Benefit Street, Brighton.

The black dog that crawled back up on my shoulder 2 years ago has been a teacup  Chihuahua until recently.  About ten days ago I realised he’d morphed into a good-sized Labrador. I think now he’s going for Irish Wolfhound. Now that black dog is not exclusively the property of Winston Churchill, or Robin Williams or even National Treasure, Stephen Fry. Without even having it explained, every bi-polar person instinctively understands what it means the first time they hear it. Because, perhaps, that feeling of carrying an actual physical burden is so familiar?  At times it feels like a sack of wheat on one’s shoulders which is pretty grim – but an old, familiar dog? Smelly and noxious nowadays maybe, but intimately known: - he ain’t heavy, he’s my black dog? Now, even before I was clinically diagnosed at the age of 12, I knew what it was like to feel weighted down – until finally one ends up supine; unable to rise up high enough to get out of bed...

Now that I’ve had intimate, lived experience of how the NHS in England functions within the parameters of Mental Health policy, I feel it’s important to speak out. It is now more important than ever that people – whether involved with community projects or not – understand exactly how the current system is failing Britain. In yesterday’s blog I gave suggestions as to how one could supplement the NHS Mental Health programme. To-day I’m illustrating some of the stories of NHS patients, and public perceptions. 1.    Attitudes to Mental Health. I’m sure we are all in agreement that public the perception of Mental Health issues has changed due to more education and exposure to the role mental health plays in the overall health of Britain? My frequent ‘Victorian’ jibe in relation to mental health care could, possibly, be therefore dismissed as hyperbole. But the reality is that  most marginalized people – of all ages – who are currently experiencing the worst aspect...