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Dirt_Berries Seeing a psychiatrist for the first time, need help with what to expect
  • replies: 13

Hello all, I started seeing a psychologist last year (much overdue), and she recommended that I get myself officially diagnosed by a psychiatrist. I've gone through all the steps and managed to secure myself an appointment, which is coming up next we... View more

Hello all, I started seeing a psychologist last year (much overdue), and she recommended that I get myself officially diagnosed by a psychiatrist. I've gone through all the steps and managed to secure myself an appointment, which is coming up next week! I'm starting to get nervous. To make the most of the appointment I have decided to write a mental health summary of sorts for the psychiatrist. My mind tends to go blank under stress and I'm concerned I won't be able to express myself effectively, so I'm hoping a summary will make things go smoothly. My question is, what should I include in the mental health summary? I did some internet searches and sites suggested including the following: -Medications I take -Sources of stress -Drug/alcohol use -Physical symptoms -Thoughts of self harm Is there anything else I should add? I'd be grateful for any advice regarding what to expect in general too. For context, my psychologist has told me I have anxiety issues caused by complex family trauma and a cancer diagnosis last year. Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to respond.

matthiew need medical attention, unable to leave home, non-verbal, autism, persistent panic
  • replies: 4

Hello All, Recently diagnosed with ‘Autism Spectrum Disorder’ Spent much of life high-functioning. Recent stressors resulted in significant impact in my daily functioning. Unable to call support services since becoming non-verbal Cannot leave home (m... View more

Hello All, Recently diagnosed with ‘Autism Spectrum Disorder’ Spent much of life high-functioning. Recent stressors resulted in significant impact in my daily functioning. Unable to call support services since becoming non-verbal Cannot leave home (my bedroom) as intense senses cause immense meltdown/shutdown panic that won’t stop without medical intervention Been prescribed benzodiazepine type medication ‘a drug of dependance’ as regular doctors don’t know how to treat an autistic person, it’s my only known support that stops panic. Trying to avoid the meltdown until I pass out situation, it's terrifying. Panics unavoidable, I'll shut myself in my room. All I hear is planes, birds chirping, little noises from everywhere. I’ve tried multitude of sensory aids all having negatives showing little benefit. The prescribed drug of dependance is my only working treatment until a qualified professional can investigate. Aware we cannot discuss prescription medicine by name therefor shared its ‘type’ in order to express the seriousness of my predicament. My use has been ongoing daily for 2 months. Long term use increases tolerance and dependance. My primary question, how can one get support when incapable of leaving home? Especially when in need of a drug of dependance? Only option i'm aware, once running out won’t take long until my intense senses triggers and will need emergency services, being non-verbal those unfamiliar will be terrifying in moments of need within itself. I’m stuck. How can I get supports before it’s too late? For further information assessment shows ‘Level 2: High Need of Support’ needs under ‘Criterion A: Social/Communication’ & ‘Level 3: Very High Need of Support’ need under ‘Criterion B: Restrictive/Repetitive/Behaviours’ under DSM-V criteria. Being referred to AutismSA being a NGO so far recommended an OT assessment for $900 unless on NDIS. Recently paid $1000 for my autism assessment. Autism is a major financial burden not experienced with mental illness' in Australia due to easy access of supports. My assessment could take NDIS until up to 5 months to approve relevant supports. Frustrating misdiagnosis gave prompt support with SA Health Mental Health Services, a whole lot of wasted government funding. Now the funding can be used correctly but Mental Health Services aren't suitable for Autism and struggling to support my needs. I'm at a loss.

shyGrace dealing with low self esteem
  • replies: 3

hello, i have been struggling with my really low self esteem since i was a kid. just wondering if anyone has any support group or treatment or whatever that anyone can reccommend? and how does that usually work?

hello, i have been struggling with my really low self esteem since i was a kid. just wondering if anyone has any support group or treatment or whatever that anyone can reccommend? and how does that usually work?

