People with mental health worries urged to access free NHS service
People with mental health worries in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West are being encouraged to access NHS Talking Therapies.
The service, which is free and offers confidential treatments delivered by fully trained medical staff, can help with common mental health problems like stress, anxiety and depression.
People can refer themselves directly to an NHS talking therapies service without a referral from a GP, or a GP can refer you.
For more information or to self refer visit nhs.uk/talk
Diana has been using NHS Talking Therapies for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy after being referred by her GP. The Berkshire resident said using the service has changed her life.
She said: “Therapy has made me see life in a different way because I was in a very dark place, I was withdrawn from the world. I didn’t want to interact with anyone because I thought no one would understand where I am coming from. In my culture, mental health is perceived as someone who is I could say possessed or maybe you’ve been bewitched."
She added: “I felt like I was alone in this world and when I shared with my therapist it really made the burden and load to be less and less heavy on me and now I can see a brighter future ahead of me.”
A Community Mental Health Survey published in 2022 showed that out of 13,418 people who received treatment for a mental health condition between September and November 2021, 57% received NHS talking therapies in the last 12 months before publication of the survey, as part of a package of care.
Over half of respondents who received talking therapies as part of their care plan said they were ‘definitely’ involved as much as they wanted to be in deciding which therapies to use.
Talking Therapies can be offered in a number of ways including a self-help workbook with therapist support, as an online course, over the phone, one to one or in a group. Appointments with therapists are conducted in confidence and help is available in-person, by video consultation, telephone and interactive text.
The 2022 Community mental health survey, which was part of the NHS Patient Survey Programme, is an independent analysis for England published in October 2022.
More information on the Diana case study can be found here.
There are a number of videos from across the BOB area:
Oxford and Bucks patients
Navdeep: (1) Navdeep: "Mental health can be quite taboo in some cultures" - YouTube
Berkshire patients