Are you a long-term user of antidepressants? Tell us about your experiences

In the past decade there has been a doubling in the number of prescriptions written for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRRIs) – the most common antidepressant. NHS research shows there are now more than 70m prescriptions dispensed in the UK in a year, the “greatest rise” of any drug in the last year.

But while the short-term side effects of taking this medication are well-known, there has been less exploration into the longer-term impact of them. In an article for Guardian Weekend magazine, Aida Edemariam spoke to people who had been taking the drugs for many years. She found that many SSRI users report blunted emotions and an impact on sexual function, with the effect lasting long after people have stopped taking pills.

Those attempting to come off these drugs also face withdrawal symptoms. This can include feeling heightened anxiety or depression, with some going back onto the drugs believing their mental health problems have returned.

That is not to say that these drugs are not helpful. They can prove life-saving in terms of helping them cope and live with mental health problems. The Guardian’s Simon Hattenstone said: “If Prozac was no longer working for me, would I stop taking it? Probably. Would I stop taking antidepressants full stop? I doubt it. I’d simply look for another super pill.”

Share your experiences

We want to hear from our readers about long-term antidepressant use. Have you been on medication for a long time and struggled to come off it? Do you want to? Do you feel these drugs are overprescribed? Should more be done to warn patients about long-term side effects before they take them? Or do you feel you would never have coped without them? Share your stories.

Are you a long-term user of antidepressants? Tell us about your experiences

Experiences of anxiety: "I suddenly became so anxious I couldn’t breathe"

Jo, Washington DC
Having an anxiety disorder means that I don’t just have a lot of feelings, I have feelings about my feelings. I worry that my feelings aren’t real or that my feelings about my feelings are the correct feelings, or my feelings are the wrong feelings. I have shame about my feelings, guilt about my feelings, anger about my feelings. Sometimes I wonder which feeling is real – the initial feeling or the resulting feeling? Am I making myself feel this way or do I just feel this way?

I’m always looking for patterns. I thrive on routine. Anything to make me feel less trapped, like I have control. My best friend dying in high school threw this desire for control into overdrive. I can’t enjoy concerts or festivals or bars because there are too many people – what if there’s a fire? What if someone starts shooting? Will I get crushed to death in the inevitable stampede?

One time in high school my friend spent the night, sleeping on my floor directly underneath the ceiling fan. I couldn’t sleep for hours because I imagined what I would do if the ceiling fan suddenly collapsed. I went over the plan again and again, all night long.

Airplanes are a problem. I travel a lot for work. My airplane routine is thus: pack efficiently at least two days prior. Select an odd-numbered window seat (preferably A, but F will do at a pinch), preferably with a seven or a three (but not 13) – 11A is my favourite seat – 17A comes in second. I will pick 27A over 25A, even though it’s farther back in the plane. I wear my airplane sweater, the same sweater I’ve worn on every flight for the last four to five years and take anti-anxiety medications.

I love my friends, and I know, intellectually, my friends like me (otherwise why would they hang out with me?). But I’m constantly worried they don’t like me, or that I’m being annoying, or that they only invite me around because I’m just that friend that’s always around who you can’t get rid of.

Anonymous, 20
I’ve always been an anxious person, even as a child. Moving away from home forced me out of my comfortable hole, out of my comfort zone, which is when my anxiety and depression got so much worse.

It was after months of paranoia, violent imaginings and a confusing sleeping pattern that I forced myself to get help. Since then I’ve been in therapy more or less constantly, which has helped me learn more about myself, and ways of coping. In a way, therapy offered me a chance to reintroduce me to myself.

If there is one take away piece of advice I could give, after years of debilitating anxiety and depression, it would be to make valuable friends, and to not be scared to talk to them about your anxieties and worries – it’s a very British thing to just bottle everything up, but you have to unbottle, and release the pressure sometimes.

Sinead Taylor, Melbourne, 24

A poem by Sinead Taylor. Photograph: Sinead Taylor

I have struggled with anxiety and depression since I was about eight. I went through years of therapy and counselling to fight my mental illness and through writing I have reached a very happy and healthy state.

Anonymous, 20, student
I’ve had a rocky road with mental health. I’ve suffered with what I think is a considerable problem with anxiety for nearly four years now. The fact that my life is near enough perfect and I still experience these feelings is astounding and often makes me feel helpless.

Bouts of anxiety where there is a constant niggling voice in my head, doubting everything I do and the actions of others, panic attacks, sometimes out of the blue, and deep-seated issues with skin picking and cleanliness, can be overwhelming and distract me from my work and sleep. I’ll be lucky to be asleep before four in the morning as of late.

Not so long ago I went to see my GP about it. They didn’t refer me, I wasn’t diagnosed, they just gave me pills and sent me on my way. The pills worked temporarily, but I didn’t understand how to tackle my issues, I didn’t even understand what my issues were or what was causing them. I still don’t.

David Beeney, 54
I will never forget 2 September 1986, one of the worst days of my life. I was helping to interview somebody and suddenly became so anxious I couldn’t breathe. I pretended that I felt faint to disguise what was really going on, and did exactly the same the following day in similar circumstances.

Little did I know then that I would continue to mask similar feelings of anxiety for the next 30 years. Two days later, I attended a wonderful wedding with my closest family and friends. Their memory of me that day would be of me acting the clown. My only memory of that day was thinking that my promising career was over at only 24-years-old and that I was going “mental”.

