Minding mental health

“It’s Mental Health Awareness week this week, and we’ve taken the opportunity to reflect on a recent mental health consular case the team has been supporting.

A few weeks ago, a British National came for a holiday of a lifetime to the Maldives.  This person had a pre-existing mental health condition, but did not inform either their travel agency or their insurance company of this. On holiday, relaxed, enjoying the sun and the sea, they stopped taking their medication.  This happens fairly frequently, when people mistake the feel-good factor of a holiday for a change in an underlying medical condition.  But a few days later, the individual suffered a psychotic episode, frightening both for them and those around them.

The High Commission’s Consular team responded immediately. We worked with the travel agency, with the Maldivian police and with the Maldivian health services. We don’t have any staff permanently in the Maldives, so we relied heavily on our excellent Honorary Consul. The capacity building we provided last year significantly increased understanding of mental health response across the Maldivian tourism,

health and security sectors. It also gave us an excellent network of contacts. I’m delighted that we will be going back to provide more training later this year, for professionals in the tourism and defence sectors focusing particularly on how to recognise mental health issues, in order better to identify and assist British tourists with psychological distress in the Maldives. The team organised a hospital stay, medication and emergency travel documentation. They also changed flights home, and worked with the airlines to ensure that the journey would be safe for all involved.

But the quality and efficiency of the support provided by the consular team is only half the story.  Despite everyone’s best endeavours, this was a difficult, isolating and expensive time for the individual concerned. Instead of a week on the beach, they spent ten days in a secure ward in hospital.  As they had not declared their pre-existing condition, their travel insurance was invalid, and all the medical costs fell to them.  Although the airline was very understanding, it was the holidaymaker who had to cover the cost of changing their return ticket so they had enough time to recover before flying.  With just a few precautions, all this could have been avoided.

Mental health is no different from physical health, and one in four of us will have mental health needs in any one year. So if that is or could be you, please do Mind How You Go to help ensure you enjoy the holiday you intended to have.

To read more about the BHC’s commitment to ending stigma against mental ill-health, read our blogs World Mental Health Day, The Road to Recovery and Talking Openly About Mental Health. And for more about Colombo’s Consular services, read Who you Gonna Call?”