Distrust in the Mental Health system

With the latest revelations of text based crisis support charity shout sharing conversations for research, I wanted to explore the distrust this can put on the Mental Health system that’s already in crisis.

The news recently reported that mental health charity Shout, shared users conversations to researchers who were looking to research and explore improving mental health services. Many users were shocked at this and some even stated if they had known at the time it would have stopped them seeking support with the charity. Given that most individuals reaching out to the charity are doing so in a time of crisis this is worrying.

many people already distrust the mental health system fearing if they open up family will know, they may be sectioned, lose their job/career, they won’t be taken seriously or understood among many other reasons and it’s important now more than ever that the mental health services currently available are working hard to provide a trusting supportive environment for people to seek help.

Mental health services should be working to improve knowledge around mental health services, increase trust, improve issues around confidentiality, maintaining dignity and safety as well as avoiding stigma are all really important issues that should be looked at to improve trust in the mental health system. Other mental health services should take note from Shouts failings when sharing users information and if they are planning to do so make this extremely clear before users utilise the service, and wherever possible in crisis based services like shout, confidential information in a time of crisis should not be shared, only when essential and needed to protect and keep the individual safe.