Meeting of the Parliament 06 January 2015
I welcome the minister to his new post. I sincerely hope that he and I can have a dialogue about mental health.
There is a stigma around mental ill health. It is unfortunate, but the stigma exists and we need to recognise that. The question is how we move forward. Legislation in itself cannot solve the problem, which is about attitudes—including one’s attitude to oneself. If someone has a physical illness, they can go to the doctor and talk about it, but if they have a mental illness or are not feeling too good, they sometimes shy away from doing that. I do not know how we will get over that, but we need to continue to have dialogue about the issue. I certainly look forward to further debate.
When I worked in the third sector before coming to the Parliament, I recognised that people with sensory loss go through a period of adjustment. That adjustment means that their wellbeing—their mental health—is impaired, because they lose the ability to do things that they have always been able to do. However, that adjustment is short term for many and, once they realise that they can take a can-do approach, life becomes better. For the majority of people, coming to terms with their condition is the way forward. As Penumbra said, peer support can be an asset to someone in moving forward. I have seen that in many aspects of the work that I did in my previous existence in the social work and care sector.
I commend the Government on its approach. Mary Scanlon mentioned the mental health strategy. The Government recognised that we need to improve mental health services for people, undertook an extensive consultation process and came up with key findings. The Government did not shy away from the problem; it recognised that the problem is complex and that it needs to be resolved. It cannot be resolved just by putting money into it; it needs to be resolved in an effective and appropriate way, which sometimes means using the appropriate specialist. Dr Simpson mentioned the family nurse partnerships, for instance, which can be an excellent way of coming to terms with some of the problems that exist in our communities.
I am sure that the minister is aware of my personal circumstances. I know that child and adolescent mental health services are lacking in some areas and, sometimes, the initial intervention is essential to try to offset the problems that some of our young people have. Not every child or adolescent will have their mental health improved through CAMHS and the appropriate psychological services, because some conditions might be extreme. However, we need to ensure that someone is listening at the outset. If a referral comes from a GP and a young person is referred on, we need to do our best to ensure that they are seen by the most appropriate specialist in the healthcare sector.
I would like to see improvements in managed clinical networks for specific conditions. I would certainly like something such as that to happen in relation to eating disorders, to try to prevent deaths in our communities of young people with such disorders. I am sure that the minister and I will discuss that in the future. I again commend the Government for the work that it is doing and its recognition that more needs to be done.
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