As part of our election coverage, Yahoo! News is speaking to voters across the country about the issues that will affect their vote. Read more election newsYour voiceAs the 4th of July voting day approaches, we are now bringing you our “Voting Day” series.
One nasty comment turned Mel Rose’s world upside down.
A lifelong battle with bulimia began when a girl at school called her “fat” when she was just 11. The 25-year-old also suffers from anxiety, depression and an emotional personality disorder which can make her “very, very depressed” and make it difficult for her to hold down a full-time job.
For Rose, just going outside is a struggle, and bus journeys leave her panicked and sweaty. “We need a government that can support people’s mental health and help with the cost of living,” she said. “That’s what I’m looking for when I’m deciding who to vote for.”
For years, Rose had been receiving NHS treatment alongside her medication, but two years ago she was told it would no longer be covered. “It was just stopped suddenly and without explanation,” she says. “It was a shock because I felt that talking to someone was helping to control my binge eating and anxiety and making a difference in my life.”
“I’m not the only one missing mental health support. A lot of my friends are in the same situation. They’re really struggling.”
Around 1.9 million people in England are waiting for NHS mental health treatment, according to a survey by the Children’s Commissioner.
There are no recent figures published on the number of people waiting for mental health treatment in Wales, where Rose lives, but an ITV Wales investigation found that some children are waiting nearly two years to receive mental health support through the NHS.
Rose lives in Wrexham, where health issues are devolved, but believes tackling national NHS issues, particularly mental health, should be a top priority for the new government.
The Conservatives’ health pledges are broad – they have vowed to reduce debt to secure the future of public services and cut waiting lists so people can get the NHS care they need more quickly – while Labour and the Liberal Democrats have been more vocal about tackling mental health.
Labour’s manifesto includes pledges to reform mental health laws, improve mental health services and adopt a prevention-focused whole-of-government approach to tackling the social determinants of mental health.
Ms Rose supports any plans to improve mental health services but says if she was “put a gun to her head” and had to vote for the Liberal Democrats or Labour, Ed Davey’s party would come out ahead because of its promise to put qualified mental health professionals in every school and set up a 24/7 phone line to book GP appointments.
“Maybe if we’d had mental health nurses in schools when I was growing up, things would have been different,” she says, “but I don’t believe any of the promises politicians make. I won’t believe them until they happen.”
For a while, Rose and her parents struggled to afford to send her to private therapy, but the £75 a week fee was not sustainable.
Rose says she needs to stay healthy to continue her part-time job as a carer for the visually impaired: “If I’m stressed, the people I work with are stressed too, so I have to stay calm. They keep me safe, but it can be hard to manage anxiety, especially if you don’t have that support.”
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Rose still struggles with her image, but says she was “shook” recently when she took a client swimming. “If I don’t have therapy I can’t work and if I don’t have a job I can’t get the help I need. It’s a vicious cycle,” she says.
While the Welsh Government is responsible for funding health care, central government bears responsibility for the high cost of living which exacerbates mental health problems, Rose said.
“I know a lot of people who are using food banks. My family has cut back on food, gas, everything,” she said. “When you go out in the car less, you’re spending more time stuck at home, which makes you feel trapped, and it makes you depressed.”
Rose is not the only young person affected by this issue: more than a third (34%) of 16-34 year olds in Wales report a worsening mental health situation in the past year, with 84% of those surveyed saying the rising cost of living has affected their mental health, the Mind Cymru survey found.
The charity found that one in five people in Rose’s age group have had to use a food bank in the past 12 months, with statistics showing higher rates of people in this age group feeling stressed, anxious, depressed, lonely and with eating disorders.
Responding to the news that a general election would be held, Mind chief executive Dr Sarah Hughes said mental health could not be tackled in isolation.
“The rising cost of living, the COVID-19 pandemic and growing poverty are placing unprecedented strain on many people,” she said. “This, combined with a mental health system struggling with growing needs and long waiting lists, means urgent action is needed.”
Mind said the new government must invest in and improve mental health services and reform the welfare system and sick pay to establish a social safety net for people with mental illness.
They also want reforms to outdated mental health laws, including giving people an automatic right to assessment and treatment, providing support persons for patients in psychiatric hospitals and carrying out tests on patients under the age of 16 to see whether they are capable of making decisions about their treatment.
Rose said she has never voted in her life because politics seemed irrelevant to her.
According to Election Commission statistics, voter turnout among 18-25 year olds in the last general election in 2019 was just 54%.
“I’m still hesitant to vote because it seems like the people in power aren’t saying the right thing,” Rose said.
“The government doesn’t seem to care about the mental health system or long waiting times in emergency departments and is wasting money pathetically. They need to make their policies easier to understand, attract young people and make promises people can understand.”
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