Yet Again, There Is No Help (part infinite)

How many different ways are there to say the same thing, and make the same point?

There just isn't help.

At all.

At.

All.

After a night of no sleep, and a sweaty subconsciousness pricking and intensifying my fear of a Tory majority, I decide to make a GP appointment to get a referral to the Primary Care Liaison Service for mental health. These are supposed to be the experts, unfortunately the GP can't guarantee they will listen. The main reason for this is that Positive Step (see my Stepping Out posts) have been given monopoly over provision.

I fully expect that, as I'm not schizophrenic or psychotic, so they won't be interested.

What is most frustrating is that, the more limited the options, the more disinterested the doctor. They have less to offer and so the less they seem to care. This is a weird and disturbing corollary.

The message here is: depression (aka "low mood") is not a serious issue. The pervasive level of stress in our society has increased such that those like me with what is now deemed a relatively less significant issue can expect no help. Or at best, a cursory service that at best pays lip service to mental help. Not one that gets to the heart of why people have these problems, dealing with issues of isolation, lack of opportunity, and of course struggling to survive in a world where the powerful control the purse strings.

So as this pressure increases, like a rising water level in the bottom of a well, we can only expect this to get worse. Given the nightmare of a prospective Tory majority, this is all the more likely. There is, of course, little chance of unseating the Tories locally. They dominate in this area through the landed gentry and all the 'independent businessmen' (which also explains how UKIP has done so well locally, depressingly).

So there was that, and, when I got back from the GP, a nice brown envelop on the doormat informing me that I have a Work Focussed Interview booked for me on the 8th in the afternoon.

Ain't life great - and I feel I have no control over mine.