Struggling to get help

[Doolhof]

I know this is a place where we are supposed to encourage and support each other, to offer suggestions of where help may be received and to try to be positive in our experiences of reaching out for mental health guidance and care.

Unfortunately that has not been my experience for a long time living in the country.

My GP kept telling me he would make an appointment with me to do a mental health care plan. That took about 6 months. At an appointment I basically told him I needed help, could he please do the plan that day and not make me wait another 4 weeks for a next appointment.

The psychologist he recommended sent me an email stating with the information the Dr had written in the referral she was unable to assist me. She had not even met me!

Wait another 4 weeks for another Drs appointment.  A new psychologist was recommended, I had to drive to the city for this one. Had to wait a couple of months for an appointment. My appointment was to be on Thursday this week. Received an email from the psychologist stating "due to changes in his circumstances he is no longer able to offer me sessions".

I go to the local hospital and am told "the Doctors are too busy seeing more important patients to be able to see you".  The Nurse/Sister actually stated that to me over and over.

Looks like me and my sick mind are just going to have to keep trying to support myself until it doesn't work any longer.

[Doolhof]

Hi Summer Rose,

 No need to apologise at all regarding the Champs bit. I like to connect with the forum now and then. 

I did have a look at Blue Voices yesterday on the internet.

The road works were shocking! Waited 15 minutes, only one car and 1 truck were allowed through. Waited another 15 minutes and nothing changed! Did a U turn and drove along some precarious dirt roads to reach the Conservation Park. It was lovely once I arrived there. My car looks like I have taken it out bush bashing!

I've not yet received replies from my work colleagues I asked to be referees for the volunteer role. Will try some other staff next time I am in at work.

Picked up the letter of referral from the Dr for the new psychologist, to discover she works in Mildura and I live near Adelaide! Maybe she has moved to S.A.? The contact number is a land line in Victoria! I left a message so will see if I have any contact. 

Is it just me or does this all sound like it is too much trouble?

[therising]

Hi Doolhof

There are times where I feel like saying to people 'Is there any reason why this is so much harder than what it really needs to be?'. Some things can feel more like a complex obstacle course than a solution or simple way forward. The directions: In order to reach your destination, speak to the same person 3 or more times, make an appointment with person B, have it cancelled then return to point A. After so many minutes, hours or days turn off onto the beaten track, turn left, turn right, jump through hoops, dance naked under a full moon, spin around 3 times and you're there. Btw, it will cost you time, money and your sense of well being (to some degree) as payment for the obstacle course. What the? By the time you reach the end of such a course, you'd be fully entitled to run around like an AFL player who's just kicked the winning goal. Imagine it, running around with your arms up in the air, jumping about while everyone else runs up to you cheering you, hugging you and patting you on the back for being a champion. Meanwhile, you have thousands of people screaming with joy, while appreciating you for the legend you are.

Kicking goals in depression often goes unrecognised and sometimes it feels so incredibly unfair, all that hard work that's not fully acknowledged. Can be so much hard work. I think sometimes we have to award our self the medals we deserve. Whether they come in the form of a latte and croissant at a much loved cafe or a small gift of some type, we gotta be able to say to our self in such moments (when such awards are self bestowed) 'YOU ARE AN ABSOLUTE LEGEND!!!'.

[Doolhof]

Hi therising and all reading,

Sometimes I feel like pulling my hair out and banging my head against the wall would be more productive! At least then I would have something else to think about  and the pain would be more physical than emotional and mental.

Another frustrating thing is the Dr has just added to the referral he originally wrote in January to psychologist No 1. I pointed out to him then that the information he had supplied was incorrect. He just added to the bottom for psych No 2. If you read the referral it contradicts itself and makes no sense. 

Now he is sending it to psych No3 with details I am not sure even fit with this one's speciality! (Which may well be time travel if they work in Victoria and I live in S.A.!)

Suppose I just have to wait to see if I receive a call or any contact from psychologist No3.

In regards to your footy analogy, I was watching an AFL footy match last night where half the lights went out and the teams had to leave the oval for a while. At least they were able to return to the oval to finish the game. Hopefully I will score a goal so to speak with this new psychologist.

Lifeline and Beyond Blue are my supports at present!

I'm trying to help myself as well along the way. 

Will ask some other staff today if they would be referees for me. See how that goes!

I'll also look for all the positives I can find today!

[Summer Rose]

Hi Dools

It isn’t just you, the situation your GP has created is ridiculous. Perhaps another GP? Or, do some research yourself and bring your own recommendations to your GP.

I have had to find practitioners on my own on many occasions. Many clinics have websites and list their staff with information about the staff member’s’ specialities. Beyond Blue can give you information on local psychologists, and so can the Australian Psychological Society. Sometimes if you want something done right you have to do it yourself.

I wish you well in your search for help💜

Kind thoughts to you

[therising]

Hi Doolhof

While some GPs can be doing some good work, certain aspects of that work can be called into question and I think we should feel entitled to call it.

