I feel sorry for her, but her poor daughter must be in pieces, she's only 8. I hope Gail is getting the help she needs, and perhaps Honey can stay with her dad while her mum gets well again.
That is so sad and distressing to read, I hope she gets better.
she`s out and giving interviews. quite a shocking account of what must have been a truly awful experience. i was pleased to read, that she is planing on retraining to be a councillor to help other sufferers. a truly inspirational woman,
i dont think she's really well enough to return to tv work. She looked very mentally fragile & upset about her treatment within the nhs...whereas a 'spa' in foreign climes had made her 'better'... a few days in a spa with no follow up is not a long term treatment for mental health problems. I hope she gets the help she obviously needs in this country with her family & friends around her..
I agree. My uppermost thought when watching her was stay away from the media circus untill you are fully well enough to cope.
Her report is a very accurate reflection of psychiatric inpatient 'care' in the UK today. It is a complete disgrace. I was an in-patient 20+ years ago, with anorexia and severe depression and my mum has had more recent experience, suffering with psychotic depression. My 'therapy' was cold and brutal...took years to pick up the pieces of my shattered self-esteem. I was horified to discover how little things have improved while witnessing mum's experience. People are processed and managed, not 'treated'. I despair, I really do, of what the NHS has to offer in this field and I'm glad Gail Porter has spoken out. More people need to do. I wish her very, very well in her recovery. Sounds like she's had it incredibly rough in the time leading up to her breakdown and its aftermath, which, in my experience often exacerbates the situation.
I agree that it may be premature for her to re-enter the media spotlight and she shouldn't even be thinking about training as a counsellor just yet. She needs to be stronger but I am glad she's highlighted what's going on.
she`s out and giving interviews. quite a shocking account of what must have been a truly awful experience. i was pleased to read, that she is planing on retraining to be a councillor to help other sufferers. a truly inspirational woman,
Perhaps the lovely Gail Porter should concentrate on coping with her own emotional problems before rushing off to be a counsellor or therapist. I know she means well but it is so easy to get involved with other people's problems as a way of avoiding dealing with your own!!! She seems so emotionally fragile. A few weeks in a private clinic will not solve her deep emotional problems. On one hand she tells us she is nearly broke due to lack of TV job opportunities, then she tells us about the private clinic in Thailand costing hundreds per night!!!!
Perhaps the lovely Gail Porter should concentrate on coping with her own emotional problems before rushing off to be a counsellor or therapist. I know she means well but it is so easy to get involved with other people's problems as a way of avoiding dealing with your own!!! She seems so emotionally fragile. A few weeks in a private clinic will not solve her deep emotional problems. On one hand she tells us she is nearly broke due to lack of TV job opportunities, then she tells us about the private clinic in Thailand costing hundreds per night!!!!
Did you note the photo though? I feel a TV prog coming on. I know I'm a cynic but I really don't think she looked ready to throw herself back into the media world yet. If credit card bills are not being paid cut back a bit, it will make sense in the long run.
Did you note the photo though? I feel a TV prog coming on. I know I'm a cynic but I really don't think she looked ready to throw herself back into the media world yet. If credit card bills are not being paid cut back a bit, it will make sense in the long run.
How did she finance her trip to the private clinic if she is so broke.? Or is she broke like Sarah, Duchess of York!!! LOL!!!. Good help any addict who cannot afford a private clinic as the National Health is no help at all, understaffed, underfunded and as made obvious by Gale's article, unable to help anyone. What was happening to her 8 year old daughter when she was wandering around a park?? Hope Gale has the support of good parents who can step in and help her now with emotional support and child care. Yes, sadly, many celebs use any drama in their lives to write books or make TV shows, declaring that it is to help others but basically to make money!!!
How did she finance her trip to the private clinic if she is so broke.? Or is she broke like Sarah, Duchess of York!!! LOL!!!. Good help any addict who cannot afford a private clinic as the National Health is no help at all, understaffed, underfunded and as made obvious by Gale's article, unable to help anyone. What was happening to her 8 year old daughter when she was wandering around a park?? Hope Gale has the support of good parents who can step in and help her now with emotional support and child care. Yes, sadly, many celebs use any drama in their lives to write books or make TV shows, declaring that it is to help others but basically to make money!!!
