People with serious mental health problems are forced to wait longer for NHS help than those with mild depression

PExperts warned that people with serious mental health problems were forced to wait longer for NHS help than those with mild depression.

Research shows that patients with schizophrenia and personality disorders are denied help despite their sense of suicide.

A charity organization "Rethinking Mental Illness" urged health officials to introduce NHS waiting targets for mental health issues, including a maximum wait of two weeks for people with psychosis.

The study found that these patients had to wait an average of two months to be treated. In the meantime, nine out of ten people who used psychological help for mild to moderate depression or anxiety began treatment within six weeks.

Experts warned that those with devastating mental health problems were about to reach a crisis point before receiving any help.

Patients said they were told they were "too sick" to access speech therapies for mild-to-moderate problems – but "not sick enough" to get help from specialists.

The result is that patients with complex psychosis have been told to lie to staff and claim that their problems are less severe in order to get help.

Brian Dow, Deputy General Manager of Rethink Mental Disness, said, "We want a good treatment, the right time, but we too often have bad treatment, too late.

"Thousands of people find themselves in a desperate situation every year, but they face long waits, bureaucracy and a serious lack of choice in their care." The result is that too many people are reaching critical point before getting help. "