Social Isolation Causes And/Or Compounds Mental Health Problems

Suffice it to say, no one should have so much alone time that few of his friends knew what was bothering him. Isolation is a set up for future problems.
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Interesting point about isolation. Some pretty shocking research statistics from Australia here, too: “Mentally ill endure lives of loneliness and exclusion“. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect that there is a similar situation in the US, the UK and other “developed” nations.

One of the scary things I find from working in the community trying to help people recover from schizophrenia and other psychoses is the UK government policy to get everyone living independently, without making any real provision for social and occupational support. There’s a lot of talk. But most of the action is from the voluntary and charity sector, large and small.

There’s also a UK government policy (copying what I understand – or am led to believe – are successful US “welfare-to-work” or “workfare” policies to get people off benefits and into work, but this is driven by the need to cut welfare costs rather than any consideration of individual needs and preferences. I’ve been to the “Personalisation” and “Transformation” of social care workshops telling us that “we” need to provide more for less. Some people are going to lose out and it won’t be people with a bit of depression, anxiety or stress.

Madeleine Bunting wrote a good article in The Guardian about this. The UK government’s policy doesn’t seem to me to take into account the completely different pre-existing (or relative lack of) welfare provisions in the US (which therefore act as an incentive for people to take low paid jobs) or the much more advanced mental health “consumer” rights movement.

Most people don’t want what they consider (rightly, in my opinion) dead-end jobs on low pay. Most would actually be worse off financially (and, therefore, mentally) even if they did, thanks to the “generous” disability benefits they get in the UK. And in case anyone thinks people on sickness benefits are living lives of luxury, they’re not. They often end up in the most deprived areas, with neighbours who are drug users, criminals and psychopathic bullies. Hardly a therapeutic environment likely to foster recovery, let alone “care in the community”.

For those of you who don’t know the difference, psychosis is losing touch with reality (symptoms can include hallucinations, delusions, feelings of persecution), while psychopathy is a lack of conscience or empathy. In psychosis, behaviours are often confused and confusing. In psychopathy, behaviours are often apparently normal, charming, successful, manipulative, political, self-serving, shallow, murderous.

It’s no wonder people get depressed, angry and paranoid. It’s no wonder some say they think the medications don’t really do anything to help them or complain about side-effects that seem to mimic the symptoms of the original condition. And it’s no wonder some people then experiment with reducing and/or stopping taking their meds altogether. They’re often reluctant to ask for help from the medical profession for fear that the response will be simply to increase their meds. I recently attended a “care” plan meeting where the patient asked to be rehoused and have her tablets reduced. The psychiatrist responded by suggesting that “it would be easier for him” to give her a an increased depot injection (a jab in the arse). So much for personalisation.

Any attempt to get work is often met with the advice not to, so as not to encounter stress and risk relapse, rather than facilitating appropriate support. It’s almost as if people are expected to be content with living isolated, meaningless lives. Organisations like mine which offer support in the community are on the one hand highly valued by the people who use them and their referers/carers, but often the first to get cuts in funding, despite the evidence that it’s the quality of relationships that makes a real difference to people’s lives.

What people want is somewhere safe to live, where they feel supported. They want something to do during the days, evenings and weekends. They want friends and intimate relationships. They want jobs – paid or unpaid – where they feel valued and not discriminated against or bullied. They want to feel a sense of belonging, community and ownership. Is that too much to ask?

Having said all of the above, I think things are beginning to change slowly for the better. But none of that really helps people who are already living isolated lives with possible underlying and undiagnosed mental health issues, or those who have been trhough the system and discharged without appropriate and ongoing support.