The child does have a father, or does he not count?
I can't believe this woman has gone to the media to basically trash mental health services. All the work and campaigns mental health charities are doing to try and reduce stigma, and she comes out and says being in hospital was like being in 'One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest'. Lovely that she can afford to go to a private clinic in Thailand, but what about those who can't afford that and have to use the 'horrendous service' she describes? Of course being sectioned is a frightening experience, but she has probably pout the fear of God into people now. How judgmental of her to complain about being in a room next to someone who was more poorly than her and thus disturbing her sleep!?
This woman has made me fume, I'm seething with anger as I type! Mental health units have certain standards that they have to adhere to, and what she describes sounds more like the asylums of old and that certainly isn't how it is anymore. She just didn't want to be shoved in there with all the riff-raff schizophrenics who are 'madder' than her. Sorry Gail, but some people have auditory hallucinations and respond to them, you ignorant mare!
I can't believe this woman has gone to the media to basically trash mental health services. All the work and campaigns mental health charities are doing to try and reduce stigma, and she comes out and says being in hospital was like being in 'One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest'. Lovely that she can afford to go to a private clinic in Thailand, but what about those who can't afford that and have to use the 'horrendous service' she describes? Of course being sectioned is a frightening experience, but she has probably pout the fear of God into people now. How judgmental of her to complain about being in a room next to someone who was more poorly than her and thus disturbing her sleep!?
This woman has made me fume, I'm seething with anger as I type! Mental health units have certain standards that they have to adhere to, and what she describes sounds more like the asylums of old and that certainly isn't how it is anymore. She just didn't want to be shoved in there with all the riff-raff schizophrenics who are 'madder' than her. Sorry Gail, but some people have auditory hallucinations and respond to them, you ignorant mare!
I must admit some of her account did seem a bit unbelievable. Also, if she was in such a disturbed state and drugged up to the eyeballs how can she be sure her memory is reliable. I just hope she opts out of the media circus and concentrates on getting well but, as I said before, I think there may be a TV programme or book in the offing.
She's making it sound 20 times worse than it actually is so she can get a load of sympathy, a load of interviews, and a load of money. Rather than raising awareness and telling a positive story about her experience (there must have been SOME nice people in there, or was she too stuck up to speak to them? Not everyone with a mental illness is dangerous ffs!) she's making the whole unit sound like something out of a horror film! For a start 52 bedded wards do not exist anymore - there might have been 52 on the unit, but the idea that it was a massive ward is ludicrous.
What a massive disservice she has done. More people are likely to be sectioned now, rather than going into hospital voluntarily through fear of entering the hell hole she inaccurately and mellow dramatically describes. She comes across as an intolerant judgmental snob who is angry at being 'lumped in' with the mad scum.
She's making it sound 20 times worse than it actually is so she can get a load of sympathy, a load of interviews, and a load of money. Rather than raising awareness and telling a positive story about her experience (there must have been SOME nice people in there, or was she too stuck up to speak to them? Not everyone with a mental illness is dangerous ffs!) she's making the whole unit sound like something out of a horror film! For a start 52 bedded wards do not exist anymore - there might have been 52 on the unit, but the idea that it was a massive ward is ludicrous.
What a massive disservice she has done. More people are likely to be sectioned now, rather than going into hospital voluntarily through fear of entering the hell hole she inaccurately and mellow dramatically describes. She comes across as an intolerant judgmental snob who is angry at being 'lumped in' with the mad scum.
And yet posters on this thread who have themselves had recent experience of mental health services say she's absolutely right. If that's her experience, she's every right to say so. Her idea may be to get things improved for other people.
Appear's to be a lovely Girl with some very deep rooted issues.
Hope her suicide attempt was a cry for help, rather than a real wish to end it all.
If the latter is true her child needs stability (as She is only 9) and I hope the family step in and give her the constant love and support a child needs whilst her Mummy is poorly.
