Let down

[Heyholetsgo]

I went to the doctors 7 weeks ago after years of struggling with my eating. My GP wanted to refer me for a mental health assessment. I had to wait 5 weeks for this appointment. I went to the assessment and now 2 weeks later after talking about things like CBT and counselling i receieved a phone call basically telling me to look at the BEAT website. I dont know what I was expecting from all of this but i feel really let down. Has anyone else been treated this way?

[crazycrossstitcher]

Unfortunately "yes" is the answer - my GP had to fight for over 2 years to get me an ED assessment from the mental health services - and then I was on a waiting list for that. Hope you've reported this back to your GP - I ended up reporting it to my local MP and the health minister - but all I got back was a quote from the NICE guidelines - completely meaningless in reality. You could look at the ABC website - and also they have a phone line and offer a befriending service which I have found extremely helpful - as good in fact as the ED out patient support I had received - now taken away!

[Maggie97]

Yes I understand how you feel. I have struggled with eating for years and in that time I have seen my gp on numerous occasions, where I was referred to an ED clinic, only to be advised to speak to people on the phone and read the material given to me at the initial consultation. Then this year I received counselling for anxiety and stress, where I opened up about this struggle. He was not specialised in this area so advised I speak to a dietitian as the first steps to getting help. I felt like I had to justify to my go why I felt I needed to see the dietitian, as if they did not believe me. When I eventually seen the dietitian she said I was healthy and was not concerned but said she would refer me to an ED clinic if I wanted. 3 months later and I have still not reviewed this referral. I feel very let down by the lack of seriousness and support here. This makes me feel very isolated and feel as though I'm not sick enough to be noticed.