“I can’t believe it I finally have overnight leave!! Gosh!! Oh my days!! This is a closer step towards discharge, because next will be two overnight leaves, than discharge……
I need to speak to the consultant I don’t want my overnight leave to be at my parents house any more, I want to go back to my supported living my own flat… last time I went home my dad picked me up with my mum and I cried all the way in the car journey……my dad was shouting at me saying this wouldn’t have happened if I would have stayed at home with them……my dad doesn’t understand that I moved out to get better, not party, smoke, drink and have sex…….
My dad emotionally abuses my mum who also isn’t mentally well herself…. she tries but she can’t stand up for me as my dad puts her down…
I don’t want to go back home…………..’’
Anonymous
Mental health is in its infancy in today’s society, perception and understanding towards it is still cautious. However treatment is available in abundance but access to resources fails the right people gaining the most out of the treatment. South Asian communities feel, not following parents rules, rituals and beliefs can lead to an ill-fated mental health diagnosis. Seeking help for this unknown territory is hard, often ignored and cases of abuse; emotional, physical, financial or neglect, occur due to lack of understanding
Many individuals up and down the country are in a similar situation to this person’s. For so long they have waited for the moment they receive positive news from the hospital, knowing that this is a step closer to discharge. However this positive step towards getting better comes at a great cost for some. Once out the hospital and back in the care of loved ones, they feel isolated and trapped. Loved ones fail to understand and recognise their mental health and blame the individual for the way they are.
Advice for anyone who can relate the above situation is stay positive, allow yourself to be happy that you are recovering. It’s not always easy to ignore what your loved ones saying but try and realise they may not understand. Help them understand sit down and speak to them, show them literature which can explain the mental illness, show them how you have recovered. Most of all like the individual in the statement above, recognise yourself that the situation your in is not the best for you, that it could set you back, realise you need to have distance to recover.
Everyone needs to stand up and speak up. Individuals like the one above need to be positive feel overjoyed and elated that they are doing well, but reality shows the opposite.
Let’s work together to help not only mental health sufferers but their families too.
Mental Health in your words 