I Have Complex Ptsd But Waiting List Means I've Only Seen Psychiatrist Once In 10 Years

As a child, Amy was often violently attacked. At 15, she was threatened pinch a knife. Now diagnosed pinch analyzable PTSD, she's spent complete a decade isolated astatine location pinch her mum, desperately seeking help. She has seen a psychiatrist only once.

"I was aforesaid harming and felt suicidal and didn't want to beryllium live anymore," says Amy, who's stuck connected nan agelong waiting database for NHS intelligence wellness treatment.

She has bounced up and down nan database for years contempt being known by situation teams astatine her section infirmary and GP surgery.

Amy is 1 of thousands of patients crossed England caught successful nan backlog of intelligence wellness care.

Exclusive study for nan BBC by kindness Rethink Mental Illness reveals a stark - and widening - inequality betwixt intelligence and beingness healthcare. There are 12 times much patients waiting longer than 18 months for curen compared to those pinch beingness conditions.

Despite 4 emergency ambulance callouts this year, Amy remains connected an indefinite waiting database for terrible intelligence wellness curen - pinch nary timeline and nary clear way retired of crisis.

"I conscionable get told to hold and that services are struggling," she says. "Sometimes I consciousness really angry and for illustration screaming and outcry each time because I can't move connected pinch my life."

Amy yet sewage onto a assemblage people past twelvemonth but was asked to time off aft a crisis.

"I consciousness for illustration I'm going information and information successful circles and extremity up successful nan aforesaid business each azygous day," she says. Amy's mum nary longer works, successful bid to attraction for her.

Their communicative reflects nan harsh reality down nan statistics: lives unravelling while thief remains retired of reach.

While nan beingness wellness waiting database successful England is declining rapidly, nan intelligence wellness backlog is not coming down quickly and remains stubbornly precocious - leaving susceptible group for illustration Amy stuck and unsupported.

"This is an urgent wake-up call," says Brian Dow, lawman main executive of Rethink Mental Illness. "Long delays worsen outcomes. It becomes much costly to dainty them. They extremity up successful secondary care, which is much analyzable - and they autumn further from activity and go much reliant connected benefits."

The study uses information from NHS England's monthly statistics. It includes only adults pinch terrible intelligence unwellness that person waited much than 78 weeks.

To beryllium included connected nan waiting database numbers they person to person been referred by organization intelligence wellness services for further curen aliases assessment. Those waiting for talking therapy for mild worry aliases slump are not included successful these statistics.

• A database of organisations successful nan UK offering support and accusation pinch immoderate of nan issues successful this communicative is disposable astatine BBC Action Line.

For nan period of May location were 14,586 patients waiting longer than 18 months (78 weeks) for intelligence wellness curen compared to 1,237 group waiting for a beingness wellness cognition aliases appointment.

Dr Becks Fisher of nan Nuffield Trust wellness deliberation vessel said nan authorities had made advancement connected a promise to enlistee 8,500 much intelligence wellness workers but added that entree for group referred to intelligence wellness services "had not been arsenic prominent" successful caller readying and guidance arsenic reducing beingness wellness waits.

She said that nan stock of wellness spending going towards intelligence wellness was group to autumn successful nan financial twelvemonth ending successful April.

In effect that intends departmental backing had been favouring beingness wellness services.

"Mental wellness problems disproportionately impact young people," adds Mr Dow. "It makes immense wellness consciousness and immense economical consciousness to prioritise intelligence wellness access."

A caller intelligence wellness hub successful East London is offering a radically different attack - described arsenic an illustration of what "good" intelligence wellness attraction could look like.

Open for walk-in patients without appointments, it provides early involution successful a well-staffed, welcoming space. The effects are already visible - Dr Sheraz Ahmad, a advisor psychiatrist astatine nan centre, says waiting lists person already fallen markedly.

The hub has 3 advisor psychiatrists and a number of intelligence wellness specialists that tin connection around-the-clock care. The squad present is stable.

"We want to person conversations early on," explains Dr Ahmad. "Once we understand nan problem, we tin constituent group successful nan correct guidance - avoiding that vicious circle."

Here, it's not conscionable treatment. It's nan continuity of attraction that helps most. "Having entree to nan aforesaid clinicians that cognize your communicative mundane makes a immense difference. It builds trust," he says.

"I travel each time and play pool," says Moyna, who is surviving pinch schizophrenia.

"Sometimes I watch TV, perceive to euphony - and consciousness better."

He credits nan hub pinch helping him debar relapse, and reducing his request for infirmary care. He doesn't request an assignment immoderate much to get support and attraction successful times of crisis, and it is each wrong his neighbourhood.

The installation is nan first of its kind, pinch short-stay beds. It is only 1 of six planned by NHS England from Birmingham to Sheffield, York to Cumbria.

The hubs, which are tricky to group up and truthful are improbable to beryllium capable to beryllium scaled up drastically, merge nan voluntary assemblage and nan NHS.

Costs are constricted pinch psychiatrists and infrastructure being nan main outlays. Most different unit are volunteers and nan eastbound London venue has been provided by a charity.

Despite increasing calls for much low-cost, high-impact hubs for illustration these, entree to this benignant of attraction remains a distant dream for thousands for illustration Amy.

Health Minister Stephen Kinnock acknowledges nan reality of intelligence wellness attraction successful England: "For acold excessively agelong group person been fto down by nan intelligence wellness strategy and that has led to large backlogs."

He says nan authorities has a scheme to tackle nan problems.

"We're seeing much group coming pinch challenges, and nan measurement to woody pinch that is shifting support from hospitals into nan community," he says.

In intelligence wellness care, "it's each astir prevention" adds Mr Kinnock. That's really he thinks nan authorities tin thief trim waiting lists. The spread betwixt intelligence and beingness wellness waits has grown since Labour came into government.

Last month, erstwhile Amy's mum was discharged aft a short infirmary stay, she was fixed a advisor assignment for her beingness information - an undiagnosed bosom problem - conscionable a fewer weeks later. By contrast, Amy continues to wait.

"We don't cognize really we're going to get retired of this situation," she says. "I want to get a occupation and spell to assemblage and things for illustration that. But we're some conscionable stuck surviving this life."