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MrBrightside Choosing between a bulk billed psychology practice and a paid one
  • replies: 7

For context I'm 25 and for the last few years I'd attended Headspace for free. It was very helpful, I learnt a lot and I left with the belief I could handle things better on my own. However as life tends to do, it throws up some barriers and I've sta... View more

For context I'm 25 and for the last few years I'd attended Headspace for free. It was very helpful, I learnt a lot and I left with the belief I could handle things better on my own. However as life tends to do, it throws up some barriers and I've started to encounter some difficulties again which I feel I should seek some additional support for. Headspace is now closed to me as I'm over 25 and there's no real dedicated mental health centre for someone around my age, that I know of. Now most of the places I've researched all come with a fee. I found one place that I liked. It kind of markets itself as a new-age, hip to the jive mental health centre. That's good because I feel speaking to someone as close to my age as possible and who is familiar with modern problems is what I need. However it's about $80-115 a session. Can I afford that? Yes. Can I afford it long-term? No. Looking at other options I found another place. It's bulk-billed and I can't find any less than favourable reviews. Normally I'd always take the cheaper option but I don't know, for some reason I just feel the first one gives off a better vibe and less of the clinical sterility of other psychology places. Am I just being swayed by better visual marketing? Maybe but I've found nothing but glowing reviews for that place too. Does anyone have familiarity with such options? And how would you go about weighing up the dilemma of affordability versus a place you feel is better suited to your needs? Cheers in advance

FxZIONZ SSRI and Low Blood Sugar
  • replies: 3

Hey All, So i am getting low blood sugar episodes which if not 'treated' last for up to an hour and intermittent throughout the day. I am struggling to eat which doesn't help the low blood sugar episodes. I am just wandering if i should see the doc a... View more

Hey All, So i am getting low blood sugar episodes which if not 'treated' last for up to an hour and intermittent throughout the day. I am struggling to eat which doesn't help the low blood sugar episodes. I am just wandering if i should see the doc about it? I stopped taking my meds and have been back on them at a higher dosage for 3 weeks now. Most of the other side effects have passed. I know its low blood sugar because i can eat a jelly bean or a cup of juice and feel better within half a minute. As well as seeing if i should seek medical advice, Does any body else experience this side effect? What do you do to help it? Thanks Everyone!

Nv1 How to renew expired mental health plan?
  • replies: 3

Hi All, My GP in a medical centre wrote the plan for me two years ago and I had just one session with the counselor in that centre and I didn't really connect with him so didn't continue to visit. I finally found a good psychologist and I visited her... View more

Hi All, My GP in a medical centre wrote the plan for me two years ago and I had just one session with the counselor in that centre and I didn't really connect with him so didn't continue to visit. I finally found a good psychologist and I visited her but my plan has expired. How can I renew it? The GP who wrote the plan for me does not work in that medical centre anymore.

mkr666 ADHD diagnosis in 13yo, should she decide?
  • replies: 4

We saw a paediatrician yesterday and she was very convinced my daughter has ADHD. She is 13 and does very well at school , but is not well socialised (has friends though). I guess as a dad I think she is fairly normal, but then again I think most peo... View more

We saw a paediatrician yesterday and she was very convinced my daughter has ADHD. She is 13 and does very well at school , but is not well socialised (has friends though). I guess as a dad I think she is fairly normal, but then again I think most people are strange. My wife however feels she does have problems and is not normal and could do with help. So I'm thinking my/our approach is to let her decide what she wants to do, whether she wants to do more tests, take the drugs etc. We both think she will do what she wants anyway. The paediatrician was on the verge of prescribing drugs, but I expressed concern so she suggested more tests. Anyway just want an opinion, should we let her decide (of course she might get it wrong), but at least she will be in control. I'm very mindful of mental health and I'm really thinking it from what her mental health will be in the short and long term. I've being searching the internet about ADHD.

