‘Nobody would help - I tried to kill myself’
A MAN suffering from severe mental health problems says he tried to take his own life after being ‘blanked’ by a Crisis team designed to help people in acute need.
Andy Horner, of Shepley, has a long history of mental health problems and is well known for his campaigning on the issue.
He said his most recent problems began on January 30, when he went for a counselling session at Folly Hall, Huddersfield.
However, according to Mr Horner, the counsellor said that he could not help him and that he would write to his consultant.
He said: “The session exhausted me and I started to feel suicidal a few hours later. I phoned my mental health team to say I was feeling suicidal.
“The manager said that he would come and see me the following day. I told him that I felt suicidal and had thoughts of ending my life.
“He said: ‘We are not a crisis service, you will have to call the crisis team.’ I was angry as I was under their care and needed urgent help.
“I immediately called the crisis team and told them I was suicidal.”
Mr Horner, 44, who also goes by the name ‘Anxious Andy,’ said he pleaded with the crisis team to come and see him but got nowhere and says at one point he was reprimanded for his “selfishness.”
Having failed to get anyone to come out to see him he says he took an overdose and cut his wrists, before sending loved ones a text saying ‘I have overdosed, I love you and please look after dad.’ Andy said that shortly after, ambulance teams arrived at his home and rushed him to hospital.
He added: “I thought that calling a crisis team would get you the help you need, and I thought they are supposed to keep you out of hospital, not put you in it.”
He has since been discharged from hospital but says but no-one from his mental health support teams have called him or been out to see him.
A spokeswoman for South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said: “Due to patient confidentiality, we are unable to comment on individual cases.
“We are dedicated to learning and improving from any issues raised about our services.”
I thought a crisis team was supposed to keep you out of hospital, not
put you in it