Waiting again for therapy

[sobs1962]

Just wanted to get this off my chest, up to this point I have waited over 3 years for specialist psychotherapy and having been put on something called the SCM pathway which is a specific to people with Borderline Personality Disorder,it appears having had one session with the therapist,who then went off sick,I'm now going to have to wait another few months before I can be seen again due to this ###### virus. Honestly I'm almost at the end of my tether and let's be honest the mental health services available on the NHS are ridiculously oversubscribed and very poorly underfunded and there is going to be mega tsunami of mental health after what's happened in 2020. I suppose I should be grateful that I've been seen at all but a when life is an emotional rollercoaster 24/7, it's almost impossible to see that way. Sorry to rant but I'm struggling to get through every single day.

[FriendlyDude]

You can always post to rant if it helps you, there’s no need to apologize for that that’s what we’re here for, and what this place is for too. Would it be possible to do some form of virtual therapy? Doing it through video calls or something like that?

I hope things get better for you

[sobs1962 in reply to FriendlyDude]

Not sure about that, but I'm certainly prepared to do anything I can to get therapy I need even if it means doing it on a zoom call or something like that. The problem is they said the therapist was ill and would contact me when he was back in work and I've heard nothing,so I don't know if he's still ill or just hasn't bothered to contact me Just waiting and not knowing what's going on is driving me crazy and it makes me feel like I'm not important enough for them to contact,but that's how my BPD affects my thinking. I suppose I will just have to try and be patient,which is extremely hard especially at the moment.

[FriendlyDude in reply to sobs1962]

Maybe you could try calling again? That would solve the question of the therapist being back and just not contacting you. You could also ask about tele-therapy (I think that’s the name for the virtual thing I was talking about), and perhaps there’s another therapist available. If this one isn’t available, you should be able to move on to one who is, right? You are important, you have a need, and you shouldn’t have to wait so long if there’s other help available for you. How long has it been since this therapist became ill?

[sobs1962 in reply to FriendlyDude]

Quite honestly, trying to get through to community mental health team is almost impossible,rang them today about my appointment in February and had to leave a message. They did get back to me and my appointment is by telephone so trying to find out my therapy is just not going to happen. I just need to realise that I'm not the only one who needs their help and just try to be patient.

[lillyofthevalley37]

Yes I agree I think everyone would agree that there is hardly any help available yet they - not NHS but other agencies presumably - keep trying to get people to talk about their mental health and get help

where I live there is a group - a charity that is a drop in place to go and chat and more but it's all been suspended due to covid but they are available on the phone , is there anything like that near you ?

[sobs1962 in reply to lillyofthevalley37]

I don't think there is, but like you say this damn virus is stopping everyone meeting up face to face anyway so I suppose I'll just have to try and soldier on and hope they put something in place, so they can do the therapy virtually or something. Thanks for your support.

[Mrspjsmom]

It's ok to rant. It's frustrating and going to get worse before it gets better. I'm glad you are in the group. We do our best to hold each other up. I live in New York state and because there were so many cases here in the beginning of the pandemic our Governor asked for volunteers and set up a hotline anyone could use. I don't know how long that will continue but it's helping. I was very lucky. My insurance company authorized phone therapy during the stay at home order. That way I didn't miss any sessions. I hope someone will see you soon.

[sobs1962 in reply to Mrspjsmom]

Thanks for your reply, I know the situation is really bad in the US but we have 2 new variants of covid, here in UK and it is spreading like wild fire again and we will all be put back into lockdown again in the next few days,so nothing is going to happen,I doubt. Our health system is free to all, but government cuts have run down the system so it's hardly coping with the virus but everything else has come to a stop nearly. Hopefully my therapy can be done virtually on zoom or something,it's just a case of waiting till they can set it up.

[Mrspjsmom in reply to sobs1962]

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

[sobs1962 in reply to Mrspjsmom]

Thanks for your support