Basically I have been suffering from depression and anxiety for a long as I remember, i was properly diagnosed with depression at 15 (I am 18 now) and was referred to do Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and I completed about 4 sessions but the therapist made me feel REALLY uncomfortable and didn't feel that he was taking me seriously so I quit. Then i went back to my GP who referred me to a counsellor who was no help whatsoever. Then had a break from treatment and used self harm to get me through (self harmed since 13). I plucked up the courage to go back to my GP again who referred me to CBT again and prescribed me citalopram 20mg (at 17) which didn't help either. In recent months I've been experiencing the most terrible mood swings and sometimes feel like a different person, suicidal thoughts are always on my mind and I feel like this could be a personality disorder or bipolar but my doctors wont listen and have recently told me there is nothing more that they can do for me..I feel utterly hopeless and need to know i theres anymore help out there for me? (Sorry for the long post)
Thankyou for reading :))
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AmyW95
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Are there other G.P.s at your practice? Do you have parents or other assertive adults who could act as advocates for you if tackling the doc is intimidating? Does the G.P. know the whole extend of your suicidal thoughts, and self harm? The info on your meds suggests the doc should monitor suicidal thoughts for people on this med......
perhaps ask for a different med? Does there seem to be any monthly pattern, the pill might be worth experimenting with.
If therapists are not doing it for you there is the old-fashioned D.I.Y. approach of self help books, some of us do get irritated when coming across professionals whoes approach might not suit.
Sorry I seem to have all questions and no answers. Be sure close friends/family/workmates know enough about your problem to be honest with you when they see you going too far downhill.
Yes there is one other GP at the practice who I saw just the other day because I've been feeling a lot worse with the mood swings recently and the doctor said she doesn't know what to offer me nor will she asses me for bipolar or other mood disorders. I don't have an adult who could come with me unfortunately, the GP has documented the self harm but never suicidal thoughts. I was on the citalopram for 6+ months and this made no difference so my GP stopped prescribing them to me. I will definitely look into getting a self help guide x
I may be of no help as I don't live in the UK anymore and don't know the health system, which seems lousy!! If I were you I would do my very best to see a psychiatrist/ psychologist even if I had to pay privately. I think it is disgusting that your GP says they can't help you anymore. If they can't they should refer to a specialist who can. GP's do not have specialist knowledge in anything especially mental illness. Pluck up courage and asked to be referred. Good luck. xx
I would certainly recommend seeing another GP if at all possible, and with someone else if you find this intimidating. It would be good if you could wrote things down - as you have here, to help them see the way you feel day by day. Some kind of mood charting would help - e.g. recording your mood on a 1-10 scale - 1=acutely suicidal, 5-6=average, 10=high as a kite. If you really want to go into things, there's a good free program called optimism.exe. It allows a lot of customisation, so although designed for bipolar you can use it for any emotional problems.
I think it would be good to be referred and assessed by a mental health team, and psychiatrist, who can make a proper diagnosis and set up suitable treatment and support. The same things do not suit everyone.
I think you need to see what schemes are in your area to help young people with mental illness as clearly your GP has no idea about mental health issues and alternatives if they keep sending you in the same circle, i was in a similar situation up until i bypassed my GP and sought out help from a organisation who have put me in psychotherapy treatment which is slowly working plus no medication! Good luck and don't give up x
Hi,
The first thing I would do is ask to be referred to a psychiatrist - I know that sounds drastic but if you have not already seen one then at least you will stand a chance of being given a diagnosis. Once you have a formal diagnosis then there is more chance of your being offered the correct treatment.
The second thing I would do is begin to write your own story of your life, particularly in terms of things that you feel may relate to your symptoms, for example when did you first feel unhappy, what are your earliest memories, did you feel loved and understood by your parents, were you isolated at school or did you have close friends you could confide in, etc. The more you begin to understand yourself the more idea you will have about the kinds of things that may have contributed to your depression, and as you come to understand those things so you can begin to research for yourself into the kinds of treatments that may help you.
The third thing is to realise that depression and anxiety exist for a reason, They may have a genetic component of course, but often they are the result of experiences. Anxiety is often learned from frightening experiences that alter the biochemistry but can also be the result of learning by observation or having to cope with other people's anxiety. The more you can begin to THINK about your experiences the more control you will begin to have over them. That is the basis of CBT but for some people the approach is detached from their actual experiences, so taking a different approach can be more helpful.
Suexx
I completely agree with the above...your GPs aren't trained to handle the complexities of mental health problems and you have every right to request referral to a psychiatrist at your nearest CMHT (Community Mental Health Team).
A lot of medications for mental health problems are only available for prescribing by a qualified psychiatrist so your situation is made worse by the delaying of this process by GPs.
The only problem I can foresee you having is your age as a lot of medications are only to be prescribed to over 18s.
If you get no joy from requesting this from your GP then an alternative when you next feel like self harming is to go and present yourself at your nearest A&E and tell them how bad you feel...this should get you a psychiatric referral.
Sorry it's taken so long to reply to you all i've been really busy this week, I've thought about everyones advice and I'm probably going to steer clear of GPs for a while and look for help through an organisation and will definitely be requesting for a psychiatrist to fully diagnose me. I would like to go private with therapy at some point but I have no money whatsoever at the moment :/ I've started a dairy on how i feel day to day so that I can really help the professionals see whats going on.
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