Was talking with my 17yo son just yesterday about the nature of referrals. We agreed that a referral has got to be good enough to trigger the imagination of the person receiving it.

On Monday I'll be speaking to my son's GP (with my son's permission) about a 4th referral which will hopefully have my son see someone who's able to prescribe medication for significant focus and some cognitive issues. The meds are last resort after trying a whole lot of different avenues over the last couple of years. Year 12 exams are looming this year and my son's seriously struggling to manage the work in the lead up. He desperately wants to be able to do the work and get into uni. Basically, I'm doing whatever it takes for him not to become stressed and deeply depressed through his struggle, something I could see beginning to happen.

With the GP attaching a 2021 psychologist's assessment of ticking some boxes but not all for ADHD, this does not take into account the current assessment being done by a psychologist for ADHD and/or high functioning autism. With the current report in the process of being written and the 2021 assessment being attached to each referral, not even coming close to defining the incredible struggle my son now faces with more complex work, psychiatrists are basically referring to what equates to little struggle.

I think any referral should begin with a kind of unwritten 'Imagine this...'. For example, '(Imagine this), the patient/client, while once experiencing some degree of struggle and mental health issues over time now presents with overwhelming struggle and is in serious need of assistance. There is a sense of great urgency in this case' and so on. What do you think the specialist would imagine, based on such a referral?

A good referral paints a clear picture. Might pay to get onto psychologist 3 and see if they've got the picture. Should add, my son's current psychologist got the picture and the sense of urgency, which is why she saw him straight away for an assessment instead of adding him onto the end of a 6 month waiting list. She's been an absolute star.

[Doolhof]

Hi Summer Rose,

Thanks for that. I have tried to research local psychologists myself, would look into it further. There have been some I have seen in the past that state they can help with this and that, but when I see them for the appointment one stated she did not do that. 

I had also looked at the Drs information for the medical centre I attend. Only a couple listed an interest in mental health. The Dr I am seeing had worked in a mental health unit in the city and listed MH as an interest. Maybe he was just too busy to read through his original reference and then correct it later. I don't know.

I had actually typed up notes of the issue I mainly need assistance with and presented that to the Dr when asking him to correct his referral in the first place. He just tacked that information on and it contradicts what he had originally written.

I'm waiting to see if this new psychologist gets in touch. I have searched the internet for details about her and they are hard to access. If I could find an email address I could enlighten her on details.

Thanks for your kind thoughts, I appreciate that, hope you are well, regards from Dools

[Doolhof]

The Rising,

Hi and thanks for sharing. It is wonderful your son has been able to receive the care and assistance he requires, I hope he is very successful with his education desires. It is excellent you are aware of his needs and are assisting as much as you can and are not leaving him to flounder in his own struggles. 

As I mentioned in the post to Summer Rose I have tried to find information about the psychologist now recommended to me. I may also look to other sources to find a psychologist myself. I do have a postal address for No 3 so may write a letter. That could take weeks to reach her! 

Here in S.A. We have the RAA road side assistance. I applied for a new card 6 weeks ago...it was posted 4 weeks ago! A phone call to RAA stated it was still coming in the post! I could have driven there and picked it up with in 3 hours! My point is, what is happening in our modern day world! How can a letter take 4 weeks to travel 100 kilometres?

If I don't hear from No.3 next week I think I am going to put it all in  the too hard basket.

[Doolhof]

Hi All,

No word from Psych No 3 yesterday. I used the Australia Psychological Society site and was able to send her an email so will see if that produces any response.

I tried Googling her for other information, qualifications, specialties or what ever and found very little. I did see the South Australian address listed on one site for her is in the city where as my Dr is telling me she works in a country town called Birdwood!

Wonder if she will make me an appointment for Mildura! I haven't been up that way for a few years! 

[james1]

Hello Dools, reading about your challenges in getting a psych are such a stark reminder that services are just not provided equally to everyone in Australia. That is so frustrating that you put in so much work to try and explain the issues to the gp and get letters of referral. I hope the email to no.3 gets a response.

James

[Doolhof]

Hi James, Summer Rose, therising and all reading,

It seems the email to the psychologist has assisted the process. Thanks Summer Rose for suggesting contacting the Australian Psychological Society. I received an email from Psych No 3, I replied and she made a phone call in the  afternoon. I now have an appointment date for beginning of May.

James, I do understand gaining services for mental health can be difficult for lots of people. Trying to secure an appointment with medical people in general in regional areas can mean long waits. Unless you make appointments in advance it can take 4 to 6 weeks for a medical appointment. Urgent cases are fitted in where possible. One lady stated she was told there was a 9 week wait to see her preferred G.P. 

I have not encountered a country psychologist that bulk bills even with a mental health care plan. One psychologist charged a GAP of $180.00 per session with a mental health care plan. Most have charged a GAP of $50.00 to $60.00. 

This new psychologist is over an hour's drive away. I will plan a walk near the appointment and see what else there is to see and do in the area to make it worth the trip.