tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4870143465614132758.post5326241002715320566..comments2023-06-25T04:43:54.742-07:00Comments on Test5 testing: Welcome report on the effectiveness of therapy in treating depressionPaul Walterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00525444717679391831noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4870143465614132758.post-84893462473820131012006-06-22T08:54:00.000-07:002006-06-22T08:54:00.000-07:00Tristan - I agree wholeheartedly with every word o...Tristan - I agree wholeheartedly with every word of what you say. Thank you for expressing it so strongly. Hopefully the Layard will do some good.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00525444717679391831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4870143465614132758.post-25510731617305087052006-06-22T07:16:00.000-07:002006-06-22T07:16:00.000-07:00There is a severe shortage of therapists.If you ar...There is a severe shortage of therapists.<br>If you are lucky you can find a charity who provide therapy services (often in conjunction with GPs) although many are more focused on particular groups (often the young).<br>Mental health is one of the areas where the NHS is failing most dramatically, waiting lists for therapy are months or years long, you can be made to feel that you should stay with a therapist you don't like when you finally get one (else you risk another long time on waiting lists) and the relationship between therapist and patient is very personal, some therapists can do more harm than good for some patients but be wonderful for others.<br><br>Many of those on incapacity benefit due to mental illness would rather not be, but the treatment is so slow in getting there (beyond drug therapies, which have a place, but are often more like a plaster cast providing support whilst the illness is dealt with through other means) that they have no choice, and end up on incapacity benefit permanently (then people like Blunkett seek to demonise them for being on benefits for so long).<br><br>It is criminal that mental illness is often ignored until it reaches crisis point and drastic action needs to be taken. Part of that is societal, mental illness is still a stigma and people don't want to admit they are ill, but part is institutional, largely I feel due to the way the NHS functions and NICE having to make impossible decisions on where funding should go.<br><br>(as you may have gathered, I feel very strongly about this, having had family, friends and myself been through different parts of the system).Tristanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15395992764678278326noreply@blogger.com