Please live for your little girl Gail.
Your life (in your mind) may not be great, but how do you think Honey's life will be if her Mum tops herself?
And yet posters on this thread who have themselves had recent experience of mental health services say she's absolutely right. If that's her experience, she's every right to say so. Her idea may be to get things improved for other people.
I have a lot experience of mental health services, and I can tell you for a fact hospitals aren't as bad as she is making out. Frameworks have been put in place to raise standards and ensure a person centered approach to treatment is adhered to. There are initiatives such a Star Wards and AIMS that have improved the standard of service on offer. She has a right to complain, but do it through the right channels, don't scare monger to get interviews and frighten people who are already distressed and disturbed through illness. Don't add fuel to the bigots fire by speaking about people with severe mental illnesses like they are unsafe freaks. The stigma of mental illness is bad enough as it is!
It's her attitude I really take issue with, it's as if she's appalled that she was locked away with all these 'scarey nutters' who talked to themselves and did weird and alarming things. I would have thought being someone with mental health problems herself she'd be more tolerant and understanding of people with severe mental illness. She wants public sympathy, but has none for the people she shared the hospital with - all she did was complain about them.
I have a lot experience of mental health services, and I can tell you for a fact hospitals aren't as bad as she is making out. Frameworks have been put in place to raise standards and ensure a person centered approach to treatment is adhered to.
I am sure not too long ago there would have been people working in the care home industry who would have written something similar. Then Panorama did an investigation and found serious problems.
Her complaints were centered mostly on being lumped in together with other people. She also complained about nurses locking themselves away behind a screen, but she hasn't given a second to think about what they were doing in there. If they were socialising, laughing and joking and not doing any work she'd have grounds for complaint, but it's more likely they were tackling the masses of paperwork the job brings. The fact she is still alive and was kept safe from killing herself means nothing to her, quite obviously. Maybe she should fend for herself next time, or use some of the money she's got from TV appearances/interviews slagging the place off to book into her fancy private Thai clinic.
I stayed in a hospital in south london. I did not want to stay, so I was sectioned. When I got to see a doctor ,they just said spitefull things to me, I was kind of shocked, never mind as listening to the other patients, that tone of talking to the patients was normal. Some members of staff sounded like they were actually trying to wind the patients up, a patient actually said to one thats what she liked to do. Some staff did a great job ( I hope ,had to put that in to be impartial , if I put the truth I will get banned ). The worst bit though was that the toilets and the bathrooms kept breaking down ,the amount of meds you have to take makes you sweat. I know that Gail is speaking the truth about psychiactric wards.
Well all I can say is I have worked in numerous, right across the country, and know a lot of people who have worked in different ones to me, and none of them have been that bad. If you were in the same unit it's little wonder the place has been shut down. Like I said earlier, if she had issues with the unit and staff raise it with the trust. All complaints regarding bad practice are taken very seriously by trusts and especially by the NMC. But to speak the way she did about other service users was disgusting and extremely intolerant IMO - that's what's angered me the most.
I think Gail was in one in north london, but I was in one in south london. Someone committed suicide while I was there once. I looked it up on the computer, and there are stories about that place.
I think speaking about her problems in such a way probably isnt doing her any favours with prospective TV employers
I'm not saying it right i'm just saying it making her pretty unemployable
I know it shouldnt but i think you would have to be pretty naive to think it wont
I used to have a lot of sympathy for Gail with regard to her alopecia and Bipolar problems until I heard her make a really unpleasant and ignorant remark about people with ME on The Wright Stuff. As someone who has had to live with ME since I was 16 I was very disappointed in her. You somehow hope that people who have their own problems are a little more understanding and less prejudiced, but it seems not.
This latest article seems like more attention-seeking on behalf of Gail. Personally, I think she would be better off retiring from public life altogether and getting herself well (or at least getting her demons under control) so that she can concentrate on giving Honey a stable and happy life and herself some peace of mind.
I doubt she will do though, she seems to crave being in the public eye and this seems to exacerbate her problems, it's a vicious circle.