Ovait Feeling violated by treatments
  • replies: 4

I have suffered with depression & cognitive deficits for the past 2 years since a mild traumatic brain injury. This injury has turned my world upside down with unknown future implications. I have lost my job, my career, my identity, my home. Depressi... View more

I have suffered with depression & cognitive deficits for the past 2 years since a mild traumatic brain injury. This injury has turned my world upside down with unknown future implications. I have lost my job, my career, my identity, my home. Depression (& SI) seems a perfectly rational response to me. Over the past 2 years I have been hospitalised multiple times (usually involuntarily), been diagnosed with as many psychiatric illnesses as professionals I’ve seen (all based on nothing more than subjective observation & most not resonating at all), subjected to lengthy rounds of ECT & made to take countless medications that proved completely useless in curing let alone helping me. Whenever I’ve questioned “why” re a diagnosis or treatment I’ve been labelled as having no insight or being narcissistic thinking I know better than my doctors. My cognition has now improved to the point that I can read again. In my reading I am discovering evidence from expert psychiatrists & researchers regarding the harmful effects of ECT (that it is basically causes brain damage to the frontal cortex which accounts for my trouble with some higher executive functioning that wasn’t evident pre ECT) & that antidepressants aren’t any more clinically significantly effective than sugar pills in treating the “chemical imbalance” of depression (a theory that the World Health Organisation among others has refuted for many years due to lack of scientific evidence) & are basically neurotoxins that lead to long term physical changes to brain structure. And don’t get me started on the violation of my human rights being involuntarily detained in hospital. We don’t detain medical patients who refuse treatment so why do it to a psych patient? I feel completely violated. These so called treatments have created an almost PTSD state in me. I have faith in the “talk therapy” I get with my psychologist but I have completely lost confidence in the pseudo scientific treatments dished out by psychiatrists. All they have done is delay my recovery by refusing to entertain the idea that I might actually have a brain injury (which has now been diagnosed) requiring cognitive rehab. Now to hope that 2 years down the track isn’t too late for correct treatment. Ovait

WeAllNeedHelp Mixed feeling about work.
  • replies: 4

Hi all, Kaylee here. So I have recently started a new job as a registered nurse around 2 months ago at my local hospital. It feels nice to be in the work force working however I am already starting to feel burnt out? Not exactly sure what it is I am ... View more

Hi all, Kaylee here. So I have recently started a new job as a registered nurse around 2 months ago at my local hospital. It feels nice to be in the work force working however I am already starting to feel burnt out? Not exactly sure what it is I am feeling. I don't mind the shift work and working up to 6 days in a row, however I am not enjoying the ward itself that I am on. I don't know if it's the environment ( I think this is a major part) as it is a busy and fast paced ward, and/or partly the people even though they are good for the most part. So I don't know what to do, if I should start looking for a new position, or just wait it out until my contract has finished in January? I know the transition is hard from finishing Uni and finding my feet in a new job. In saying this I feel like I didn't go through 3.5 years of uni to have anxiety going into work because I feel like I'm going to have a terrible shift because I wont be able to come and because I am not enjoying it and I'm already not wanting to be there. I am seeing a counsellor in a few days so I will ask for some advice there also. I just don't want to quit after putting in so much time and effort to get this far. On top of all of this I have recently started back on my antidepressant medications as I feel it was important to try them while starting. They have helped somewhat in my emotional state but they still can only do so much. SO trying to manage this on top of the stresses at work has been making it a struggle as I don't want people to think I am not cut out for the job due to the high standard expected of me to be able to deliver the best care. How can I do this when I am trying to manage my emotions outside AND inside of work hours ? I have already taken one mental health day for myself which was REALLY nice. I can't afford to take any more! Cheers

JaneH Sons Gambling Problem
  • replies: 1

my son (young adult) has a gambling problem and anxiety, he would like to get help but cant seem to find someone. He doesnt know why he does it and realises too late that all the money has gone?

my son (young adult) has a gambling problem and anxiety, he would like to get help but cant seem to find someone. He doesnt know why he does it and realises too late that all the money has gone?

