20 October 2012 
It’s Amanda here from Beauty From Pain Blog. Pandora tweeted apologising for the lack of a This Week in Mentalists this weekend and that she would get to it on Monday, unless anyone wanted to help. So here I am… enjoy 
It’s been an interesting week in the mental health world, with one of the most topical events being the showing of an episode of ’999 What’s Your Emergency’ which focused on mental health and was based in Blackpool. You can watch it for a limited amount of time on the Channel 4 website.
The programme sparked a lot of debate, particularly online. I have been meaning to write a Beauty From Pain Blog post about it since, but honestly I’ve been having difficulty making something constructive as I’ve simply been astounded by the amount of ignorance that I’ve seen by people who have shared their thoughts on the programme.
I may eventually construct my own blog post about it, but in the meantime I’d like to say a huge thanks to those who took the time to do so.
Inspector Brown at Mental Health Cop had a few observations.
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The programme left The Real Supermum feeling angry.
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I had been pre warned that the topic was mental health and a few have asked me what I thought of it. What do I feel after watching it? Angry. I am angry that one of our countries most vulnerable groups of people is being failed in such a way. I empathise with the emergency services who are trying their very best under finance cuts, lack of staff and of course being left to pick up the pieces of a broken society. Where are the qualified mental health professions in times of need? How is a police officer or paramedic not trained to deal with a mental health patient supposed to do their job correctly? I admire the way they do respond, how they try to treat everyone the same, yet we are not the same, we do need specialised help at times. |
Bourbon took the opportunity to remind us that shizophrenia does not equal having a split personality – a point that is all too easily forgotten.
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Schizophrenia is not about having a split personality. I’m sure I don’t need to tell anyone here this. It is a myth that schizophrenia is about being a split personality and it is so shameful for the TV to publish something so out of date with the truth. I saw DID in this man as clear as day is day. He was very distressed as he fought with Frederick for control and switched from one to the other quite rapidly. Just disheartens me that a program can be broadcasted to the whole of the UK with such negative and false information about those with mental health problems. |
Life is a Chore felt that the show made a mockery of those with mental illness.
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What the show did was make a mockery of those with mental illness, I am not mentally ill I just feel bad but those that are and who are able to ask for help then they should not be mocked, they should be applauded. Opening the gate to feelings that no one wants to admit is the hardest thing to do. |
Saskia at Small Fish Big Point wrote a blog post about the 999 What’s Your Emergency programme before this week’s mental health edition. Saskia is from Blackpool and her blog post is entitled ‘Leave my town alone’.
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For the past few humiliating weeks, Channel 4’s popular 999: What’s Your Emergency?, documentary has cast a dark and disturbing shadow over the town I will always call home. Although undoubtedly entertaining, 999: What’s Your Emergency has transformed its original intention to document the work of the emergency services in the UK to instead portray a scandalous circus edited to invoke contention and, let’s face it, laughter. Despite its decline as a tourist destination, Blackpool is still home to thousands of honest business owners, doctors, teachers, lawyers. Beyond Channel4′s footage are hard-working people who are ultimately being let down by the documentation of a group of people who represent a problem that is relevant to the whole of the United Kingdom. |
While Saskia’s blog post was written before this week’s mental health edition, it still made very interesting reading for me and personally I think she makes a very good point.
I sat and watched the hundreds of tweets that were being made on twitter during and after the programme. There was a few particular responses which were made often and which frankly left me stunned.
One such type of response was viewers who watched the programme and instead of giving some real thought to mental health and what it entails, particularly in terms of the emergency services, they instead seemed to focus on the fact that the programme was based in Blackpool. And many then seemed to associate Blackpool with a bunch of crazy people.
To give some examples which I have read:
- Blackpool is a town of f*ck ups.
- Blackpool is a funny place… all nutters.
- Only in Blackpool does someone take 40 pills.
- Never going to Blackpool after watching 999 What’s Your Emergency. Completley full of retards.
And so on…
Now there is every chance that those behind these tweets were trying to be funny. But there are so many tweets of this nature that I am sure they can’t all be joking.
