I was sadly less than impressed with the response I received from my local MP after contacting her about Increasing Mental Health Funding.

MQ Mental Health Research emailed me about a campaign they were running on asking MPs about mental health funding.

So I clicked on the email link to my local MP, Sheryll Murray.

Like most MPs, she probably never even read the email as a standard letter from her secretary came back.

Not only did she never answer the question, the fact that the question was about something as important as mental health, which one in four of us in the UK are known to suffer from, and the number increased during the recent pandemic.

The recent pandemic has also taken lives due to there being no help available as free helplines who offer help also have waiting lists as well as the NHS.

Unless you go private which costs around £50 plus per hour, the likeliness of receiving any help let alone the correct help is next to nothing.

This is why we need more counsellors, nurses, doctors and a mental health facility in Cornwall. These mental health professionals need to be properly trained so they can research mental health more accurately.

I received 12 CAT therapy sessions back in 2012 before seeking private talking therapy from 2013 – 2015.

I then received CAT Therapy for a few sessions during 2016 and some refresher sessions towards 2018.

I’ve been on a waiting list for over three years due to the pandemic, and a mental health nurse didn’t contact me until a few months ago.
I’m currently being treated for a mood disorder.

I did receive some free sessions from a counsellor at Cornwall College over the summer, which was mostly talking therapy, and I was speaking to a man from Mind after reaching out to charities for help.

However, they weren’t qualified to diagnose me and suggested I would be better off seeing a psychiatrist.

Although the psychiatrist doesn’t think I have bipolar, I take meds for the same thing.

During that time, I lost friendships and did some unusual things to people, which I regret.

With the correct help, these issues might have been resolved without it giving me another mental meltdown.

Why are there no GP appointments available? let alone mental health teams seeing patients face to face? Why are so-called mental health professionals not around weekends and evenings?

You will be lucky to get an appointment via video or phone due to the increasing numbers of people developing problems due to the pandemic.

More mental health funding is needed to help fund research and staff.