A student – who waited months for mental health support – says the long delay prolonged her suffering as new figures revealed the stress on the service. Abbie Bonnyman, 20, told the Stirling Observer that waiting for psychological treatment led to her self-harming when she was diagnosed with anorexia as a teenager.
She spoke out as new research published by the Royal College of Psychiatrists revealed that there is only one consultant psychiatrist for every 10,250 people in Scotland - and the situation is even more fraught for those aged 18 and younger.
For young people and children, there is only CAMHS consultant psychiatrist for every 16,351 people. The picture is one that is reflected in Forth Valley, where CAMHS waiting times have been amongst the longest in Scotland in recent years.
Abbie is one of those with first-hand experience of the frustrations and gaps in the system. The third-year Stirling University psychology student was diagnosed with anorexia at 15 and admitted to a 24-bed psychiatric hospital in Glasgow after her weight fell to just six-and-a-half stone.
She spent almost six months being treated but insists she did not receive one-to-one psychiatric input for around three months and following her release, quickly relapsed leading to other dangerous behaviours including self-harm. Abbie believes the service is stretched and that the wait for mental health support for so many may have a detrimental “domino effect” on general waits across the NHS in general.
She said: “Although I was referred quickly, when in hospital I had to wait three months for psychological treatment, which wasn’t ideal. It consequently prolonged my suffering and actually led to me engaging in self-harming behaviours.
“When I eventually got that treatment and reached a healthy weight, I was discharged but admitted two months later. This happened because there was a lack of medical staff and a need to free up beds. In that time, I wasn’t being coached to deal with the distress of my weight loss and so you end up going to other behaviours to get a release.
“People are going to be getting worse in that time and are going to feel invalidated if they are put on a waiting list and made to feel like they are not worthy of support. They are asking for help because they are wanting that help and treatment, but by the time they get there, the person’s mental health may be so bad that they don’t want to engage and it can act as a domino effect for other services in hospital.
“I was left with a stomach disorder and I hate to think what can happen to people who have been made to wait longer and what health complications they may have – it’s not just about mental health but the impact on physical health too and the pressure elsewhere.”
Meanwhile, with the impact of the cost-of-living and waiting times crises biting hard, the Royal College is calling for a commitment for 10 per cent of the health budget to be committed to mental health. It has launched its ‘Choose Psychiatry’ programme with the aim of encouraging more junior doctors to pursue psychiatry as a specialism in an effort to address the staffing issues across the system.
Dr Jess Sussmann, policy lead and consultant psychiatrist at the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, said: “Workforce pressures have never been so tight and now we have the cost-of-living crisis not to mention fallout from the pandemic to add to the list.
“That’s why we’re appealing to the Scottish Government – that they must act now. Although we very much welcomed the news of 15 more psychiatry training places, we still need significantly more investment in our workforce.”
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