Back in April, Agenda, asking how they consider women's needs in their service planning and delivery. "There were a couple of good examples, but the main mental health trusts really aren't thinking about women," Katharine says.26-year-old Charlotte*, who has a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), says: "As a woman with BPD, I feel the hysterical, 'drama queen' stigma is frequently presented to me. Because women are more sensitive, we end up being told to get a grip, and I'm not taken as seriously as my male counterparts. It's a constant struggle to move away from questions like 'is it your time of the month?'"Charlotte has been hospitalised by mental ill health four times in the last three years, and has accessed crisis services many times too. At the time of writing, she's on an all-female ward in her local mental health unit, but says: "I've never been asked about my gender preferences when it comes to mental healthcare. I've found this hard when speaking about sexual assault and rape."She adds: "I've had four different care coordinators, which has been very rough as my condition requires stability, but thankfully only one of them has been male. My biggest concern is their ability to find enough female staff members – the ratio is usually about 30% female, so it can compromise my care and safety."Agenda's key recommendations within the Women in Mind campaign are for the soon-to-be-appointed Mental Health Equalities Champion to have a "gender-focused approach across the treatment spectrum"; for a strategy on women's mental health in every local area; and for every female mental health patient to be routinely asked about her experiences of violence."Where relevant, they need professionals who are experts in physical and sexual violence to support them," Katharine says. "Often what we hear from women is that they'll just be prescribed medication and not get the support they need to deal with the underlying issues."For Rosie*, 29, getting any help at all was a real battle. "I was struggling with low mood, eating disorder behaviours, and thoughts of self-harm and suicide. Despite a history of previous suicide attempts and saying I felt similar, the GP did not act. He wasn't unkind, but I didn't feel taken seriously," she says."I had to fight just to be put back on anti-depressants – the complete opposite of anything I'd experienced before," Rosie adds. "It took six to ten visits of fighting to eventually be referred for help, and the GP only gave in after I begged."Even for women experiencing lower level mental health problems, Katharine believes there are gendered issues "across the board". 30-year-old Luna struggled with anxiety and depression as a teenager and young adult, and says: "I felt like I was being judged for not being able to cope."She was referred for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), but found that nothing else was available when CBT didn't work for her and, like Tess, ended up seeking therapy privately.When Lily, 26, sought help for anxiety and depression, aggravated by work-related stress, she says her female GP "was very understanding but didn't have much time to properly discuss options and help available for me."But, she adds: "I recently had a bad experience with a male doctor who acted as if he didn't believe me. I've attributed the fluctuation in my mood to my hormonal contraception – the implant – and he laughed it off as if it were ridiculous to suggest such a thing."