You just can’t tell by looking at someone how they are feeling inside. Back in 2004, a number of us went out straight from work to watch an England game. Our boss had put some money behind the bar and I can remember us all cheering England to a rare victory. What nobody noticed that evening was the young lad who decided to go home at half time. He didn’t turn up for work the next day. We never saw him again because he chose to kill himself, as life was no longer bearable for him. His closest colleagues were shocked because he had been laughing and joking only the day before in the office.

In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123.
In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14.

Experiences of anxiety: "I suddenly became so anxious I couldn’t breathe"

Experiences of bipolar disorder: "Every day it feels like I must wear a mask"

Anonymous
I am once again in the mental health treatment sausage machine. Plucking up courage to approach a GP to admit defeat, being shoved on drugs to stop me topping myself, told that there’s a huge, long waiting list for treatment, the false hope of a “gateway worker” assessment followed by another interminable wait of undefined length. Then I know I will have my allocated batch of treatment before being deemed “fixed” and dispatched back to the world again. I am sick and tired of the roundabout. I suggested that instead of this system, once a mental health patient has had their allocation of therapy, they should remain on the books, so when they feel themselves slipping back down, they can call up for a booster session instead of having to go through the whole rigmarole again.

I’ve just quit my job of six years because, following a disclosure to my new boss that I have bipolar tendencies she proceeded to bully me into submission. She had absolutely no understanding of how to get the best out of (a very talented) employee who has mental health issues. I was stopped from working at home, an important aspect to being able to manage my condition. I had unreasonable targets imposed, with no support offered to go about achieving them. My job was chopped and changed, hours cut and autonomy removed. I have been pushed back to the brink of suicide and had to go on antidepressants to simply survive.

Anonymous
From September 2015 until December 2016, while I waited for an NHS referral, I was so ill I didn’t know how to cope and resorted to self harming. These aren’t all of my scars, but they’re the ones no one ever sees; so it’s easy to think they’re not there. One year of my life, and I will have to be reminded of it forever.

Cat, 24, South Yorkshire
People often mistake bipolar disorder as your mood rapidly changing from up to down. It’s not like that. That would be my other illness, borderline personality disorder (BPD) or as my psychiatrist put it, emotionally unstable personality disorder. It’s complicated telling people you have both bipolar disorder and BPD, as they both involve intense mood swings. Well, that’s when I do tell people – social anxiety sort of puts a brick wall between me and people. BPD makes your mood change within seconds and it is a strong mood swing. Like fire, it can destroy you and those around you. With bipolar, the mood swing sort of creeps up on you. It’s when the mood gets high (mania) or low (depression) that it becomes destructive.

Every day it feels like I must wear a mask, however, hiding never did me any good with these illnesses. It just becomes more of a shock to those around you when the symptoms start to leak through. Even as I write this, it’s hard to concentrate, thoughts and emotions are saying one thing, while that one bit of mind that tells you “everything will be ok”, is telling me to push on.

The rendition of a darker moment. A painting of a depression experience by Cat, South Yorkshire

I’ll admit when I’ve been at my lowest I’ve done things I’ve regretted. The overdose, which sent me into hospital, was one of the things. I know there’s a stigma around psychiatric hospitals, but I did meet people who it’s worked for. When I was admitted into hospital the first time, I had psychosis – a female voice was constantly screaming in pain in my head. I don’t even bother to count how many times a year I have to go through this. Medication helps keep me in some control, especially with the manic side. I prefer the manic side to the depression side. Mania brings with it the thought that you’re this amazing person, who can do anything, someone who deserves to be with people. The bad side of mania is that loss of control. Nights become sleepless and the thoughts running through your head won’t stop. Every time you try to grab one, it just slips through your fingers. Health and safety also goes out the window.

I managed to get through my art degree. I have to remind myself that I’m more than my diagnosis, but with the right help and support it does become a lot easier.

In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123.
In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14.

Experiences of bipolar disorder: "Every day it feels like I must wear a mask"

Experiences of depression: "It leaves you on the cliff edge of sanity"

Naomi, Cambridge
Depression comes from the mind and invades the mind. It’s like an unstoppable force. Were it not so evil, it would be impressive. It zaps the joy of sleep and relaxation. It causes aches and pains and exhaustion. And then it weighs this tired body and brain down with apathy and robs me of enthusiasm. And just when you get used to the apathy and accept that you will amount to nothing more than a TV-watching, Netflix-browsing, Candy Crush-playing robot, it hits you with panic.

The panic makes you crave company and someone to stabilise you and tell you that it’s fine. But only then do you realise the full extent of the invasion. It has conquered you and you didn’t even notice. There is no one. You’ve asked for help one time too many, you cried and broke down and scared them or bored them (or both) once too often. And they were kind so they let you do it again and again, but eventually they had to look after themselves and their own sanity and they backed away while you weren’t looking. And you’re left holding on by a thread to those that are left, but you can’t risk breaking that thread so you pull your lips into a smile and you weaken yourself further by pulling yourself into the shape of a sane person.

