County Durham mental health services could struggle

Mental health services in County Durham could be overwhelmed as more people open up about their problems

That is the concern of South Durham's Mitchell Jones, who has struggled with PTSD and depression for years,

He tells us, his experiences getting help have not given him much faith in the system, “You get passed from pillar to post, there’s a lot of different charities and agencies out there, but you get no support while you’re waiting, and that’s a really really hard thing.

“I called five different numbers, very distressed, and I got no help whatsoever – I think that’s shocking,

“And I think that’s another big point, yes there’s a lot of agencies out there but I couldn’t get help because my postcode wasn’t the right postcode, even though, if I’d have lived a mile down the road it would have been different.”

Now Mitchell is determined to campaign for better, centralised mental health provision across the region.

He explains while he is delighted people are becoming braver about speaking out about mental health issues; he is worried the County’s resources are already stretched too thin.

“I’m not going to lie, it nearly broke me, it was so tough,

“Where I am now, and everything I feel I’ve achieved – I’ve done it on my own, not through help of the services.

“I don’t want anyone else to go through that, there should be the right support there, not be sent down a generic path, not be left waiting for months.”

Gill O’Neill, Durham County Council’s interim director of public health, said: “We have a range of mental health services provided by Durham County Council, Tees Esk & Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust and other partners.

“We are continually looking at ways to improve our services to provide the best possible offer to our residents.”

If you need support or help, you can reach out to Mitchell as part of him campaign via mitchjones44@gmail.com, or speak to the Samaritans.