Oldmum Links between female hormones and depression/anxiety and best treatment?
  • replies: 5

I'll try to cut a long story short. Basically I've been having issues with my menstrual cycle, with bleeding most days of a month. While bleeding is happening I am very irritable, yelling, even swearing at kids and husband. I don't seem to have any c... View more

I'll try to cut a long story short. Basically I've been having issues with my menstrual cycle, with bleeding most days of a month. While bleeding is happening I am very irritable, yelling, even swearing at kids and husband. I don't seem to have any control. I'm exhausted, sleeping during the day and unable to cope with basic things like cooking and cleaning. My attention and memory are so bad. I'm very sensitive and can't handle criticisms. I also can't handle sensory things very well like noises & movements around me (hard with a 2 and 5 year old!). My mood has been so low and I feel out of control and can't see a way to help myself. My husband is having to take time off constantly to help out as he's working from home during covid and it's really affecting him as well. When bleeding has stopped I notice a marked improvement. I am much more calm and much more tolerant. Still depressed and anxious, but much less so and even happy. I'm really unhappy with my current psychiatrist and my mood goes down every time I talk to her. She's treating me with an SNRI and CBT. I really don't think these work for me as I only seem to be getting worse. I tried to explain this and ask if she thought my hormones could be playing a role. She said maybe but didnt elaborate. She's only obsessed with the damage I'm likely doing to my kids (100% agree with that), but did not offer any new solutions. She suggested upping my dose of SNRI, which I don't want to do, if anything I'd like to stop them and try something else. I have plans to stay in a private mental health unit in the new year and will hopefully get assigned a new psychiatrist as I don't feel like my current one is helping. My question is, does anyone have similar experiences with menstrual cycle/female hormones drastically exacerbating depression and anxiety symptoms and if so have you found a good treatment that works? Also, how did you convince your doctors to take this seriously? To note, I'm currently awaiting a d&c procedure and biopsy to check for endometrial hyperplasia and I'm having a Mirena fitted. I'm very anxious about the Mirena as I've read some horror stories about it making mood worse... that's a whole other story though! Also I'm 43 and potentially the menstrual issues I'm having are the beginning of perimenopause. Thanks for reading. This is my first post so I apologise if I've not framed it correctly or misread the rules.

needingencouragement side effects starting new SSRI antidepressant
  • replies: 2

have limited options in antidepressant i can take for severe bipolar depression. How do you get through the days it makes you feel worse with side effects (especially anxiety, insomnia and tiredness) before you hopefully feel better? How do you get t... View more

have limited options in antidepressant i can take for severe bipolar depression. How do you get through the days it makes you feel worse with side effects (especially anxiety, insomnia and tiredness) before you hopefully feel better? How do you get through these long days of waiting and desperately hoping it will work?

Steve0 Physcotic Episode ?
  • replies: 17

Hi, A few weeks ago, I believed someone came into our house while we were sleeping. Played around with my computer. The heater had been turned on and the electric hot water system turned off. At the time we suspected it might have been our neighbour ... View more

Hi, A few weeks ago, I believed someone came into our house while we were sleeping. Played around with my computer. The heater had been turned on and the electric hot water system turned off. At the time we suspected it might have been our neighbour who we have had a long running dispute with over their noise. We had previously noticed other little things that had happened around the property that were very strange, including the hot water being turned off a week previous. On there own I would just brush the issues off. Added together ... I think about it all the time, obsessively - it's a dark hole. I went to my doctor for an emergency appointment, I was freaked out and wanted to talk to someone. He didn't think the story was plausible and offered me anti psychotic medication and suggested I might think differently in a few days on these meds. He also called my girlfriend immediately after I left. We decided not to call the police as it was a mental health issue - not a plausible situation, nothing was taken that I can see. In a way I was relieved to hear that I was psychotic and happy to take the anti psychotic medication to make me think straight and clear up the worry. They however made it very hard to think straight, I am an IT professional and cannot do my job on those tablets, I couldn't even work out how to operate our TV while on them. And I still believed someone had come into the house even after taking them .. well sometimes I do ... it goes around and around my head, I come to different conclusions at different times. More recently I have been put on sedative medication to reduce my anxiety. I am having nightmeres at night (I never have night meres) sometimes waking up yelling ... I am getting up at random times at night all hot and flushed and check around the house and in my office (very scared) I leave all the outside lights on every night. I'm also very very tired all of the time and i get pins and needles in my feet and lips. My partner complains that I am very quiet and I feel like I can't be happy. I want to be but something is stopping me like a big weight. Am I having a psychotic break ? I don't know - I feel like I am in a black hole. My partner is also scared, she doesn't know if I am going mad or not or if someone was in the house when we where sleeping. Perhaps if we sell up and move house we will feel better.