The second wave hits with self-loathing. It hits you with all your foibles and all your huge gaping faults. It opens your eyes and makes you understand in graphic detail why everyone hates you, why you’ve been alone for days, why you’ll always be alone, why friendship and companionship is something for other people. Not for you. The second wave leads to the third: regret. Regret after regret after regret. All the things you said and did wrong. All the misjudgments and missteps, all the failures.

And then the final blow: happiness is gone. Not just missing, but gone. There is only sadness and regret and panic. I can’t remember the last time I was happy and I can’t remember what happiness feels like. I know there were times, lots of times, when I was happy. I try to recall them, but I can never get a clear picture. Was it a night out? A country walk? A hand held? A roller coaster cresting a summit? I try to summon up these moments and the people I spent them with. It’s like looking at a stranger’s photos. No emotion comes to the surface. Depression is sadness for times gone and chances never taken. It is missed opportunities and a missed future. It’s missed friends. It invades and leaves you right on the edge of the cliff of sanity. And then the ridge gives way.

Sophie Adams, Cardiff, 42

Work from Sophie Adams’s Spring Back, Fall Forward. Photograph: Sophie Adams

I’ve experienced mental health difficulties – primarily depression – since my late teens. The piece I’ve submitted is part of Spring Back, Fall Forward, a multimedia art book. It represents one year in my life, a year lost to illness and isolation, when I rarely ventured beyond my bed; a bed whose bounds transcribed the bounds of my life, for a while at least.

A painting by Michelle Baharier.

Michelle Baharier, 52
I have complex depression and post-traumatic stress disorder with somatic symptoms. I make these images to try to stay well.

Anonymous
I’ve experienced what I would now loosely term as “depression” since I was about 14. That’s the first time I remember having an extended period of feeling overwhelmed by my own mind, by a profound sadness I couldn’t explain to anyone. After a while, it just went away, as suddenly and inexplicably as I’d felt awful. And so it’s gone ever since.

That’s not to say I breeze through these bad spells. I’m only just out of one of the worst spells I’ve had in a long time; 12 days with little to no sleep, the same, very specific suicidal thoughts (specific because I’ve planned meticulously over the years what I feel is the optimal way to do it – the least harmful and hurtful to others) playing on a loop. It’s like being attacked by yourself. No one has access to your private repository of past disappointments and humiliations, and no one can twist them and filter them through skewed levels of self hatred like you can to yourself. My mind is so thick with the fog of “everything, but mostly me, is awful” that I can do stupendous acts of doublethink on myself. I called a friend one night totally deranged with all of this. It’s just horrible. All of it is horrible.

This innate self hatred, this will for death, is compounded by the guilt I feel burdening others with this. Everyone has their own stuff. I’m not unique. This thought, along with the fact that no one wants people they love and admire to think that they’re “crazy”, doesn’t really incline me to be open about it in the moment. Luckily for me I’ve got well informed, loving friends. I’m very fortunate to have them and my own way of dealing with this, it means that (so far) I’ve emerged from these spells relatively unscathed.

In terms of treatment – well, nothing has worked better for me than a process of learning to rationalise it, and exercise. Exercise is key. I’ve been on anti-depressants and found them unbelievably unhelpful – when it took the bad thoughts away it also robbed me of the capacity for joy, or any pleasant feelings. I’ve become very pragmatic about the whole thing; there is no secret trauma eating away at me, my life is good, it’s social, I have good friends, I like my job. I see it purely as a chemical deficiency, or an inability to regulate levels of serotonin.

In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123.
In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14.

Experiences of depression: "It leaves you on the cliff edge of sanity"

Experiences of eating disorders: "I"ve been to many dark places"

Anonymous, 22
The first time I was depressed, I was 12 and I didn’t know I was ill. I didn’t even know what depression was. After a family feud and several years of being a victim of bullying, I didn’t want to live any more. I remember standing on my balcony, hands on the railing, and thinking: “Should I jump?” I thought that I was a coward, because I was afraid of dying more than I hated living. I began to self-harm, and my mental illness had the sting of a pair of scissors cutting into my skin.

I was 16 when I decided to lose weight, so the boys and the girls wouldn’t laugh any more, and perhaps, just perhaps, someone, one day, would even desire to touch me. Three years later, I was sitting on the toilet bleeding because I had taken too many laxatives, and my mental illness was as red as blood.

At 19, I gained all the weight back and along with it came anxiety and depression and the sense of failure. I had moved in London, away from my family, to study and build a new life. So why wasn’t I happy? Why had the balcony turned into a tube platform and I was wondering again: “Should I jump?”

I lost the weight again at 21, and by 22 things were OK (in a precarious, risky balance). I decided that I needed help before things got worse again. Now, once a week, I meet with a therapist, thanks to the NHS, and she asks me how my week was, and I am as honest as I can be.

I was as pretty

As a flower

Yours to pick

And then left to wither

Now

I want to be as free as the wind

As tall as a mountain

As fierce as a lion

And beautiful

Like the stars

That keep shining

After they’re long gone.

Jessica Secmezsoy-Urquhart, 23, Hamilton, Scotland, master’s student

Jessica Secmezsoy-Urquhart: ‘I will always have multiple conflicting sides to myself but I’ve found ways to bring them together more now.’ Photograph: Jessica Secmezsoy-Urquhart

This photo is called Alone Together, and represents the duality of my identity. I’m a recovered sufferer of an eating disorder, an abuse survivor and I was hospitalised twice before the age of 15 with depression caused by the social effects of Asperger syndrome. I have everything from attention deficit disorder to anxiety and I’m chronically ill with a connective tissue disease. And yet I’m mentally better than I’ve ever been and have found my place at university, but to get there I’ve been to many dark places.

