Is there any real help out there?

[Looking]

There are so many people that say they care about people with depression and anxiety and do nothing. For example, Beyond Blue has a contact form via email. You sit there for an hour telling them what is happening and all you get is a email response saying how they feel for you and look for answers on their website. News Flash, I went to your website, did not find the answers, so I sent you an email.

Been on antidepressants for 15 years. My GP has tried all the types. Nothing worked. Read about TMS and thought that might work. But TMS can only be referred by a psychiatrist. So get referred to one. Of course he knows some wonder drug that I have most likely already tried over the last 15 years and insists on trying those first. Both had bad side effects. But I course he knew better and accused me of lying about the side effects as he was not aware of them. Maybe he should learn to use the internet.

So got him to approve TMS. Unfortunately it did not work. But I wanted a different psychiatrist and I was not connecting with that one. He accused me of being a racist. He was of Indian background and argued that was the reason for wanting to changing. He also accused me of lying to him. So this is how a mental health professional treats a person with mental health issues.

As I have said, pills have not worked over 15 years. I had TMS on the right side of the brain, so wanted to try it on the left side. Of course new psychiatrist thinks he has some magic pill that all the others before him have been too stupid to think of.

None, of them will listen to you. None of them care what you are going through. They are only interested in putting people into boxes and charging $170 per 15 minutes. Of course this means that they only work 2 days per week and have every second month off on holidays.

I NEVER have a positive experience. I cannot think of anything that would make me feel good. I have bad days and worse days, nothing else. I sit in a chair most nights shaking and heart pounding. I feel like I need to run away, but can't figure out where to run to. Even driving a car means that I have this urge to pull over and curl up in a ball and I don't know why. I just feel like I need to hit something to take out my frustration in not knowing what to do.

You can't live a life like this.

How do you find someone that will actually care about you. The ones that people recommend are all booked up. It even takes you a month to get into a bad one. It all just seems hopeless

[Croix]

Dear Looking~

I can relate to what you say, sometimes it starts with a so-so GP, who recommends a so-so psych and so it goes on. There really is nothing more frustrating than having to retrace your steps becuse a new professional wants to try conventional things first. If any descend to personal remarks about racism complain!

Add to that many treatments are a matter of guesswork, after all everyone is somewhat different.

Let me say I've been lucky, both wiht GPs and psychiatrists, though psychologists have not been that much help. I've a very long standing set of conditions around PTSD, anxiety and bouts of depression and with the best will in the world it took a long time to get to the regime I'm on now, which suits me and more or less works.

You mentioned the good ones are booked up, well that's really no surprise. I guess perseverance and luck play a big part, There are good ones out there as I've found.

Medical records (well indexed ones) are a great help, I can say between such and such a dates I tried xyz at dosage abc and the effects were 123. If a professional is not inclined to take note of records then maybe time for another. My GP has no qualms about sharing notes on my history with me.

Professional bodies do list practitioners , often by area, maybe that might help.

May I ask if you are alone or have someone to care about you?

Croix

[Dutchie74]

Dear Looking,

Hope you are ok.

Don’t give up! It takes time to find the person (GP, counsellor etc) who is right for you. In the meantime lean on family and friends who will be more than happy to support you.

Wishing you all the very best 🙏😊

[Looking]

It is just that none of them will listen to you. You are only the patient, what would you know about yourself.

I have done just about every test I can find and they all show that I have autism. I am 60 years old, so not much I can do about it now. But it does affect the treatments for depression. People with autism have a very high rate of depression and anxiety. It is the way our brains work that causes it and a lot or normal treatments won't work.

But every time I tell one of the psychiatrists that I have autism, they just brush it off. I don't think they know what to do with the information, so they do nothing.

I just wish that someone would care enough to at least spend a few minutes of their time and do a little research. But obviously their time is too valuable ($600 per hour)

I believe that this is why their treatments are not working. It appears that I have to work out my own treatments as the professionals just want to put me in the same box as normal people rather than realising I belong in another box.

[Trevy]

your psychiatrist that you were seeing sounds awful. The only good thing I can say about his methods, is that if the meds he wanted you to try were maoi's and you had never had maoi's before, that is perfectly reasonable as they are supposed to be excellent where others have failed, whereas the online reviews for TMS sort of indicate it is a waste of time and money. However, if I was in your situation where I was seeing a psychiatrist that wasnt working for me, I would just never go back, and get my gp to refer me to someone else.

[Dutchie74]

Dear Looking,

Sorry to hear you feel let down. But please don’t give up - you only get one shot at life and it is too beautiful to waste it.

Is there a community centre nearby? I have found them most valuable. They offer a range of services, are honest and caring people who are not after your money (most services are free with a mental health plan) but truly want to help people get better.

I hope you find what you are looking for.

Take care.

[Looking]

It is alright people saying to find someone else, but this is the issue. How do you find a good one?

The ones that people recommend are fully booked and you can't get into see them. Then they charge so much that they tend to only work a few days a week and take holidays every second month and that makes it even harder to get in.

Try finding reviews on them. Most have none or only a handful done most likely by friends rather than patients.

They do not even appear to respect their peers. When I changed to a new psychiatrist he requested my medical records from my GP but not the records from my previous psychiatrist.

It is just too hard to find professional help. I can only try and work through it myself.