Will we ever have good mental health services?

I dare-say you could leave the word "mental" out of that question and the answer would still be the same...

Looking at the VHI's investment in a network of new clinics, it looks more and more like we're going to follow the American model of excellent healthcare for the rich while letting the poor suffer and die imho.

I am actually amazed that so many children were actually prescribed medicines by someone in CAMHS. Thousands of children wait years for the initial assessment, that is before they can be put into another queue to possibly get prescribed drugs:

https://www.rte.ie/news/2020/0730/1156380-thousands-of-children-waiting-for-autism-checks/

https://asiam.ie/advice-guidance/diagnosis-clinical-supports/pursuing-a-diagnosis-for-your-child/

https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/child-autism-assessment-covid-5180434-Aug2020/

Not if you're a Deaf sign language user ( here its ISL, now recognised as a native official language of ireland).

Due to a number of factors including marginalisation research shows Deaf sl users are 2/4 or 5/7 times more likely to have mental health issues and 2 - 4 times more likely to take their own lives than those who can hear ( depending on what research you look at). Yet services are non existent. They only had specialist services on a trial basis and they were even closed when covid first happened. About a year later they reopened once a week due to lobbying. They only have one psychiatrist and clinical nurse and they're only available if an ISL interpreter is available ( which theres a severe lack of ) as far as I'm aware. Pieta house dont even offer Deaf ISL users their services at all.

Short answer: not any time soon

Long answer: I frequent both the mental and physical health services. The very poor physical health service contributed to me going to the mental heath service, and the mental health service ended up being worse than the physical health service. So far I've heard gems such as: "I don't think your (top neuropsych diagnosed) PTSD diagnosis is correct. Those flashbacks don't sound convincing. Besides, you're only on x amount of antidepressants", "suicidal ideation doesn't count, you shouldn't even bring it up", and despite knowing that one of the reasons I was there was that medical gaslighting in the physical health system caused me to start to believe I was losing my mind, trying to convince me that my physical health problems were in my head, despite knowing absolutely nothing about the case. On top of 3 hour long appointments, most of which I spend sitting on a plastic chair in the hallway.

This wasn't some run down, back alley, dodgy qualificatied shrink. This was has been in a purpose build, HSE ran mental health building. I have another appointment coming up, and I'm torn between knowing I need to get on top of my mental health and that I'm lucky (after a long wait) to have gotten anything at all, and telling them to go swivel on one. I can't afford anything else though, so it's the awful HSE service, or nothing. And I'm at a point where I can't afford nothing either.

Providing proper mental health service, especially for children, may actually save money. Here is a quote of the article I linked above:

Dr Beug said: "The bitterest irony of all is that this neglect of children is going to end up costing the State multiples of what it would cost to implement a proper early intervention system because if your first five years of school are catastrophic, you will never come back."

It’s amazing in the current climate what they can borrow billions for but when it comes to looking after the health, wellbeing and lives of Irish citizens and their families… hmmmm… getting more psychology places.or even keeping beds we have and need ? . hmmm