thiskidknows

Is there anyone here who has any experience dealing with both mental health problems and drink/drugs!!!!

I'm from Essex and would appreciate any information as I'm struggling to get anyone to listen to me....my mental health problems started before my drug addiction..I was diagnosed with a personaility disorder in 2007, I started using heroin in 2009. I started using heroin to calm my hyper moods down, to take my away from the constent thinking, depression, anxiety...to give my some confidence, to give me a warm feeling inside rather then always feel so cold, feeling no love, no care..heroin was/is the only time i ever felt warmth!

I turned to heroin when the professionals turned they backs on me when I needed them most...08/06/2009 I took a overdose, spent 48 hours in hospital..reason i wasn't sectioned was no beds..I didn't feel safe on my own...less then 2 weeks later I was beaten and raped in the house i was living...less then a month later the counsellor I was seeing dropped me as she said i needed more pyschological help...I tried to find help, I tried everyone and everywhere I knew...even the NHS counsellor said I was too unstable and would need to be stabilised before she could help and asked the mental health team to see me every other day, to increase the support, instead it went the other way..i tried private counsellors to be told the same, i needed more support then they could offer..in september I meet a guy, and heroin entered my life!

No matter how hard I try to turn my life around, and i know it needs to come from me, but I also need help, I've asked which was so hard to do, to admit I couldn't cope with my own life, that I was a failure and needed help..but all I get is..."you need to speak to CDAS", CDAS say "you need to speak to the ones who sent you here"..my old mental health team say "you need to speak to A as your not in our catchment area"...Whereever I turn I get pushed away...I'm stuck as none of them will help and just keep passing me off...

What else can I do as i'm unable to do any more..i've done all that I know that I can.

Please know that I have tried, I have tried everything I know and the options have now run out....

LaFemme

Hi!

I am not in this camp, but I know there are a good number of people here who are. Someone will be along soon to point you in the right direction. You can also search for older threads about this.

hugs,

LaFemme

bananagrrrl

Hi there,

I live in the States so I am not sure if this will help you. I am dual diagnosis also- alcohol and bipolar. I found an addictive disease psychiatrist that is treating them both.

Are there any centers such as the one I mentioned. Again, I am not familiar with the health care system in the UK.

I wish you peace.

Scott1970

bananagrrrl hit it right on the head. I am ADD/ADHD with PTSD and have a psych who also specializes in addiction. She has been a lifesaver for me.

dbearw

I have Bipolar 1 and am an alcoholic/addict. It's HARD to treat both. People on both sides want to separate the two but they go together. The best thing I did for both was use an addiction specialist Psych to get the meds right and I go to AA to stay sober. But I can't talk about the MI in AA. And few people will sponsor me b/c they think I'm not sober due to the meds. ?? I don't hear of anyone selling lamictal on the street lol. Anyway, I'm in US so I don't know what's available to you- I suggest finding a good Dr. first.

smacked

I'm dually diagnosed with mental health issues (borderline PD, PTSD, Psychosis NOS, Bipolar Disorder) and addiction issues (heroin, alcohol, cocaine, rx benzos). I know historically they were seen very seperately but more and more professionals are emerging that are experienced in both aspects of treatment and care. I would try really hard to find professionals experienced in both worlds of treatment.

For me, I had to address my alcoholism and substance abuse issues before I could address the mental health stuff going on. It was of no use to try to do it the other way around. I take some psychotropic medications that must be stabilized in order for me to function.. but I wasn't able to function well enough to stabilize my meds while I was still getting drunk and high every day. Crazy catch 22 we find ourselves in. I've been inpatient for mental health treatment much more often than substance abuse treatment, that's likely the reason, no stability when I was f'd up on chemicals not prescribed by my docs.

I hope you find someone to address both of these issues with you, it's been a lifesaver for me.

thiskidknows

thank you for sharing your experiences with finding support and help for dual diagnosis. I have been trying for so long to find someone who can help with both, but I'm stuck and i've not been able to find anyone. I'm finding it so difficult to get help, its like i'm lost in a maze, a maze which is made from steel iron wall, i can't climb over the wall its too high to climb on my own, i'm not able to break through the wall as i don't have the tools, and i'm lost in the maze, blindforded and unable to see or find someone to help guide me to a safe place and to help me with every day life, with life, with all the problems i've caused, with memories and the past that i struggle to accept, to deal with. i'm slowly being suffocated in this maze, each day, each hour, each minute a part of me disappears...i don't want to be here anymore, I'm unable to continue this life, I so much wanted help, so much wanted to change, to find out who i am, to feel love, to feel cared for, to feel safe but it just wasn't to be. I'm sorry. I dont' know what else to do anymore.

Zencat

I'm dual-diagnosed. Maybe there is a Dual Recovery Anonymous (United Kingdom) meeting that you can attend. Over here were I live the DRA & 12 Steps meetings are very helpful.

I know how frustrating it can be to not get proper treatment. Many times I have to make due with what the system has to offer and fill in the missing parts with my own resourcefulness.

I see in the UK there is the Samaritans that you can call during times of crisis.

Presstoe

Hi kid, what you're going thru is enough to make anyone mad. If it helps at all, the same thing happens in the U.S. It's a very stupid bureaucratic system where in a time of crisis you are expected to jump thru everyone's hoop.

What I have been told, here (in the U.S.), is if you feel like a threat to yourself or others go to the nearest Emergency Room and tell them, they will send you to a psychiatric hospital and once there most of the paperwork gets started (just started) for you, but they will evaluate and stabilize you so you can do the rest. I read your other post "hate"- if you're feeling really bad go to the nearest hospital.

GodsHolyWill

I think that you sound unwell enough to me to be helped by a hospital. If you go there and are cared for and stabalized and released, that you should contact your doctor(or a different doctor) again! I think you deserve to get the treatment that you need and that if need be, knock on door after door of those in the medical field until you get some help. You are worth it! Never give up! I'm keeping you in my prayers!