Crisis Care and Policing Mental Illness

In 2014, 710 individuals sectioned under the Mental Health Act were detained by Sussex Police. This constituted one in every five individuals detained unduly by police under the Act across England and Wales. However, under a new pilot scheme being rolled out across the country, the force is looking to rectify this number. By paring police officers with mental health nurses, forces across the country are creating new ‘street triage teams’ to respond to crisis situations.

Historically, mental health issues in the UK have been dealt with through criminalization. The Mental Health Foundation reports that over 70% of the UK prison population has two or more mental health disorders. Last year alone almost 4,000 individuals were unduly held in police cells for mental health-related concerns and disturbances. The effect this has on an individual already suffering is undoubtedly negative. When police alone are used to diffuse crisis situations, mentally ill individuals are inherently criminalized through arrest and detention. This unnecessary involvement with the criminal justice system can worsen a situation through the emotional trauma associated with being treated as a criminal threat. What the inclusion of mental health professionals in the policing profession provides is an ability to judge what the best treatment for an individual in crisis is. Some individuals involved in potentially threatening or criminal behaviour may need medical treatment, whereas others may require arrest and detention. Police officers often lack the resources to establish the mental state of individuals, and are also viewed with suspicion by the people they may be trying to help. Trained psychological professionals can provide the guidance and care needed at an extremely difficult time. The inclusion of mental health nurses in the policing field is therefore a very welcome development, and one that will undoubtedly aid the improvement of both our mental healthcare and criminal justice institutions.

However, the news that crisis intervention programs are so desperately needed invokes a more instrumental question regarding attitudes towards mental health provision in the UK. Why are so many people in need of crisis counselling and intervention across the country? In 2013, there were 53,176 detentions under the Mental Health Act across the UK. Despite the myriad reasons that sectioning may occur, this represents an alarming number. Detention is usually a last resort for individuals considered a threat to themselves or others, so why is it being used so often?

Despite recent increases in mental healthcare funding under the new Tory government, NHS resources dedicated to mental health issues are still spread drastically thin. NHS practitioners are not equipped to deal with the sheer number of mental health cases reaching them on a daily basis. With an estimated quarter of all adults suffering some form of mental illness in any given year according to the Mental Health Foundation, more needs to be done to ensure we have the resources to provide good primary care to everyone suffering from a psychological disorder. The nation’s first line of defence against mental illness is insufficient, and this places undue pressure on the crisis counselling teams across the country. Sectioning and crisis counseling resources are therefore being stretched to near breaking point because individuals do not get the help they need to treat their illness before it becomes a life threatening ordeal.

Awareness needs to be raised of the counseling, medical and psychological services available to individuals who feel like they might need extra support if we are to reduce the pressure on the crisis care system. Individuals who get symptoms treated earlier require less treatment and have less long-term negative effects associated with their illness. Mass public campaigns have helped raise the awareness of the public on what signs to look for with strokes or heart attacks so that individuals can get help quickly and the emergency services can be alerted as soon as possible. The same should be done for mental illness, so individuals can spot early signs of depression or other illnesses in their loved ones and maybe encourage them to get help before it gets too much. Mental health in the UK needs to become a priority as our understanding of what affects psychological wellbeing develops. Crisis counseling is a necessary part of any system dealing with mental illness, as important as accident and emergency staff, but without general practitioners and primary care facilities provided by the NHS the UK would be a much sicker nation than it currently is. This is the situation we find ourselves in regarding mental health. Mentally ill people are not criminals. That this has been acknowledged is a good thing. It is also just the first step in reforming our healthcare system to ensure that every person is given the care they need to live healthy, happy lives with well managed mental wellbeing.