Comments
That is so sad and distressing to read, I hope she gets better.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2025741/Gail-Porter-sectioned-TV-presenter-gives-haunted-account-3-week-ordeal.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
I agree. My uppermost thought when watching her was stay away from the media circus untill you are fully well enough to cope.
I agree that it may be premature for her to re-enter the media spotlight and she shouldn't even be thinking about training as a counsellor just yet. She needs to be stronger but I am glad she's highlighted what's going on.
Hope she pulls thru.
Perhaps the lovely Gail Porter should concentrate on coping with her own emotional problems before rushing off to be a counsellor or therapist. I know she means well but it is so easy to get involved with other people's problems as a way of avoiding dealing with your own!!! She seems so emotionally fragile. A few weeks in a private clinic will not solve her deep emotional problems. On one hand she tells us she is nearly broke due to lack of TV job opportunities, then she tells us about the private clinic in Thailand costing hundreds per night!!!!
Did you note the photo though? I feel a TV prog coming on. I know I'm a cynic but I really don't think she looked ready to throw herself back into the media world yet. If credit card bills are not being paid cut back a bit, it will make sense in the long run.
How did she finance her trip to the private clinic if she is so broke.? Or is she broke like Sarah, Duchess of York!!! LOL!!!. Good help any addict who cannot afford a private clinic as the National Health is no help at all, understaffed, underfunded and as made obvious by Gale's article, unable to help anyone. What was happening to her 8 year old daughter when she was wandering around a park?? Hope Gale has the support of good parents who can step in and help her now with emotional support and child care. Yes, sadly, many celebs use any drama in their lives to write books or make TV shows, declaring that it is to help others but basically to make money!!!
This woman has made me fume, I'm seething with anger as I type! Mental health units have certain standards that they have to adhere to, and what she describes sounds more like the asylums of old and that certainly isn't how it is anymore. She just didn't want to be shoved in there with all the riff-raff schizophrenics who are 'madder' than her. Sorry Gail, but some people have auditory hallucinations and respond to them, you ignorant mare!
I must admit some of her account did seem a bit unbelievable. Also, if she was in such a disturbed state and drugged up to the eyeballs how can she be sure her memory is reliable. I just hope she opts out of the media circus and concentrates on getting well but, as I said before, I think there may be a TV programme or book in the offing.
What a massive disservice she has done. More people are likely to be sectioned now, rather than going into hospital voluntarily through fear of entering the hell hole she inaccurately and mellow dramatically describes. She comes across as an intolerant judgmental snob who is angry at being 'lumped in' with the mad scum.
And yet posters on this thread who have themselves had recent experience of mental health services say she's absolutely right. If that's her experience, she's every right to say so. Her idea may be to get things improved for other people.
Hope her suicide attempt was a cry for help, rather than a real wish to end it all.
If the latter is true her child needs stability (as She is only 9) and I hope the family step in and give her the constant love and support a child needs whilst her Mummy is poorly.
Please live for your little girl Gail.
Your life (in your mind) may not be great, but how do you think Honey's life will be if her Mum tops herself?
It's her attitude I really take issue with, it's as if she's appalled that she was locked away with all these 'scarey nutters' who talked to themselves and did weird and alarming things. I would have thought being someone with mental health problems herself she'd be more tolerant and understanding of people with severe mental illness. She wants public sympathy, but has none for the people she shared the hospital with - all she did was complain about them.
I am sure not too long ago there would have been people working in the care home industry who would have written something similar. Then Panorama did an investigation and found serious problems.
She's formerly shown such strength, although I do recall her cutting her wrists a few years back, I'm sure she'll be ok in no time
I'm not saying it right i'm just saying it making her pretty unemployable
I know it shouldnt but i think you would have to be pretty naive to think it wont
This latest article seems like more attention-seeking on behalf of Gail. Personally, I think she would be better off retiring from public life altogether and getting herself well (or at least getting her demons under control) so that she can concentrate on giving Honey a stable and happy life and herself some peace of mind.
I doubt she will do though, she seems to crave being in the public eye and this seems to exacerbate her problems, it's a vicious circle.