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Jacket Should I give my new psychiatrist another chance?
  • replies: 9

Hi all, I posted on 17/1 the post "A few questions about starting with a psychologist". I really appreciated the replies, and am now 1½ weeks away from finally seeing my third psychologist, desperately hoping that I will have more luck. But now I hav... View more

Hi all, I posted on 17/1 the post "A few questions about starting with a psychologist". I really appreciated the replies, and am now 1½ weeks away from finally seeing my third psychologist, desperately hoping that I will have more luck. But now I have a different tricky situation, with the psychiatrist I saw. Important to note: I've never seen a psychiatrist for medication until now. I had a one-hour session (my psychologist appointments so far have been 2-2.5 hours, because my situation is so "complex", according to them), and tried to explain everything in brief, also showing my writing on my life. During that hour, I talked about how my and/or my wife's potential infertility and how that has led to me feeling a lack of control in my life. He called my writing "obsessive", which didn't feel like a helpful comment, and also was surprised at my list of 15-ish friends I've told about my troubles. My support network means a lot to me, and I felt he was challenging me or disapproving. He ended up saying I have "substantial depression" and prescribing me medication, saying I should start them straightaway so I could have them in mornings and so I'd be a little used to them by the time I started work four days later. I put my faith in him and took them immediately, then started to read the information about that drug on the tram. I felt so betrayed when I saw that it has an identified risk of adversely affecting fertility. (As well as this, I had dizziness, headache, stomachache and vomiting. This was my first time ever trying an antidepressant.) I called him, and he spoke through his receptionist, saying that if I have such concerns, I should stop taking them and go back in a week's time to get something new. Did he not know about the fertility side effect? Did he know and conceal it? Does he just want me to visit again soon so he can make more money off me seeing him? It's very expensive to see him. For now, I booked a new appointment for this Friday, but I don't know whether to cancel it, postpone to see how I go at work without drugs and how I go with the new psychologist, go to see him and decide later whether to take his new prescription or not (I will of course be reading everything thoroughly this time), or seek a new one? I'm feeling very fragile, and already had such bad luck with two psychologists, I don't want to go through this all again because of a bad psychiatrist too. What would you do? Thank you in advance for your advice.

Sneed Mental Health Care Plan - changing psychologist
  • replies: 1

Hello all, first time time posting here. I just have a question in regards to the mental health care plan. Towards the end of last year, my GP wrote one of these up for me, and I went looking for a psychologist. I wanted someone to see me reasonably ... View more

Hello all, first time time posting here. I just have a question in regards to the mental health care plan. Towards the end of last year, my GP wrote one of these up for me, and I went looking for a psychologist. I wanted someone to see me reasonably quickly as I had some pressing concerns, which was a difficult task as many seem to have long waiting lists. I was, however, able to find someone who would begin seeing me at the beginning of the year, an I have since had a few sessions with her.Unfortunately, I don't think it's going very well. Not to go into specifics, but I'm not sure her methods are appropriate for me personally. I would like to try seeing someone else, but I am just not sure how to go about this with the MHCP situation. Is it possible to start seeing another psychologist on the MHCP after you've started with someone else? Would it require a new MHCP or do I use the old one? I guess I just want to know if it's possible to transition from one psych to another on the MHCP and what the process for doing so would look like. I gave my MHCP to my current psych. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Rae76 Can SNRIs affect menstruation?
  • replies: 5

Hi, Weird question. I am in the process of tapering off from an SNRI in preparation for changing medication. My period is due, but instead I have had a week of cramps on and off and sore breasts but no bleeding. I don’t know whether the withdrawal ca... View more

Hi, Weird question. I am in the process of tapering off from an SNRI in preparation for changing medication. My period is due, but instead I have had a week of cramps on and off and sore breasts but no bleeding. I don’t know whether the withdrawal can affect this at all or whether something else is going on. I have had every withdrawal symptom on the list but nothing like this was mentioned. I’m seeing the GP in three days anyway but I just wondered if I should be taking a pregnancy test in the meantime! We haven’t been using protection but, I had to use IVF for my two kids because i was supposed to be unable otherwise! Sorry I should probably just wait for the GP but I’m wigging out since we didn’t want a third child. thanks.

Lurkette How does Centrelink expect us to pay for two DSP evaluation on Newstart?
  • replies: 11

I'm on Newstart and I'm at least partially disabled due to mental health probs. I wanted to be evaluated to determine if I'm disabled enough to get the DSP. To get the DSP I need two evaluations from Clinical Psychologists. My GP is no help (knows al... View more

I'm on Newstart and I'm at least partially disabled due to mental health probs. I wanted to be evaluated to determine if I'm disabled enough to get the DSP. To get the DSP I need two evaluations from Clinical Psychologists. My GP is no help (knows almost nothing about mh probs). I called around on my own to find clinical psychologists. Each evaluation has the low-low price of 3-4 thousand dollars each. Medicare doesn't cover any of this. I called Centrelink and they said they don't have any programs to cover the cost and they don't have any suggestions. This is the first time I've run into a literally impossible situation (no one can pay 6-8 thousand dollars when all they have is Newstart) What am I supposed to do?

