Mental health articles

Primary Care Services For most of us the first service we will visit if we think we have a mental health problem is our General Practitioner (GP), unless it is an emergency situation, then we might visit or be taken to an accident and emergency department. For someone with intellectual disabilities who is already known to mental health, intellectual disabilities or specialist services, they would probably not have to visit their GP for their mental health needs. The person you care for, or you on their behalf, would contact the professional they already have contact with. GPs form part of what is known as ‘Primary Care Services’. This basically means they are the first port of call for people. This also includes health clinics, such as Well Woman and Man clinics. Primary care professionals are able to offer assessment and treatment, but also they are the gateway for people to use other specialist services. GPs are able to assess and treat a wide range of mental health problems, but these problems tend to be mild in nature. For example a GP may prescribe antidepressants to someone with mild depression and refer them to a counsellor to discuss their problems. However, with someone who has more complex needs and what appears to be a more severe and/or enduring mental health problem, they would most likely refer them to a community mental health, intellectual disabilities or specialist service. Whether the person with intellectual disabilities was referred to a mental health, intellectual disabilities or specialist service would really depend on service developments within the area and the GP’s awareness of them.

Tags: primary care