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It's good to talk . . £3m plan offers therapy on the phone

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Published Date: 16 July 2008
By LYNDSAY MOSS
SCOTS with mild anxiety and depression are to be given psychological help on the phone and online under plans being unveiled today.
The Scottish Government will outline a £3 million plan to test new methods of delivering cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) – a talking therapy which helps people understand their emotions and develop ways to cope.

The pilot studies will be outl
ined at a meeting of more than 1,000 therapists gathering in Edinburgh this week.

The British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP), which has organised the conference, welcomed the CBT projects, which will be trialled over three years.

The Scottish Government has set a target to stop rising rates of antidepressant prescriptions in the coming years.

But access to alternative therapies for mild depression, such as CBT, can have waiting lists of more than a year on the NHS.

The new pilots will see patients in the Western Isles, Shetland, the Borders, Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Lothian being referred by their GP and offered telephone-based CBT and self-help techniques.

Qualified CBT therapists will help run the service through the NHS 24 helpline. There will also be other resources such as website with self-help tips and other advice.





The full article contains 214 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 15 July 2008 9:16 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

Douglas,

Bathgate 16/07/2008 07:46:56
If the system works as well as the one where medical test results are given and discusssed on the phone then the £3m would be better spent on a nice meal and bottle of wine with a friend.
I preface my next statement by saying that I'm intimately aware of the real issues of depression but can I be the only one to see that this may end up as a helpline for people who've 'had a bad day' and just need to get on with their lives.
Real problems need real solutions, not another call centre.
2

Alasdair10,

Glasgow 16/07/2008 07:52:07
hmmmm, mild anxiety may be helped, depression, true depression can't be.

There is far too much faux depression around, people who are often whinging and looking for a label and excuse to be off work or try something on.

Real depression, a chemical imbalance in the body is very real and this condition is diluted by the many who jump on the stress/depression band wagon.

The professionals know that, this is putting an elastoplast on a condition that goes to the heart of the brain.

3

Plodjfriss, Hammer of the Numpties,

Edinburgh 16/07/2008 08:32:45
I know, why don't we just spend a few thousand pounds recruiting some of the experts who comment on the Scotsman website? It seems that simply by reading a few words on a website they're able to diagnose the potential users of this service as liars and malingerers. I'm sure a few sharp words from our resident mental health experts would soon sort out these timewasters.
4

Alasdair10,

Glasgow 16/07/2008 10:24:55
To Plodjfriis, have you considered that posters 1&2 may understand and be familiar with the subject in question.

Read the comments carefully, take time to interpret what they are saying.



5

Plodjfriss, Hammer of the Numpties,

Edinburgh 16/07/2008 12:19:59
#4. I did read what they said. In particular, number 2 (who turns out to be you) says "There is far too much faux depression around, people who are often whinging and looking for a label and excuse to be off work or try something on.".

This kind of comment is always trotted out when the subject of depression/anxiety is mentioned, and the trouble is that it leads people with mental illnesses to conceal their problems and struggle on without seeking help. This, of course, just makes things worse.

If you're familiar with the issues here then you must be aware of the effect of people saying these things; it really isn't helpful. Constructive criticism would be useful, but referring to people who may have genuine problems as whingers and bandwagon-jumpers isn't going to do anyone any good.
6

TimW1234,

Ottawa, Canada 16/07/2008 12:38:52
The phone lines will be clogged with whiners and persons with no real problme but just want to have a proper natter at the taxpayers' expences. non
7

Alasdair10,

Glasgow 16/07/2008 12:42:17
To Plodjfris

erm, I didn't hide behind an assumed name, it clearly shows it was me in posts 2&4.

Depression is a serious issue, re-read again what I have written.

I am very aware of the damage caused by "real" depression and the fact that I & Douglas (poster 1) highlight the propensity for people who are latching onto the fact that they can label themselves as depressed as it may be convenient to do so, there are many chancers out there who will capitalise by over exaggerating their off days or even concocting a scenario that could lead their employer into a tricky and expensive situation by latching onto the stress/depression industry, for that is what it has become.

People who have genuine mental illness need proper care and help and my initial comment highlights the difference between false and real.

I don't know how I can more plainly state the difference



8

Plodjfriss, Hammer of the Numpties,

Edinburgh 16/07/2008 15:29:05
Alasdair10. Sorry, I wasn't suggesting that you were trying to hide; just after I typed in the reference to #2 I realised it was you and added the parenthetical comment.