Bluebirdbrown Assessment tool- results for anxiety depression. How accurate is it ?
  • replies: 7

Hello, I am just curious how others feel about the reliability (or accuracy) of those online assessment tools for depression, anxiety and stress etc. How do we interpret the results? My GP tends to simply rely on the numbers scored and diagnose you. ... View more

Hello, I am just curious how others feel about the reliability (or accuracy) of those online assessment tools for depression, anxiety and stress etc. How do we interpret the results? My GP tends to simply rely on the numbers scored and diagnose you. And prescribe more pills etc. I partake in PHQ-9, K10 and SPIN and the overall results indicate that I have score high mark which representing severe symptoms or in a very high distressing range. This worries me as I don’t feel that the results reflect exactly how I feel and how bad I am. Indeed I am feeling I get better each day. Small steps but not going backwards. I know it sounds silly to ask this question but it’s annoying me and I tend not to distort my feeling to make the results looking nicer !

Ellen2811 Feel like giving up - no Dr seems to want to help
  • replies: 3

Hi. Sorry for the long post, but want to explain why I feel the way I do. I've always had terrible fatigue which stops me doing things I want to do. Have tried many anti-depressants with no effect. My mind is fine and wants to do everything, but my b... View more

Hi. Sorry for the long post, but want to explain why I feel the way I do. I've always had terrible fatigue which stops me doing things I want to do. Have tried many anti-depressants with no effect. My mind is fine and wants to do everything, but my body doesnt want to move and feels like lead - all day every day. GP wanted me on stimulants. Psych wanted a sleep study. Sleep physician said he can see I'm tired as I kept falling asleep during the day and they had to wake me, but it took me 10min to fall asleep each time and he can only help if I fell asleep under 6min. Another psych put me on a non-amphetamine stimulant which worked well, but 3 years later, I fall asleep 4 hours after taking it. If I increase the dose I cant sleep. Gp put me on a new non-benzo sleeping tablet with no effect. Went to another psych and was told to get off all the nasty drugs and go and live my life and then my brain will re-wire its thinking and I'll be cured. Left her appointment with depression, crying while driving down the highway for an hour. They all say it's not chronic fatigue, but fatigue from long-term anxiety. I had an adrenal gland test and it's normal. I dont take my kids anywhere or do anything with them. I dont cook them dinner as I'm too "drained". My friends can see I'm not the same as I used to be and that my house has deteriorated, which makes me feel worse. I know in my mind I want to do all these things and live my life, as the psych said, but my body wont move. So, I'm back to square 1. Noone seems to want to help or prescribe meds to help me. CBT and mindfulness dont work. My relationship ended due to me being "lazy".

incrediblytired Has anybody been approved for Sick Allowance?
  • replies: 2

On my mother's recommendation, we've decided that it might be best if I took a few months off work. My mental health is the worst it's been in a long time, and I'm seeing a psychiatrist and working towards getting a referal for a new therapist, but t... View more

On my mother's recommendation, we've decided that it might be best if I took a few months off work. My mental health is the worst it's been in a long time, and I'm seeing a psychiatrist and working towards getting a referal for a new therapist, but the overwhelming pressure of work is making it hard to see any light. Does anybody have any experinces claiming sickness allowance while suffering depression/mental health issues? What was it like? Was getting approved difficult? How long did it take? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm very in the dark on this.

Flaxy First time reaching out
  • replies: 2

This is the first time I've reached out. I suffer from depression anxiety ptsd and finding it hard to cope as its the worst I have ever been. I'm on medication but it's not working. I'm sleeping a lot not eating properly and loosing a lot of weight. ... View more

This is the first time I've reached out. I suffer from depression anxiety ptsd and finding it hard to cope as its the worst I have ever been. I'm on medication but it's not working. I'm sleeping a lot not eating properly and loosing a lot of weight. The thing that is worrying me most is I'm finding excuses as I can't seem to be able to leave my house. Why is this as I bought a new car but to go to the supermarket I catch a taxi and rush home. Any ideas as I'm really struggling.. Love and light to all

Wonderlands First Visit Task
  • replies: 4

Hi everyone, I visited my therapist for the first time and after the session she told me she wants me to keep a diary and check in with it at least 3 times a day with how I'm feeling and how I think that feeling happened. It's going to honestly be ha... View more

Hi everyone, I visited my therapist for the first time and after the session she told me she wants me to keep a diary and check in with it at least 3 times a day with how I'm feeling and how I think that feeling happened. It's going to honestly be hard to get the motivation and not put off checking in. I also am unsure if I should check in around the same time a day with whatever I'm feeling at that point in time, or whether to record strong feelings and changes in emotion/feeling... Not sure what will be most effective. Does anyone else keep a diary for this reason? How does yours work and do you feel it's been beneficial so far for you? What's your experience so far? How do you keep yours?