental health problems. Improve education and services, and prevent suicides from happening. So, I’m not going to be easily dismissed and I will continue to keep knocking on those doors and make as big a nuisance of myself as I need to. To be heard, to make that change happen. Ignorers beware! My determination is a force to be reckoned with.
UNITED STATES
UNITED KINGDOM
