Mental health help is an absolute sh*t show. It’s unregulated, disregarded and hardly anyone seems to get the help they need. It takes real courage for you to stand up and admit you’ve got something you need help with, to end up feeling confused, worthless and worse off. I’m beginning to get really pi**ed off with the mental health system.
A client I spoke to this week has been suffering with her mental health and had debilitating panic attacks. When I say debilitating, I mean life-changing, and not for the better. She had decided to go and see her GP which seemed like a great start to getting some help.
She told me that the GP had made her feel like a number on a conveyor belt, had cut her off from what she was saying, and told her to get more exercise and eat healthily.
Now I know exactly how overworked and stressed GP’s are, and I also know that not all of them are this bad, but…………I was furious. Above all, this poor woman had been made to feel totally insignificant, that her mental health problem didn’t really matter.
Even if she was deemed important enough, she may have been put on a waiting list. The NHS is so overstretched that the waiting list is huge. Consequently, even before you get on the waiting list for help, you go on the waiting list for assessment. So it can take 3 months just for your name to get to the top of the list.
Clients often come in and tell me that they’ve been taking tablets for years and years. Yes, medication can help, but the tablets won’t do anything to address the underlying mental health problem you’re taking the tablets for.
I can promise you that even after years and years of taking medication, the problem does not just disappear. It does not decide to evaporate into thin air. It does not pack its bags and decide to move on to the next person.
Newsflash……it’s still there and may need more and more medication.
When you eventually get to see someone or manage to get the money to go privately, things can get even worse. NHS and health insurance budgets mean you may only get 4 sessions. Sometimes it’s impossible to get everything done when sessions are restricted.
Don’t even get me started on all the ‘counsellors’ and ‘coaches’ out there. Career changers are my absolute bugbear. Yes, they may be lovely people, but I can promise you they won’t do much to help you feel better, or improve your mental health.
Using one of these people is a bit like having surgery performed by somebody who’s nice and has read a couple of books. Even if you manage to end up in front of somebody who is properly qualified, there’s a huge number of therapists who are just rubbish.
I’m sure you’ll agree that just talking over and over a problem won’t make you feel any better. At best you’ll feel like you can’t be helped. At worst, well, things may go rapidly downhill.
It’s not your fault you’re still struggling on. You have no idea how to navigate the mental health system to get the help you desperately need. It doesn’t matter how big a problem you think you have, the great news is that everything can be changed.
Take a stand with me and walk towards the life you’ve always wanted. Free of all those demons and towards your best life. You can do this. Get your shit kickers on and let’s make this happen now.
https://wendydignan.co.uk/
Known as the best psychologist around, Wendy’s an obvious choice to be featured on the show’
Cheshire Housewives
As an ex-athlete I’ve always advocated the benefits of keeping in shape physically, but it’s just as important to look after your mental wellbeing. Book a session with Wendy, she’s the person to help you look after your brain just as you would your body.
Graham Bell
5 x Olympic Skier and presenter of BBC Ski Sunday.
Amazing!
Rachel Lugo
Cheshire Housewives
Dare to dream big and Wendy’s THE person to help get you there.
Sam Bailey
X Factor winner with a long list of sell out tour successes under her belt.
The most exciting thing in the world is getting a chance to tear it all up and start again. Keep all the things you want and throw out everything you don’t. Wendy will help you do just that!
Becky Sheeran
Beauty, lifestyle and fashion blogging sensation Becky Sheeran (TalkBeckyTalk)
It’s great to have a leading psychotherapist such as Wendy in the Cheshire area, outside of her Harley Street practice. After publicly raising awareness of mental health issues and myself recovering from depression, I know how immensely life-changing expert intervention can be.
Jason Jarrett
Retired ex-professional football who played for Bury, Wigan, Stoke, Preston, Norwich, Leicester and Brighton during a 14 year career. After leaving professional football, Jason battled depression and recovered with the help of therapy and family support.
Wendy is great at what she does; she made me feel at ease immediately and really helped me work through some issues.
Tara Costello
It’s funny but from the minute I met her I felt so relaxed and she was so easy to talk to. Thank you!
Stevie Brown
Wendy isn’t only really good at what she does, she’s also really easy to talk to.
Gabriel Wilson
I want to thank you Wendy from the bottom of my heart for guiding me through what must have been the most difficult time of my life.
Raza Syed
I was told she was the best and they were right.
Noelle Dray
Although I consider myself a confident person, I was really nervous when I met Wendy for the first time. I had only emailed her before so it was really nerve wracking walking up the stairs to her office. I can honestly say it’s one of the best things I have ever done. Wendy is really normal, no in fact she isn’t normal as she is unfailingly bright and smiley even when she has to listen to me moan on about how awful my life was. It feels like having a chat with somebody who just gets you and you can trust with things you have never trusted anybody else with before. The magic bit comes when things you have talked about just pop up into your head and you start to do things differently. Wendy once joked about not having a magic wand, but I think she has.
Paul Hendry
I came to Wendy with a set of problems I have never been able to fully explain to anyone, which included grief, many family issues and alcohol problems. Wendy truly has an active listening style and absorbs everything you are saying, whilst not making you feel analysed, it is an incredible skill. She astounded me at how she got to the crux of the issues so fast. So much so that we both agreed I only needed one session with her, obviously this may not be the case with everyone but I would confidently recommend her to anyone, regardless of your problems. There was no awkwardness or even clock watching, she is wonderful at what she does, take the plunge and make an appointment, you will not regret it. Life is a direction not a destination and she will get you on the path again.
JB