I find it sad to see such ignorance. What I would love to see is people realise that mental health problems are affected by people in every town. This is far from being specific to just Blackpool. Blackpool is far from being a town of f*ck ups. Just like every town there will be some well people and less well people. No, they are not all nutters in Blackpool. It is far from being true that ‘only in Blackpool does someone take 40 pills’. Blackpool is not completely full of retards. And if you intend on never going to Blackpool again due to what you have seen on 999 What’s Your Emergency, then you should probably avoid going anywhere ever again – as what you have seen happens everywhere. Literally.
Having said that I’m hit with the usual feeling of ‘those who really need to hear this are the people who are least likely to be reading this blog, or indeed anything mental health related’. And I am never quite sure how to tackle this.
On a final note… Mental Health Cop made the excellent point that
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I was amazed that at no stage in the programme did the editors attempt to signpost people in crisis to support, to prevent things getting to the stages shown in the programme. Any number of organisations could have been mentioned. |
And in our attempt to rectify that…
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No matter how bad things get, and no matter how hard it is to see it sometimes – there is always someone available to listen, there is always someone who cares, and things do get easier with time.
Reblogged this on Beauty From Pain Blog and commented:
A reblog of my contribution to This Week in Mentalists.
The ’999 what’s your emergency’ edition.
Brilliant round up this week Amanda.
I had to leave the room after the first ten minutes of this programme. It was just scandalous and totally uncalled for in 2012.. hell it was uncalled for in any year.
Thanks again for the round up.
Thanks Paul. I’m sure you’re far from the only one who couldn’t finish watching it.
Thanks for the round-up, Amanda! I haven’t watched the programme as I don’t think I’d be able to cope with it… :-s
Also, I’d just like to say congratulations to Emma whose mental health blog Believer’s Brain (http://believersbrain.com) has won Best Newcomer Blog at the Christian New Media Awards.
Thanks for the info… and a big well done to Emma from me too
Oo thank you very much for mentioning me here! Much obliged!
Awesome TWIM Amanda. I was not aware of the program as I am not in the UK but what you highlighted here is universal. Thank you for a comprehensive, informative round-up.
I didn’t even know about this nonsense until I saw the Twitterstorm about it. If there are “fuck ups” in the world, then they’re the idiots that demonised and demeaned mentalists, not mentalists themselves.
Arseholes.
Great round-up, Amanda. Thank you for it and for stepping in at the last minute!
Thanks Pandora.
Couldn’t agree more re the fuck ups”
Happy to. As I mentioned, I’d been meaning to do my own blog post about this, so this round-up was my contribution for now
It was… a program I viewed with suspicion from the moment at the start when the term ‘fruitloop’ was used. Ok, I’m not adverse to using derogatory language but it’s referring to myself (particular favourite is bat shit crazy ©Pandora).
I got the feeling that the show had been edited with a specific slant, could just be me but it did seem that way, and it’s something that seems to have affected this particular episode, and the previous one featuring benefits claimants.
And it was misinformed (the alleged schizophrenic gentleman discussed above being the best example).
Oh, as for Blackpool’s reputation, been wary of that place for a while but that’s because I’ve never been into ‘party towns’.
Reblogged this on Returning Home To Myself and commented:
Very well put views on this programme. I had also intended to write a post about it but this is a great one!
…I did wonder why the programme showed no footage of MH professionals…I suppose it may have been because the title indicates content specifically related to 999 services, but when I was on a crisis team we would frequently get calls from ambulance crews and police officers on similar situations and would either advise, refer, or come out and deal with the situation. Am not quite sure why the MH professions were not shown to have any involvement in the cases shown on the programme…for all that statutory MH services have the potential for more damage than help, the way that the media portrays them (and as a social worker I’m completely sick of seeing fraudulent/illegal portrayals of our work) impacts on how people see services…there is surely a responsibility to give an accurate portrayal…?
I am SO glad to see this post and see that people have similar views to me regarding this programme!!
I was really shocked how little knowledge of mental health issues the police, paramedics and call-handlers had – they are hopelessly ill-equiped to deal with the high number of MH patients they work with. It strikes me that this programme is a clear indication that emergency services personnel need a lot of training.
I’ve had a lot of dealings with paramedics due to my mental health problems, and i hate to think that any of them might have had the kindof views expressed in this programme, especially with regards to suicide attempts and self-harm.
Hi Amanda,
Thank you for including my post on your blog. Personally I am sick of the way people are reacting to the programme so brutally. People’s comments have been insensitive, hurtful and at times worrying! I’ll be glad when the series has finished!
Saskia x