Our fonder Dr Anita Sharma is using Mental Health Awareness Week* to warn people to only seek help from qualified professionals – and not fall foul of sham psychotherapists, no matter how desperate they feel.
Currently in the UK, anyone can se themselves up as a counsellor – since qualifications and training are not compulsory.
Which means vulnerable people may be worsening their mental health by visiting a non-accredited healer – and being hit in the pocket to the tune of thousands of pounds.
“It is like the days of the surgeon-barber when any old quack could perform major surgery” said Dr Sharma, “Just as you wouldn’t hire a person down the pub to build a house, you have to check, check and double check that the counsellor you are discussing your most private thoughts with, is affiliated to the BACP and qualified to the standards they set to practise.”
The founder of the Endometriosis Awareness North, Dr Sharma has previously called for better mental health care for endo sufferers who are often shunned and not even believed. Paradoxically, she can understand why someone would seek out a counsellor “off their own bat” – but wants to make sure they ask the right questions, first.
“As a GP I saw 80% physical cases and 20% mental health ones” she continued. “Ever since the pandemic, it has been the other way around. Even doctors, who of course have a knowledge of the physiology of the brain, are not qualified to offer in-depth psychiatric support. Plus, we get ten minutes with a patient. If referred for counselling, patients then have to wait as long as a year. No wonder they search out support.”
If they reach that desperate stage, patients should see if their counsellor and confidant is registered with the British Association for Counselling and
Psychotherapy. This is the equivalent of the General Medical Council for doctors and sets the standards for the profession – recommending at least three years of training to make the grade.
Further education establishments including Nelson and Colne College in East Lancashire are now offering accessible courses for counsellors from entry level to degrees – so there is no excuse for not gaining some training, says Dr Sharma.
“First and foremost, mind and body healthcare are about respecting the patient. If you wish to be a counsellor then qualify as one, just as medics do” she continued.
Dr Sharma also warned people about the dangers presented by those who believe they can dispense help because they have been through wellbeing woes themselves. “Lived experience allied to qualifications and training is superb” she concluded, “but if I thought one of my patients was receiving addiction advice from someone who thought they could help just because they were an alcoholic, it would worry me. It is like getting dental care from someone who thinks they can do it - because they own a pair of pliers!”
Girls ought to learn about #endometriosis at high school, or risk being classed as anything from anxious to fake – should they contract the condition.
That is the view of Siobhan, who experienced significant problems in 2019 having constantly had her endo described as stress and a normal part of growing up.
Now 32, the Rochdale based warrior also wants people to understand how drastic surgery will be, even if it’s just exploratory.
“It was the first hospital treatment I had ever had, and it showed up Stage Three Endometriosis with adhesions on my bladder” said Siobhan, “Because they used the word “ultrasound” I expected gel on my stomach and the type of scan they use for pregnancy. It took months to recover – and remember, this was just to diagnose the endometriosis.
There really had to be a better way of finding this than cutting people open.”
As a teen, Siobhan had known, “There was something not right. My periods were never regular, and I had what we call, “spotting.”
In the end she had to resort to private treatment after having her symptoms written off as everything from anaemia to skin problems and depression.
Siobhan admits: “To be fair, I was one of the ignorant when I was younger in that I didn’t know about endo. Even amongst my female friends we never spoke about menstruation.”
Now she believes that the subject should be taught at school and that all genders should be included in the discussion. “It shouldn’t be like it was when I was younger and people were embarrassed” she concluded, “just because it’s not always visible to others, those with endo are suffering with a REAL condition.”
When a Rochdale teaching assistant learned an endometriosis event was being staged at her local bowling club, she cried – because she “never believed something like that would come to Norden.”
Claire Warburton (44, pictured) had endured severe abdominal pain, seizures and even a mini stroke because medics struggled to diagnose the condition, which blights the lives of one in ten women of childbearing age.
She also admits to “dark thoughts” and has even had the breast cancer she fought, attributed to medication she took.
And speaking to us, self-confessed “fighter” Claire revealed that until she reached her 40’s, she had never even heard of the condition that had so disrupted her life.
“We are so humbled that Claire has come forward to share her experiences of endometriosis” said Endometriosis Awareness North founder, Dr Anita Sharma, “whilst the long wait for diagnosis, the depression she suffered and the way she was so often disbelieved were familiar, her stroke complications and the fact that she has had treatment in her 40’s was fairly new to us.”
Claire recently had serious surgery to remove the adhesions to organs that are typical of endometriosis. Her symptoms actually began in her teens and at one stage her menstrual bleeding was so severe she used 29 tampons per day. After a final misdiagnosis that her condition was the early stages of the menopause, her treatment came courtesy of one of our other founding members Gaity Ahmad, a Consultant Gynaecologist and Obstetrician with a special interest in pelvic pain and endometriosis.
“All of my life I have heard it just described as a bad period and a normal part of life, but it was my GP Dr Dench and then Ms Ahmad who listened to me,” said Claire. “I was even told that once I had my daughter Katie at 21, my symptoms would get better – and that was a lie! Thank goodness I have had the support of my headteacher and a few others. They have made the difference.”
Held in the presence of Rochdale’s Mayor Councillor Mike Holly, the event gave so-called “Endo Warriors” and their families the opportunity to discuss somehow living through a condition which one described as: “Like cancer. It eats away at your body but because you cannot die of it, nobody wants to know.”
Claire’s mum Yvonne concluded: “Endometriosis has stopped her from doing so much, social events, and just everyday things. It also changed her as a person. This is a real condition and people like Claire should not be ignored and simply told, “we know you are poorly, get on with it.”
Click onto our brand new movie, detailing what Endometriosis Awareness North is all about Endometriosis Awareness North - YouTube
Featuring our treasured case study Courtney, it also gives medics a platform to call for quicker diagnosis of endometriosis.
With thanks to filmmakers Andrea Bertozzi and Pete Gibson Media.