I had two selves, like in this image – the real one that was disgusting, pathetic and deserved to be dead and mistreated, and one that others saw that was normal and good. I will always have multiple conflicting sides to myself, but I’ve found ways to bring them together more now. Recovery is possible. I’m proof.

Anonymous, 29
I have suffered with anorexia nervosa since I was 12 and have been in and out of several inpatient units. As an adult, having been a service user for the past seven years, I have seen a rapid decline in the quality of services available, not just for eating disorders, but across the whole of mental health.

NHS cuts have led to decreased beds being available for desperately ill patients, resulting in more strain on community services. Working hours and staff shortages have also put a huge strain on nurses in this field, resulting in reduced quality of patient care.

Treatment in all areas of the NHS, but particularly mental health, is being severely compromised. I am currently a patient at a hospital in south London, on the eating disorders unit. Staff shortages, lack of trained nurses and increasing demands on the few nurses on the ward, are seriously jeopardising patient care. In some cases patients are being left to deteriorate to such extremes that they have required nasogastric feeding to save their lives.

Suz Hemming, Aylesbury

Suz Hemming: ‘It took six years of my life just to get past the shape and size of the thing I have that keeps me alive – my body.’ Photograph: Suz Hemming

This photo is representative of my battle with mental illness, which I have lived with from a young age. I have borderline personality disorder, that frequently leaves me with this overwhelming sense of identity diffusion and a profound confusion and disparity between my image and my body; my thoughts and who I am. This photo creates a way of capturing who I might be in the one moment, because my rapid mood fluctuations and unstable sense of self often leave me with this idea of my life as a string of photos, disconnected from one another, with no narrative or person a its core. Its black-and-white presentation symbolises the black-and-white, all-or-nothing thinking style that is the cornerstone of my illness. It’s what keeps me stuck, what keeps me searching in the mirror for an answer to the question: “Can I be just one person, a whole, not fractured with flashbacks from my past?”

Also, being in stable recovery from anorexia, the photo asks what is it in a piece of glass that has so much power? Not just over me but over you too. It took six years of my life just to get past the shape and size of the thing I have that keeps me alive – my body. This photo asks me who and what is real. Is it me? Is it her? Is it her image? Or mine? And whether any of those things can be the same as each other – each a part of a bigger part, of a much bigger picture of my journey towards living a life in a “working recovery” from acute mental illness.

In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123.
In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14.

Experiences of eating disorders: "I"ve been to many dark places"

What are your experiences of getting help for gynaecological problems? | Sarah Marsh

GPs are failing to treat women with common gynecological complaints, according to MPs. A report by the all-party parliamentary group on women’s health (WHAPPG) said female issues are not being treated with dignity or respect. They discovered that many women were left feeling they were “going mad” after being turned away by doctors despite painful symptoms.

A survey of 2,600 women found that 40% of those with endometriosis, when the womb tissue grows outside the uterus, had to visit their GP 10 or more times before getting treatment. This is a condition that affects about 2 million women, with symptoms including stomach aches and painful bleeding.

As a result, women were left doing their own research to understand the illness. The WHAPPG recommended more training for GPs, calling for more information for women in surgeries.

What are your experiences with your GP? Were you turned away or did you get really good care? Did you eventually get the help you need? Share your stories with us in the form below.

What are your experiences of getting help for gynaecological problems? | Sarah Marsh

A&E in England registers record delays: readers share their experiences

A&E patients in England endured a record-breaking month of delays in January, with more than 60,000 people waiting between four and 12 hours for a hospital bed, and more than 780 waiting over 12 hours.

The figures are at the highest level since 2004, when a target was introduced that 95% of patients must be seen and either admitted or discharged in under four hours.

We asked Guardian readers to share their experiences of A&E in January. Here’s what they said.

‘It angers me that this is being portrayed as a normal winter crisis’ – Laura White, 30, Wiltshire

On 19 January, I was rushed to hospital by ambulance. I suffer from severe asthma so spend a lot of time in hospitals. The staff were swift, calm, professional and outstanding, but as someone with much experience of emergency care over the past few years, a marked increase in response time is noticeable. I am always a high-priority case as there is a real risk of sudden death, but even then there simply aren’t enough paramedics to cover demand. I was extremely ill en route and the paramedic had to help me to breathe. He phoned the hospital to warn them of a high-priority case coming in and allow them to prepare for arrival.

I was wheeled straight around to the high-dependency area. I was shocked to see around half a dozen trollies in the corridor with patients on. This has never been the case in my experience of this hospital.

The staff were caring and helpful and trying to attend to all patients, but they were clearly stressed. The lead doctor and junior had a discussion over my bed about needing to do a blood gas test, but were reluctant to because the only working machine was in intensive care. This was followed by a nurse asking how everyone was, to the reply: “I have a full resuscitation, a full high care, no beds available. But there is a woman in the corridor who needs to be in here so I have to choose one of these people who are extremely ill to put in the corridor. I can’t do this; this is not a decision I should have to make.”

