General Election: Which party will benefit your mental health issues?

One in four people experience mental health problems, but it has also been at the bottom of everyone’s agendas. Mental health problems are costing up to £100 billion every year, but still less than a quarter of people with depression get help.

With the election campaigns are underway but which party is promising more to help mental health care? To help you decide who can benefit your mental health needs I have decoded the manifestos of the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

To start is the current government, the Conservatives. They pledge that mental health issues will be given equal priority as physical. The Tories want to go further by making sure there are therapists available in every part of the country. They will also be enforcing new access and waiting time standards for people suffering, including young people and children.

They promise to ensure proper running of community health centres for people suffering from mental health issues. This should start saving police time stopping vulnerable people being detained. Which has become an issue all over the country.

In order to do this they say they will be upping the funding for mental health care, but have not stated by how much.

Next up, Labour. They also promise mental health to be given the same priority as physical health. Sufferers will be given the same right to therapy as they currently have to drugs and other treatments. Labour pledge to look at the problem of undiagnosed mental illness so that NHS staff training will include mental health.

To help younger people they want to encourage better development of social and emotional skills, using mindfulness to build resilience. In doing this Labour hope teachers will be able to spot problems earlier, and get children support.

They are going to be setting out a strategy with the goal of making sure the majority of patients can get talking therapy within 28 days, and that children/younger people can access school based counselling.

Both parties are looking into the issue but the Lib Dem’s top them both. In their manifesto ‘mental health’ is used a whopping 33 times.

They pledge to end discrimination against mental health, saying it ’has excited for too long’. Of the £8 billion proposed NHS budget increase, they promise an extra £500 million a year towards mental health care. Making them the only party to give an actual figure.

They also promise to transform children mental health services. To do this they want to build better links with schools, making sure children develop mental resilience, and getting care quickly to those struggling.

The Lib Dem’s say that no one in crisis will be turned away, making new waiting time standards and care in A&E in communities. They also want to keep using the personal budgets idea, in cooperating care more with the NHS.

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