First Psychiatrist's Appointment

[MoonWings]

Hello!

So I'm visiting a psychiatrist soon for OCD. I was wondering if I can bring up any other mental health problems I'm having, such as the fact I believe I'm depressed. I'm also super anxious, could anyone give me any words of advice?

Thanks, Moon.

[Wednesday]

Hi Moon,

First things first remember to breathe, slowly in for the count of four and out for the count of four. It is going to be fine and probably a lot less scary than you think, you may even feel relived talking to someone.

The psychs job is to help you so probably best to let them know exactly how you're feeling. They need to be able to understand what is happening for you and will usually ask you for some background information anyway. Don't be concerned if it takes a few visits to get some clarity over what the issues are.

Taking some dot points to your appointment with you may help keep the anxiety at bay e.g:

things you may want to ask e.g.

• how many session do you think I need?
• will I need to take any medication? and what does it do ? and

things you may want say e.g:

• I'm here because of my OCD but would like to talk about my anxiety and I think I am depressed

I hope your visit goes well. There are lots of great people on the forum with great advice. If you're up to it write back and let us know how you went.

Good Luck!

x

[Zeal]

Hi Moon Wings,

Welcome to the forum!

Wednesday has already given you some great advice. You can definitely bring up other mental health concerns you have in the first appointment. In following appointments, these concerns will be further explored. Like Wednesday said, taking some dot points along to the session can be a helpful memory jogger.

I also have OCD, and was first diagnosed 10 years ago at the age of 13. I've been to psychiatrists and psychologists over the years, so I'm pretty accustomed to speaking to mental health professionals. They are well-trained, non-judgemental and patient. It's okay if you're nervous - that's natural when doing something new, especially when it involves talking about anxieties and insecurities! Maybe you could bring a good novel or magazine to the appointment waiting room so you have something to occupy you before going into the session.

I hope your first appointment goes well 🙂

Best wishes,

SM

[geoff]

hi Moon, simply by telling them that you have OCD suddenly unlocks the door for anxiety and depression, because to me they are all linked together, but there will be much you want to tell them, so this will mean that you are just touching on each individual topic without getting into a real discussion, in otner words you want to say so much but it will get out of hand and both of you will become a little confused.
So the best way is to write down about what OCD habit/trait you are having trouble with, when this HAS to happen and any causes, then between each of these episodes how you feel, perhaps that the depression could be getting stronger each day.
Just briefly list the situation you live in, if you work or if you go to uni and any troubles any of these are causing you.
What I did was do a drawing of a spider web where I was in the middle, and out of me there was a line for OCD, then a separate line for depression, and another for work/uni, then another for social anxiety, then relationships and by the time I had finished it looked like a spider's web.
You can also draw a line from OCD which ones you need to do, and then for depression about your relationship, and another line coming from social anxiety, so in other words it looks like a complete spider's web.
I hope that you can understand what I mean. Geoff.