It angers me that this is being portrayed as a normal winter crisis and the sort of thing we see each year. I can assure you it has got progressively worse in the past year and is currently well beyond breaking point.

‘No one was ever left waiting for attention or care’ – Hannah Powell, 47, North Yorkshire

I was admitted to A&E six times in four weeks at the start of this year, twice by ambulance, because of problems with my heart. On each occasion I was seen immediately, with almost no wait. I was admitted to the coronary care unit on three occasions and, although there was clearly a bit of bed juggling going on, there were beds available. There were some waits: two days to have pacemaker surgery, and a weekend to see a cardiologist. But on the ward no one was ever left waiting for attention or care.

Obviously heart trouble is a high priority at the triage stage, but it was clear to me that the hospital’s systems and processes were working well. Although the staff were under pressure the whole time, they were, without exception, utterly committed to the care they delivered and were not going to let shortages of beds or staff to get in their way.

‘A defining moment was seeing the tenderness with which the nurses and assistants treated an elderly patient.’ Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian

A defining moment was seeing the tenderness with which the coronary care nurses and assistants treated an elderly patient, despite being rushed off their feet during a busy night shift.

‘A&E was extremely busy and there seemed to be a shortage of staff’ – Karen Hourihan, 57, social worker, Liverpool

I waited 55 minutes in excruciating pain for paramedics to arrive. I was taken to A&E and after a short wait in the corridor I was taken into a cubicle. My son was with me and he was able to advocate on my behalf by seeking out medical people and requesting updates. Nobody came to speak to me directly about my injury. I was taken to a holding ward while waiting to be admitted. I arrived at 8pm and was admitted to a ward at 4am when a bed became available. A&E was extremely busy and there seemed to be a shortage of staff.

Staff appeared to have little time to spend explaining things and reassuring patients. This was not too much of an issue for me as my son was present the whole time. However, for anybody alone or older I imagine it would have been an isolating experience. Having said that, the staff did their best to provide a good standard of care.

‘I was put in a room and forgotten about’ – Melanie Salinger, 53, Bishop’s Stortford, teacher

When I visited A&E, I was put into a side room and promptly forgotten about. Eventually, a nurse asked how my consultation had gone and I said I still hadn’t had one. It turns out I had been forgotten; they had no record of me. I was diagnosed with pneumonia and had to leave that room and sit in a chair for 10 hours as there were no beds. I was sat in a busy area with everyone looking at me. My blood pressure was very low, so I actually needed to lie down.

‘I had to sit in a busy area with everyone looking at me. My blood pressure was very low, so I actually needed to lie down.’ Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

Once a bed was found for me the nurses in the ward cared for me very well. However, the noise at night was constant. It sounded like an all-night party. Someone on my ward complained so it went quiet for half an hour – then started again. How are we meant to recover? I asked to be discharged as I knew I would recover quicker at home.

‘Wonderful service, could not be beaten’ – Larissa, 38, Bexley

I injured my wrist on a Sunday afternoon, but attended the hospital on the Monday morning. I had been told of the awful waiting times so I came prepared with a sandwich, thermos and my kindle.

However, I waited less than 10 minutes to see the nurse. She took my details and asked a few questions about my injury. I was then sent for an X-ray. The nurse informed me there could be quite a wait, but I only waited around 10 minutes. The radiographers were lovely, caring and professional.

The nurse called my name after 10 minutes, showed me the X-ray of my fracture and put me in a temporary cast. I was triaged, X-rayed and plastered in less than an hour and a half. I barely had time to open the thermos, and the kindle remained shut.

Wonderful service, could not be beaten. The NHS staff were great.

A&E in England registers record delays: readers share their experiences

Share your experiences of care home closures

Care for the elderly is reaching a “tipping point”, the government’s watchdog warned this winter, as rising costs and council budgets squeezed by years of austerity struggle to meet the increasing needs of an ageing population.

Care homes are facing a perfect storm of financial challenges, as councils cut the rates they are paying to house residents and those who can afford to pay for their own care face spiralling bills, according to the Care Quality Commission, which oversees the sector.

The crisis has already forced some care homes to close their doors: the number of care homes in England has fallen, according to CQC figures, even as the demand continues to climb.

Share your experiences

We want to hear from readers who have been affected by the closure of care homes. Has your care home closed, or is it under threat? Do you have a parent or other relative in a care home threatened with closure? Or do you work for a care home company that’s currently under threat, or a council trying to deal with the challenges?

Please share your experiences in the form below, anonymously if you prefer. We will ensure that the information you provide us is kept secure.

Share your experiences of care home closures

Mental health: share your personal experiences

Earlier in January Theresa May announced that she wanted to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health issues. We’d like to understand more about how people’s lives are impacted by mental health issues.

Please show us how you or the people you know have been affected by sharing your experiences. We’re interested in your creative expression – artworks, pictures or poetry as well as hearing about your factual experience. We’ll feature a selection of contributions in a visual interactive on the site.

How to contribute

• GuardianWitness is the home of readers’ content on the Guardian. Contribute your video, pictures and stories, and browse news, reviews and creations submitted by others. Posts will be reviewed prior to publication on GuardianWitness, and the best pieces will feature on the Guardian site.

Mental health: share your personal experiences

What are your experiences of NHS maternity services?

