Discharged by mental health team

He would not have been discharged if he was a danger to himself or others. He may have been misdiagnosed. Having worked in this field, I would be asking for a second opinion.

Sorry I should say the nature of some mental health conditions.

No she isnt Bluebelle, she is not at crisis point but she needs ongoing support and ongoing changes to the services/medication offered as frequently they dont work. It's the nature of mental health conditions.
Nannyto3 could your sister seek some support from MHM or Mind, they may be able to advocate on her behalf.

Speaking from experience, depression will make you want to stay in. But it is the worst thing you can do. Especially now.

Why? Because a lack of vitamin D will make the depression spiral. Because a lack of vitamin D will reduce your immunity and we are in the middle of a pandemic.

I hope he can get out in the daylight, but if not he could take a vitamin D supplement to help his mood and immunity- he could also use an SAD lamp.

My daughter is a community mental health nurse and they have had many new referrals which are often Covid related. As Sarnia said the services are at saturation point and they have to prioritise.
I would be surprised if your nephew was told there was nothing more to be done for him
Nannyto3 but sadly services are not limitless.

Mental Health services are at saturation point. My first thought were that staying in a bedroom most of his time must be depressing in itself. I would have a look around the local area to see what may be out there to help him. I watched a TV programme recently about a garden scheme. It was set up from scratch and now is a flourishing enterprise selling their home grown fruit, veg and flowers. Adults with mental health issues can go to do as many hours as they feel they can give. Contact his mental health team or the local council to see what might be available for him. Good luck.

So sorry to hear this @Nannyto3 Has he been engaging with them and accepting treatment? If not, they will discharge because they do not have the funds to pursue people who dont engage with their own treatment.

This is incredibly sad. My own child was sectioned because of severe MH problems and only weeks later was discharged with no treatment. My DS also now my ES is extremely challenging, confrontational, aggressive and I believe they could not cope with him.

I imagine your sister will need support to deal with him as I know from experience how painful this is.

galaxy but the clue is she is responding now to treatment That’s the big difference this young man hasn’t for any of the treatments he has been given
I m not unsympathetic at all to this poor chaps situation but if he hasn’t made any progress for years what else is there on the limited budget the mental health team have, to help an ever increasing amount of mentally ill people
He will be under the care of the GP now he won’t be left with nothing

Is your sister alone with him or is there extended family
Does he come down for meals with her ? What is he doing in his bedroom is he on Video games, reading, sleeping I m asking these questions to see if you all can find any tiny ways of encouraging him to do things for himself
I would definitely talk to MINd or other voluntary mental health groups to see if you can get him a befriender or encourager even phone contact is a start
If he doesn’t come out of his bedroom for meals that would be the first thing to work on
It’s a terrible situation all round and unless the government recognises the great need it will only get worse

It is unusual for someone who has ongoing symptoms to be discharged from mental health services because, as many have pointed out, some mental illnesses require long term maintenance help; just like a number of physical illnesses with on-going life-long help required.

It is most likely that he has asked to severe contact.

Even those who enjoy good mental health need to learn to manage difficulties in their lives... But those with good mental health are well enough to do that! Those not so blessed cannot always manage without help. That is the point.

Many MH conditions relapse and remit over time. Treatment is usually there for the acute phase but is stepped down during more settled periods - I would be surprised if this patient has been discharged without support of any kind - but the lower level of support can in itself be distressing...

We would not say this about other conditions, many conditions are chronic, Parkinson's, MS etc, those people would not be discharged. Mental health conditions frequently dont respond to treatment my friend has had a range of interventions over the years some worked some didn't. Some worked for a while etc.

No bluebells that's not true. She requires intensive crisis team involvement at times.

If your nephew suffered bereavement at age 11 and his father has recently died, then it isn’t surprising that he is struggling to cope with recent events. It can take time to recover especially if the loss was sudden and unexpected. Not everyone reacts to loss in the same way. Your nephew will have been discharged into the care of his local gp. Recovery is possible for him with time, and ongoing treatment.

Even those who enjoy good mental health need to learn to manage difficulties in their lives...

Sadly with things the way they are atm there are more ppl needing help with their mental health than ever before - perhaps it's time for him to be encouraged to try some self help...

galaxy your close friend has involvement because she has obviously responded well to treatment and is needing very very limited continuation
This chap has not,responded over a very long period of time in fact he has not responding to anything they have tried, he has had everything on the books by the sound of it
What else can they do? they have no miracles up their sleeves
There are huge waiting lists for CBT and he has even had that too

There is no reason why he couldn't go back to his GP. I'm hoping that he is still being prescribed his meds if he needs them. He could try on-line therapy... That is something he could do himself and would perhaps help

nannyto3 I can understand how difficult this is for you but it sounds as if through the years he has had a really lot of treatment, it is very hard to get one lot of treatment on the BHS because of very long waiting lists, so the fact he sounds as if he’s had everything that is available, means he has been lucky although I m sure you don’t feel he is lucky

The mental health section of the NHS is extremely overworked and under staffed and a hundred times more now since Covid
The teams are overrun with people like your nephew, and people much worse trying to kill themselves or others

They cannot treat someone for a ‘never ending’ period or else no one else would ever be helped and just like with cancer or some other illnesses not everyone gets better There are many people with terminal illnesses who are told there is nothing else can be done

Can you afford private help or failing that try the volunteer section and see if someone could perhaps provide a befriender or some weekly one to one help to build his confidence with small steps but please don’t blame the mental health team they cannot perform miracles

Just a thought - is there a possibility that he has chosen to disengage from services...?

That sounds very unusual, many mental health issues are life long conditions. My closest friend has had involvement from a mental health team for 30 years now, she has a diagnosed condition which is managed through medication and other forms of support, I imagine she will always need support. Could your sister speak to one of the mental health charities for advice.