WE more than a quarter of patients with mental health needs are not seen within NHS Scotland's 18 week target. We know there are particular problems providing services to young people. We knew already that stigma surrounding mental health problems can make it difficult for people to feel able to ask for help when they need it.
What most would probably not expect is that the first barrier some would-be patients encounter is the attitudes of healthcare workers themselves. However that is the claim from the anti-stigma charity See Me, which has brought health and social care professionals together to tackle the problem.
Discrimination may be inadvertent – the GP who can treat your throat infection but can't diagnose a complex mood disorder in a ten minute appointment, say. Or A&E staff who struggle to deal with someone arriving in a state of crisis.
The fact is many parts of the NHS are simply better equipped to deal with physical problems than those of mental health. But for the patient such symptoms may be hard to separate. Curing one may be impossible without addressing the other.
With the statistic often cited that one in four of us will be affected by a mental illness at some stage in life, it is incumbent on all of us to consider our attitudes. That applies to health and social care staff, too.
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