One in four babies born in the UK are not receiving mandatory checkups from health visitors during the first two years of their life.

A fifth of babies do not receive the recommended reviews after they turn one, and one in four miss out at the age of two, according to the government’s commission on social mobility.

This relates to care after birth, but it’s not the first time that issues with maternity services have been highlighted. In October data suggested that maternity care at almost three-quarters of local NHS groups in England needs to improve. In total, 209 clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) were rated, of which 144 needed improvement, with 11 registering the greatest need for improvement, according to NHS England. Just one group, West Kent, was ranked as top performing, while a further 53 were classed as performing well.

It comes amid planned cuts, with government transformation plans leading to the closure of maternity units. Campaigners are concerned that this means mothers may be forced to travel miles for care.

What are your experiences of maternity services in the UK? Have you been forced to travel for care? Was enough care offered after you gave birth? What about antenatal care? Share your stories with us below the line.

What are your experiences of NHS maternity services?

What are your experiences of accessing mental health services in the UK? | Sarah Marsh

This week, the Guardian reported that NHS England is sending patients who are seriously ill with eating disorders to Scotland for treatment. Chronic bed shortages mean there is nowhere for them to get help closer to home.

Mental health experts have expressed concern about this, saying it’s compromising the quality of care for those in need.

It’s not the first time there have been reports of mental health patients being sent miles from home for treatment. Earlier this year, research by Community Care and BBC News found that in 2015 more than 5,400 mental health patients had to travel out of area for a psychiatric bed.

There are also reports of specialist mental health services turning away almost a quarter (23%) of children and young people seeking help. The Education Policy Institute Independent Commission on Children and Young People’s Mental Health, which did the report, said it is often because there are “high thresholds” for accessing services.

Research suggests that cultural factors can make it harder to get help too. Professors at Brighton and Sussex Medical School found black and minority ethnic groups struggle to access services, partly because of a communication breakdown between healthcare users and providers.

What are your experiences of accessing mental health services? We want to hear from people of all ages and backgrounds, across the UK, about any challenges you faced or help you received. Were you able to access help as soon as it was necessary, or was there a waiting period? If you had to wait, how did this affect you? Were your concerns met by your GP? Were you moved miles from home for treatment? Or perhaps you want to thank professionals for looking after you. What were the best aspects of your care? Share your stories and experiences with us in the form below.

What are your experiences of accessing mental health services in the UK? | Sarah Marsh

Ambulance services in the UK: share your stories and experiences

The pressure on the NHS ambulance services is increasing. Recent figures showed that of the UK’s 13 ambulance services, only Wales was reaching emergencies within the target time of eight minutes. They also showed that the number of patients waiting for ambulances for more than an hour had almost tripled in the past two years, and that ambulance crews were wasting more than 500,000 hours queuing outside hospitals.

Keith Willett, the director of acute care at NHS England has called it, “a system-wide problem … it is about an increase in demand for urgent healthcare need. Of all the parts of the healthcare sector, the ambulance service has seen the largest increase in demand at 7.3% in the last year.”

Paramedics too have reported working under tremendous pressure as a result of increasing demand. Many say they continue working well past the end of their 12-hour shifts, and rarely get meal breaks. So what impact is this having on patients?

Share your experiences

We’d like to find out what it’s like to receive care. We also want to hear from those working in the service about their daily challenges. What have patients experienced? What impact did it have? What parts of the service are effective and what’s not working so well? What worries you about the future?

Share your views and stories in the form below. The information you give us will be confidential and we will be in contact with you before we publish any contributions.

Ambulance services in the UK: share your stories and experiences

Healthcare staff, tell us your experiences of working at Christmas

For many healthcare professionals, working over Christmas is a given. The thought of working at this time of year can be galling for many but, as Dr Jenny Hughes wrote, it can be the most uplifting time to work.

Teams of staff can pull together and bond over boxes of chocolates on the ward and canteen Christmas dinners. And the odd Christmas miracle may happen, be it the birth of a baby, saving someone’s life or even just being there to listen.

Are you a healthcare professional who has worked at Christmas? We want to hear about it. What have been your memorable moments? What’s the atmosphere like? How did you feel working over the festive season? Have you witnessed or been part of any Christmas miracles?

Please fill in the form below and tell us your experiences of working at Christmas. A selection of responses will be used in our reporting. You can remain anonymous if you wish.

Healthcare staff, tell us your experiences of working at Christmas

What are your experiences of IVF?

There is no evidence that many add-on treatments offered to aid IVF (in vitro fertilisation) actually work, a study has revealed.

Research conducted by Oxford University’s Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine for the BBC’s Panorama found nearly all of these treatments were not backed up by good scientific evidence of success.

On average, one in four cycles of IVF results in birth. But clinics now offer “add-on” treatments to increase chances of success. They include genetic screening tests, extra drugs, and blood tests to measure the immune system (among other things). They cost up to £3,500 on top of the costs of IVF.

Carl Heneghan, director of the centre and who led the team, told Panorama: “It was one of the worst examples I’ve ever seen in healthcare.

“The first thing you would expect to happen is that anything that makes a claim for an intervention would be backed up by some evidence.

“Some of these treatments are of no benefit to you whatsoever and some of them are harmful.”

We want to hear from those who have paid for these add-ons. How much did it cost you? What do you think of this research? What are your general experiences of IVF? Share your stories with us below.