Guest5643 Petrified of psychologists
  • replies: 5

I don't know what to do. Ive been on a waiting list for quite awhile for the free local health district psycholgist. I just got a letter saying i have to decide by the 25th this month if I'm to still go ahead with it. I'm not going pretend I'm well b... View more

I don't know what to do. Ive been on a waiting list for quite awhile for the free local health district psycholgist. I just got a letter saying i have to decide by the 25th this month if I'm to still go ahead with it. I'm not going pretend I'm well because I'm not but I've become scared of seing psychologists because i got verbaly abused one tine because i was twiddling my thumbs and was anxious that day. I got in big trouble for not going on a steady path of becoming well. I was to get noticely better with each visit and never have a set back and i was accosted because of that and she told me theres people on a wait list and its not fair on them because im not taking it seriously. From then on i lied each time i went and had a fake smile so i could get discharged from there system because i was scared of her after that.

AShadowWolf GP said they couldn't give me a MHCP nor refer me to any other mental health service because they didn't know me. Normal?
  • replies: 3

Hi everyone, I managed to work up the courage after hours of pacing around the area, to walk into the GP clinic that I had planned on visiting, and talk to the GP about my mental health. I don't like my family GP so this was a new one. I told her tha... View more

Hi everyone, I managed to work up the courage after hours of pacing around the area, to walk into the GP clinic that I had planned on visiting, and talk to the GP about my mental health. I don't like my family GP so this was a new one. I told her that I had been struggling with my mental health issues for several years now, that it was getting worse because I wasn't receiving treatment, and that it was impacting my ability to function to the point where I couldn't work and I failed my last year and a half of uni. I had my piece of paper in my pocket with all my symptoms and everything but paused to gauge her reaction before going into specifics. She told me she didn't specialise in mental health which is fine but I figured she'd still be able to help me or at least refer me to someone who could. Instead, she said my uni would have services to deal with my issues and I told her that I needed a MHCP to access them. She said she couldn't give me one because she didn't know me. That was surprising. People see new GPs all the time. She told me to see my family GP and I told her that I hadn't seen him in years and he didn't know about my mental health issues so it wouldn't be any different. I asked her if she could refer me to someone who could diagnose me or give me meds and she said she couldn't give referrals because she didn't know me. She told me again, to see my family GP. That I was born here so I should have one. To ask my mum/ dad/ siblings for their GP instead. I was a little speechless so I just thanked her and left. I don't even know what to do. Wasn't expecting that result. I find it weird that she didn't give me any help because she didn't know me. This surely isn't normal, right? I worry that all the GPs in my area are the same because mental health is never talked about in my community and most people have an outdated view on it.

andyb74 ADHD medication holiday
  • replies: 4

Hello all - this is my first post, i have suffered and been diagnosed with GAD/depression and been taking ssri medication for the last 8 years. I was diagnosed with adult adhd in January 2019 - i'm 45 years old. Now I'm on medications for both - no i... View more

Hello all - this is my first post, i have suffered and been diagnosed with GAD/depression and been taking ssri medication for the last 8 years. I was diagnosed with adult adhd in January 2019 - i'm 45 years old. Now I'm on medications for both - no issues, the adhd diagnosis has been pretty life changing in a good way, everything about my past (although not dwelling in it), has started to make sense - anxiety/addiction/lack of focus, etc - sounds similar to lots of other people on here diagnosed with adult adhd. My question is - my psychiatrist mentioned I should be taking adhd medication holidays every month for a day or two (definitely not talking about holidays from anti depressants - just to make that clear.) My GP hasn't heard too much about it. My psychologist has suggested rather than take no adhd medication - maybe take reduced adhd medication for a day or two. Has anyone else with adult adhd had experience with this subject? There is alot of info on the internet about kids taking adhd medication holidays - but very little about adult adhd.. I currently take instant release adhd meds. Also - i'll add - I did take 2 days off in February 2019, but felt it didn't really help. Since then I have been taking adhd meds everyday as prescribed. I'm back to see my psychiatrist in August. cheers Andy