People sexually abused as children who seek help in later life for mental health problems are being failed by the NHS, senior doctors have told the BBC. The Royal College of Psychiatrists is issuing a public apology for what is says is decades of mismanagement and misdiagnosis in the UK. For some, it has worsened their traumas, it said.
The college said mental health staff have been too focussed on treating symptoms rather than exploring how past traumatic experiences can still affect patients. Support is improving, it said, but there must be better training and more investment. One of the biggest problems is services have too little time to spend with these patients, it adds.
The apology has been included in a report by the college and given to the BBC. Author and immediate past president of the college, Dr Lade Smith, said she was "sorry" that, too often, victims have suffered "avoidable harm when seeking help". The report details how treatment has sometimes been inappropriate, while people have been re-traumatised by the experience of repeated assessments and history-taking and not always being believed.
Dr Smith told the BBC it was clear people were not getting the support they needed, and that this was not just a failing of psychiatrists, but the whole mental health system. "Services are so fragmented. The system is set up to provide short, discreet episodes of care.
Psychiatrists do not get the time to build up a relationship with patients so they can be properly supported. "They are lucky if they get eight sessions of therapy, when it could take eight sessions for a person just to disclose the abuse. "And these are just the people who get support – many don't even get seen by mental health services because services are so stretched," she said.
Estimates suggest nearly one in 10 adults in England and Wales were abused in childhood. Such trauma increases the risk of mental health problems, including alcohol and drug misuse, eating disorders, self-harm, complex PTSD, anxiety and depression. Many struggle to talk about the abuse.
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