What are your experiences of IVF?

Schoolgirls with autism share experiences in young adult novel

A novel told from the point of view of a teenage girl with autism, written by schoolgirls with autism, has been published after the students – frustrated by their experience of a world that rejects and ignores them – decided to take matters into their own hands.

The pupils at Limpsfield Grange school, the country’s only state-funded residential school for girls with special needs, mined their own most painful – and uplifting – experiences to write M in the Middle, a young adult novel created with the help of their creative writing teacher, Vicky Martin.

“If society just realised the very simple fact that girls can have autism as well as boys, then the life of girls with autism would instantly be so much better because we wouldn’t be so scared of being labelled as weird, abnormal and strange,” said Francesca Warren, 14, one of the 70 girls at the school.

“Because people think autism is something only boys have – and because girls with autism behave completely differently to boys – girls have to constantly mask their condition,” Warren added. “But having to pretend to be someone else is debilitating and humiliating. And it doesn’t even work: people can get annoyed with you even when you mask [because they sense your inauthenticity].”

Warren sits with her friends in the office of Sarah Wild, the headteacher at Limpsfield Grange. Fizzing with as many different opinions as any other group of teenage girls, they only speak with one voice when it comes to the question of whether boys with autism have an easier life.

“Yes. Yes. Yes!” they shout in passionate union. “Ding. Ding!” whooped one girl, for added emphasis.

The hilarity quickly ebbed away. “I’m prey in a world of predators,” said 12-year-old Lauren Mittelmeier, quietly. “Life is really hard for girls with autism. Why is life so difficult?”

The struggle to get their condition recognised is just the start of the battle for girls with autism. Even when girls are diagnosed, their life doesn’t necessarily get any easier: there is virtually no specialist support, academic or otherwise, for girls.

Mittelmeier’s parents moved home from Dorset so their daughter could attend Limpsfield Grange school, in Oxted, Surrey. This is not unusual: another family moved from Cornwall. One other girl boards during the week and travels the 250 miles back to her home every weekend.

Mittelmeier said: “I was diagnosed at eight but my autism wasn’t acknowledged by my school. They just thought I was an idiot. They were trained to work with autistic people but I’m guessing it was boys they were trained for, not girls.”

There is no official data on autism diagnoses, although the National Autistic Society (NAS) is calling for local authorities to start collecting it, as well as ending the “autism diagnosis crisis” that sees children waiting for nine years and more for a diagnosis.

Statistics appear to show that more men and boys than women and girls have a diagnosis of autism. The study most quoted, written by Leo Kanner in 1943, found there were four times as many boys as girls. In later years, various studies, together with anecdotal evidence, put the men to women ratio at anything from 2:1 to 16:1.

But Sarah Wild, head of Limpsfield Grange, believes there are just as many girls with autism as there are boys.

She said: “I genuinely think there are equal numbers but the stereotype that it’s a male condition is self-perpetuating: the diagnostic checklists and tests have been developed for boys and men, while girls and women present completely differently.”

According to the NAS 2012 survey of 8,000 people with autism, just 8% of girls with Asperger syndrome were diagnosed before six years old, compared to 25% of boys. Only 21% of girls with Asperger’s were diagnosed by the age of 11, compared to 52% of boys. Many adult women who took part in the survey didn’t have a diagnosis at all: 10% compared to 5% of males.

An added problem facing girls and women with autism is that if their true condition isn’t identified, they are at risk of being misdiagnosed, said Wild. “If, for example, a clinician asks a girl with autism if she ‘hears voices’ or ‘sees people’, she’ll say ‘Yes’ because she’s being entirely literal – and then she’ll be misdiagnosed with schizophrenia or another mental health disorders,” she said.

The NAS survey suggests that 42% of females have been misdiagnosed, compared with 30% of males. Many women remain undiagnosed well into late adulthood until they self-diagnose: females in the NAS survey were more likely to have paid for their diagnosis (14% of females, compared with 9% of males).

Misdiagnosis and no diagnosis, as well as a lack of support, understanding and recognition once a correct diagnosis has been made, leave girls and women in a dangerous space. According to the NAS survey, 38% of females with Asperger’s have another serious mental health condition, including eating disorders and depression.

But momentum for change is starting to gather pace: in January, the National Association of Headteachers is holding a girls on the autism spectrum conference to prepare a call for action on the issue.

Before that, on 8 November, there is a private House of Lords roundtable organised by the autism and girls forum – itself set up just 18 months ago.

“We set up the forum because there is so much energy coming forward now from parents, academics, children and young people’s mental health services (Camhs), and teachers, that we’re missing identifying this group of girls,” said Professor Barry Carpenter, chair of the forum.

“The pattern we’re seeing is that these girls come badly unstuck in their teenage years. They manage to mask it when they’re younger, which means when they crumble, they don’t have any coping strategies and structures to fall back on for support,” he said.

The House of Lords roundtable has a quest, said Carpenter: “We need to engage political will, without which nothing will change. There needs to be a systematic review, either under the women and equalities committee or we need to set up a new, cross-governmental task force.

“We need to harness all this evidence coming to us and marshall it to incentivise more research, more help for schools and Camhs.

“We have a very vulnerable group of girls here,” he said. “I can’t personally live with the fact we’re not doing nearly enough to help them.”