cindynas Changing psychologist
  • replies: 4

Hello, I'm in the middle of the health care plan and want to change to another psychologist. I understand I would need to see my GP to get a referral to a new psychologist, my question is: 1. Do I have to go back to the same GP who wrote the mental h... View more

Hello, I'm in the middle of the health care plan and want to change to another psychologist. I understand I would need to see my GP to get a referral to a new psychologist, my question is: 1. Do I have to go back to the same GP who wrote the mental health care plan & referred me to this current psychologist? 2. Do I have to see the psychologist that the GP recommends, or am I free to see any psychologist of my choosing?

Anu18 Wife don't want to see a phychatrist
  • replies: 4

My wife is not well and had panic attacks under stress, whenever she is in public she gets over excited and is in alert mode and suspicious of strangers. She talks illogical things all the time which do not make any sense. Under pressure or stress sh... View more

My wife is not well and had panic attacks under stress, whenever she is in public she gets over excited and is in alert mode and suspicious of strangers. She talks illogical things all the time which do not make any sense. Under pressure or stress she loses her thought process and talks wierd things. GP referred her to phychatrist but she don't want to go, even her family has asked her to go as they have also seen her changing. She becomes aggressive and once injured her as well when I ask her to visit phychatrist. I don't know what to do as she is not willing to visit phychatrist and I can't live like this.

Fallen_Angel PTSD? - What are my options
  • replies: 3

Hi Guys, I'm starting to think I may have PTSD from a previous law enforcement job that involved safety threats. I left a year and a half ago, no longer wake up with panic attacks, and the social and general anxiety is gone. I have a nice office job ... View more

Hi Guys, I'm starting to think I may have PTSD from a previous law enforcement job that involved safety threats. I left a year and a half ago, no longer wake up with panic attacks, and the social and general anxiety is gone. I have a nice office job now and am completely safe and generally happy but I still get very panicky (shaky, stressed angry etc) when anything triggers me to think about it. I want these irrational triggers to stop, but being that things is are otherwise good I'm reluctant to do any sort of treatment that might make things worse. I hate talking or thinking about it too. Any suggestions? Has anyone had treatment for this sort of thing before. - Did it work? What might be my options? Thanks!

Rupes79 Experience with psychotherapy
  • replies: 3

Hi All, I wanted to get an idea for others experience with psychotherapy. I started 2021 by seeing an experienced psychologist and ended up having over 20 sessions throughout the year. We definitely covered off some big issues but I also found others... View more

Hi All, I wanted to get an idea for others experience with psychotherapy. I started 2021 by seeing an experienced psychologist and ended up having over 20 sessions throughout the year. We definitely covered off some big issues but I also found others arose throughout the year and then towards the end I didn’t feel we were making any progress at all so decided to discontinue in the new year. I’m not sure I ended up in a position of net benefit for having gone through it. I was very depressed at the end of last year and had to go back on medication which felt like a big step backwards. I now find myself in a situation where I have unresolved issues and need to find a new psychologist but don’t know where to start in terms of finding one I can connect with. The last one was very good in some areas but I felt I couldn’t talk about other issues with her at all. All sort of feels like a zero sum game where I’ve ended up back where I started. Any advice? Thank you.

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