"Outside their ability to help"

It says on this letter to ring this number to give feedback on my experience of care. It would be nice to get an experience of care to leave feedback about. I've been waiting two years.

I've just got a letter saying even thought I have a referral from my GP, it is outside their abilities to help. The first time, I wanted talking therapy so I was put on a list by my psychiatrist, only to be told later on that the list was closed as they were 'overwhelmed' - so that was the end of that line.

I was then told that Talking Therapy was only available through private, and was my only option. I was then told by my GP or my psychiatrist that I could self refer, so I did that .

Now I've received this letter that says its outside their abilities to help. I think this must be a standard letter, and I'm right back to where I was two years ago, asking my GP for help.

I have bipolar, that's something that is never going away, whether I like it or not. I have ups and downs. I manage by trying to maintain an even keel, this farce has been the opposite - the high hopes I got when I finally got on a list to get help, and then the crushing lows when I found out it was false hope. This whole thing has really dissuaded me, its nonsense.

I feel it must be from big cuts to the services here, literally every mental health patient I know has been discharged - I'm not exaggerating, at least half a dozen people who were getting help for their mental health are now left without. I don't know that there's anything that can be done about it, the GPs (who have been brilliant) are up against a troubled system. It seems the only time you can get real help in any real time frame is if you are currently having a crisis and the police (who are also brilliant) get involved. This really lets down the people who are in deep trouble but not at crisis stage yet, people who are considering suicide find it hard to get the help they need before it gets to the crisis stage.

Fortunately, I have not reached that stage, but I've got friends who have been desperately ill and rang the suicide helpline, which went straight to answerphone. It gave information, but not that human contact that they needed as support. Fortunately, however, this helpline is open 24 hours a day, so if they need to talk to a machine, they can do it whenever they like, great!

I'm sure mine must be a terribly, terribly common experience.