"Through personal health budgets I have changed my life"

World Mental Health Day is a funny old day for me. I am mindful and remember that mental health doesn't really cover the full spectrum of mental ill-health, which makes me think that in a way it is funny that it is named "Mental Health Day". When you consider that one in four people will be affected by a mental health challenge and/or distress at some point in their lives, why is it that no one seems to be talking about mental ill-health and wellbeing?

It leads me to look back over my time as someone who has struggled on a daily basis to manage my own mental health challenges and suffered a considerable amount from the stigma that is associated with a hidden condition like bipolar affected disorder. There are tremendous obstacles to face every day that many people do not understand, for example just to get out of bed at times seems like I am about to undertake a walk to basecamp Everest. When my peers can do this without any support it feels unfair to me.

However, I believe that there has been a turning point in my personal narrative of living with mental health challenges. I remember when I was so unwell that I emailed all my friends saying that there was someone out to get me and that I have discovered some secret that could change the world. To say the least, I was manic and unwell and was subsequently sectioned under the mental health act. I think that if I had been supported within the community to manage my mood, the outcomes would have been much different. Thankfully, early intervention is what happens now, mental ill-health and wellbeing support has come far, but still has far to go to ensure that everyone has the same access to services that I do.

Though co-production I have stopped just surviving and have stated thriving. Although, I have not recovered and challenges have not gone away, I now have the right support to manage and have the right people that are able to be sensitive to my needs and support me to manage my mood.

Recently, there has been some bad press about health budgets and so I want to share with you as someone that was sectioned and spent years in the revolving door for the mental health system, what changed for me and what a difference health budgets have made for me.

You may well be thinking at this point, what is this health budget magic that makes it easier to manage mood swings and change into someone that now has hopes, dreams and aspirations? For me, that magic has come in the form of being able to be supported in a way that recognises my challenges as something that I may or may not have to manage every day. In recent times, this has meant that I have received a joined-up care package and a directed payment to manage myself.

Having experienced and seen the benefits of such services, I was delighted when I started working on the Care Act, as prevention, delay and wellbeing formed a central part of it, this was something that I have argued was needed for years. We also need to be moving away for crisis management and more towards wellbeing management and prevention, this does not mean an end of support for me, and it means having the right support that is based on my personal needs.

Through personal health budgets I have changed my life. If someone would have invested the time to seek an understating of what I needed and what mattered to me in the first place, maybe my personal outcomes would have been different. Maybe I would have not wasted all those years in a system that did not meet my needs. Maybe I wouldn't have become someone that dreams big.

Remember it's good to talk about mental health. I have been supported to change my life and there are different ways for starting that conversation. I have recently been co-producing some work on care planning, this is a great resource for all you out there to start the conversation and support people to dream big.

http://www.helensandersonassociates.co.uk/care-support-planning-mental-health/