My concern was that anyone suffering from "real" depression who read the article would see your (and #1's) comments suggesting that many purported depression sufferers are in fact malingerers. As you may appreciate, one of the reactions of a true depressive reading such comments might be to accept the comments as a true reflection of their state. That's one of the way depression works: any negative view of the sufferer's condition is immediately seized upon by the sufferer as an accurate commentary on their worthlessness, and just helps to intensify their negative feelings.

I really feel that it's most unhelpful to make such comments, especially as there is something of a public perception that depression and other mental problems aren't "real" illnesses, and the more often such an opinion is repeated the more harm it does.

I'm not convinced that there are in fact huge numbers of completely healthy people out there falsifying mental illness in order to profit in one way or another from their employers as you suggest. Do you actually have any evidence for this? How is one to decide the difference between true and false mental illness? Presumably these supposed fakers have some kind of medical support for their claims; are the doctors incompetent or lying, or what?

If, as you say, you have some awareness of the issues involved here, you must realise that it's extremely unhelpful to sufferers of mental illnesses to have people whispering that there's really nothing wrong with them, and they're just making it up because they're lazy or greedy or whatever. That's what made me so unhappy about the initial comments on this story.
9

McGinty,

16/07/2008 20:28:45
The risk is that people with mild depression take away valuable time and resources which have been in decreasing supply since many mental health and psychiatric services were allocated to the private sector. Meanwhile some people who've got into roadrage or run off with the neighbour's wife or developed a sexual addiction get a plethora offered to them. Sufferers of real depression constantly have to battle just to stay alive and find help while support workers run around like blue bottomed flies to fulfil workload on a modest salary, with disproportionate responsibilities, oodles of paperwork and unachievable targets. Twenty five quid is a typical wage for a ten hour sleepover. Also, if you suffer certain milder forms of depression you may find you get points but not enough to qualify for incapacity benefit (unless you start drinking or taking drugs). You're then sent over to the dole who get fed up with you 'cos you're not able to sustain many of the jobs you're matched up with and you end up getting bounced back and forward between the two departments.

However the ignoramuses of Scottish society (including some doctors) continue to label many of these people as liars, time wasters and malingerers and tell them to pull themselves together when the reality is that many of them have suffered since childhood and couldn't sort themselves out if they tried.

Meanwhile Mental Health Scotland are out fundraising on Buchanan Street when most people don't have a clue what, if anything they've achieved over the last ten years, not enough by the looks of things. Whilst I don't grudge help for people who have got themselves in a spot of bother, part of any recovery is the broadening of horizons and the learning to look beyond one's self and one's own problems
10

k4rol,

West Lothian 17/07/2008 04:27:59
# Alasdair10 - I agree

They may either feel their self-esteem shrinking under criticism, or they may feel that all criticism is negative. This can destroy the intent of constructive criticism.


# Plodjfriss, Hammer of the Numpties

Your name says it all!!!

“Real” depression ?? Depression is a “real” medical illness that can be treated. The “severity” of the individual suffering and the underlying causes of ones depressive state .

# 9 McGinty - Comment is so true and exact.

The point system - you are aware of the system, although this may not seem amusing to other I did laugh. (time for a vodka I think)

Support workers can add to the severity of ones mental state - irregular contact, lack of communication, change in support times/days e.t.c also play a part in building a rapport reliance with an individual who is vulnerable.

Personal experience - talking does help some individuals - picking up a phone can be a difficult task when communicating let alone when in a depressed state, bearing in mind the severity of ones depression.

I unplug my phone.

I agree it is good to talk so this service maybe of some help.
11

Smiffy83,

Somerset 21/07/2008 11:04:24
The millions wasted on this suspect & unproven 'therapy' would be better spent on biomedical research into the various illnesses it is purported to treat. If it were a drug, it would not be used without stringent medical trials; these have not been done. It seems to be a snake oil type of 'cure all' designed to pour money into its practitioners coffers.

Unfortunately for those sufferers of the neurological illness myalgic encephalomyelitis, CBT is touted by psychiatrists as a cure when it in fact has been found to make M.E. worse. Encouraging M.E. sufferers to increase their activity without treating the underlying heart, viral and possibly parasitic conditions is extremely dangerous and could prove fatal.

M.E. remains the only neurological illness in the UK to be 'treated' solely by psychiatric means. No government money has ever been spent on biomedical research or treatment; all money has gone to psychiatrists, & this scheme will mean that it continues to do so. This is a national scandal.

 

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