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'Mental Health Awareness Week' provides an opportunity to shine the spotlight on how cuts in funding made by the newly- elected government could impact those with mental health problems in the UK.
As I start a series of blogs on anxiety to mark Mental Health Awareness Week, it would be remiss not to acknowledge that the UK election result has triggered fear in many. Within hours of the Conservative Party winning their majority, we had a surge in numbers seeking to join the online support group for anxiety sufferers that I help run, and over the weekend there’s been a marked increase in downloads of my self-help book on anxiety. The wall of my personal page on Facebook reads like a collective wail from The Voice Of Doom, and my Twitter feed is awash with links to articles that paint a bleak picture of the next five years.
‘Depression is a physical and emotional illness with a profound sociopolitical component,’ wrote provocateur journalist Laurie Penny recently, and the same could be said of anxiety. When it feels that society is getting less compassionate and your benefits are under threat, your council tenancy looks set to go from permanent to temporary and the health service you rely on is being gradually dismembered as a result of austerity, precariousness is a daily reality. So is it any wonder you reach out for support any way you can? It's almost inevitable that our group, which is free to join and open to all, is expanding.
Everyone needs looking after sometimes
I wouldn’t dream of saying those who vote for right wing parties aren’t welcome to the group I speak of - we all need help, and no one should be denied access to support because of the colour of their political opinions. But raising awareness of mental illness is what this week is all about and because our membership includes many signed off work due to illness, it seems important to give voice to the fact that since Election Day many with mental health problems seem to be feeling even greater fear.
‘I’m so scared what else they are going to do to punish people like me who depend on benefit due to mental health illness,’ posted Jane, a member, on Saturday. Even the group I founded for women going through the menopause has had a surge in membership, and it doesn’t take years of medical study to deduce those symptoms can also be exacerbated by stress. Still, at least there's kindness and collective spirit to be found in both groups, and on an individual level I believe there’s a lot we can do to manage our own anxiety by understanding the link between our minds and bodies. Learning about adrenaline and the role our hormones play in anxiety can help a lot, and tomorrow I’ll be exploring what we can do to break the habit of anxious thinking in a separate blog.
Austerity is a trigger for anxiety
But whilst we can reduce panic and worry by teaching ourselves about their physical and mental components, make no mistake: the crisis in mental health in Britain is profoundly political. In Cameron’s National Health Service, the already-underfunded mental health system suffered cuts in real terms. Figures suggest mental health trusts in England have seen their budgets fall by more than 8% over the course of this parliament, which leaves other organisations like charities and individuals such as family members to fill the gaps that have emerged in our welfare system.
Our online support group for anxiety sufferers is run entirely by volunteers, a dedicated bunch who give up hours of their free time each week to support a membership of several thousand people who, by and large, seem to be finding life pretty tough right now. ‘I'm being discharged from the mental health team even though my mental health worker has agreed I'm nowhere near ready. She has been told to start discharging patients, and it's due to cuts, not wellbeing,’ posted one member, Sue, on Saturday. And if the welfare system is already failing people like Sue, this is where Cameron’s Britain has ended up when tempered by liberalism, so is it any surprise those with mental health problems feel increasingly anxious now the government has a mandate to do exactly as they please?
In the run up to the election Cameron said little about what he plans to do about mental health; it was Liberal Demoncrat leader Nick Clegg who launched a 25 point Mental Health Action Plan earlier this year, and now, with a Conservative majority, he’s gone. No one knows what future holds, although Anita Charlesworth, chief economist of the Health Foundation, believes cuts planned by the new government will pile more pressure on services that are under already strain.
‘It's frightening to think what is going to happen next,’ posted Jane, to which one of the support team, Karen, responded, ‘This is a really anxious time for everyone who needs any help from the state. It’s a time of flux and confusion. All of us just need to focus on the now. We can do nothing to change the results. I'm sending everyone a big warm hug. I'm sure we will all get through this.’
She’s a wise woman, Karen, and her suggestion that we focus on the now is a pragmatic one. So, that’s enough catastrophising: the rest of this week I’ll be focusing on ways we can cope with panic, manage stress and look after ourselves. Because to blog about the difficulties of the future without offering comfort would be cruel and uncaring, and there’s enough anguish and anxiety flying around already.