M in the Middle is published by Jessica Kingsley Publications (£8.99). Click here to buy a copy for £7.37

Schoolgirls with autism share experiences in young adult novel

What are your experiences of care services for older and disabled people?

The safety of elderly and disabled people is being put at risk as care homes in England close, according to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) – with the watchdog concerned about what this means for the future of social care services.

In September 2010 there were 18,068 care homes in England, but in July this year the number fell to 16,614, according to figures released by the CQC. The closures are mainly due to the fact providers are struggling financially, with costs having increased by up to 30% in the past year while their profit margins have fallen by more than 40%. The CQC puts this – in part – down to cash-strapped councils unable to pay higher fees for these services.

It comes at a time of growing need linked to the ageing population. The regulator is worried that more and more home closures could leave needy, vulnerable older and disabled people with nowhere to go, putting more pressure on already struggling services.

What are your experiences of social care services in England? Do you have an older or disabled relative who is struggling, or have you had difficulties? Do you work in the NHS or social services? Are you worried about care home closures? Have you become a carer for a relative? Do you have concerns about state of the service?

Share your stories with us – anonymously or otherwise – and we will use a selection in our reporting.

What are your experiences of care services for older and disabled people?

What are your experiences of dyslexia?

The British Dyslexia Association (BDA) estimates that the condition affects 10% of the population, 4% severely so. We would like to hear from you if you have dyslexia or work with people who do, and to discuss your experiences in an article on the Guardian.

Earlier in October this year’s Dyslexia Awareness Week focused on the early stages of a person with dyslexia’s experience – in particular their assessment. We want to know your experiences of this, but also more broadly whether you have seen changing attitudes or if you feel that people who don’t have dyslexia have misconceptions about it.

You can also get in touch if you work with dyslexia in an educational setting as a teacher or a specialist.

Share your views and experiences

In March, the BDA said it was inundated with calls from primary headteachers who were alarmed about new government spelling tests, which require 10- and 11-year-olds to correctly spell more than 100 key words before they are judged to have reach expected educational standards. Do you have views on this as a parent or teacher?

If you work, do you feel your company is receptive to the third core aim of the BDA – “To enable dyslexic people to achieve their potential in the workplace” – and do you talk about it with your colleagues or manager? Maybe you are at university and receive help? Perhaps you only recently received a diagnosis?

You can fill out our form below, anonymously if you wish, and we will use some of the most interesting in an article in the coming weeks. You can also contribute on behalf of someone else, but please let us know below.

What are your experiences of dyslexia?

Antidepressants: share your experiences and stories

A report released today by the Nuffield Trust and the Health Foundation reveals the prescription of antidepressants soared during the financial crisis and subsequent recession.

Prescriptions rose from 15m in 1998 to 40m in 2012. The yearly rate of increase accelerated during the banking crisis and recession to 8.5%, compared to 6.7% before it.

The report also found that rises in unemployment were associated with significant increases in the number of antidepressants dispensed and that areas with poor housing tended to see significantly higher antidepressant use.

We want to hear from people who have experience with antidepressants, whether you’ve had a prescription in the past, are taking them now or have a friend or family member who has. What made you decide to go the doctor? And have they helped you in some way? Share your stories with GuardianWitness, anonymously if you choose, and we may feature the best ones on the site.

• GuardianWitness is the home of user-generated content on the Guardian. Contribute your video, pictures and stories, and browse news, reviews and creations submitted by others. Posts will be reviewed prior to publication on GuardianWitness, and the best pieces will feature on the Guardian site.

Antidepressants: share your experiences and stories

Tell us about your experiences of doing work in healthcare

Our newest survey aims to find out how healthcare professionals’ jobs have changed in excess of the final 12 months. Photograph: Alamy

The last yr has been a hard one particular for the NHS, with pros contending with restructuring, a funding freeze and the fallout from the Mid Staffs scandal.

Standard Healthcare Experts Network contributor Chris Hopson, chief executive of the Basis Believe in Network, described 2013 as the wellness service’s annus horribilis.

We last surveyed our network members final spring as they ready for the reorganisation – and they explained the NHS was not ready for the reforms. More than one,000 senior NHS employees – in the two clinical and management posts – took component in that survey, sharing their worries about the scale and speed of the overhaul. The survey, carried out following publication of Robert Francis’s report on the Mid Staffs scandal, also identified that forty% of respondents had serious worries more than problems from waiting lists to staff shortages that could effect on the top quality of patient care.

We’re launching our most recent survey as the wellness support nears the 1st anniversary of the reorganisation. We’re keen to hear from healthcare pros about how their work has modified in excess of the last yr no matter whether their part is receiving less complicated whether those whose operate involves get in touch with with sufferers are spending much more or significantly less time with them.

We would also like to hear about what healthcare pros feel must be top of the agenda for the incoming NHS England chief executive, Simon Stevens, who is due to take up his post in April.

And our survey asks about what measures well being services leaders need to implement to make sure the fiscal sustainability of the NHS.

To share your opinions and experiences, get element in our quick survey – there is also the likelihood to win £100 worth of Guardian books.

This post is published by Guardian Specialist. Join the Healthcare Experts Network to obtain standard emails and unique provides.

Tell us about your experiences of doing work in healthcare