First Psychiatrist Visit Ever / So Many Issues To Mention

[Izzieste]

Hi everyone,

after struggling with mental health pretty much my entire life (I'm now in my 40s) I have finally accepted my GPs referral to a psychiatrist.

I've always felt a sense of being disconnected from everyone. I am highly sensitive to people as well as noise and bright lights. I feel drained after being around people or in brightly lit and noisy shopping centres. I also feel very stressed and anxious in a messy room or office.

I'm afraid of heights, being immersed in water (so no pool, ocean, boats or water-based activities), bridges, spiders, snakes, medical procedures and I am claustrophobic.

I do not cope well with chaos, which is making life and work very challenging because there no longer seems to be a lot of stability in life or work. I feel a bit calmer when there is order and structure, routine. I have low self-esteem, body image and trust issues. I have a type A, perfectionist personality and very high expectations of myself and life. I feel angry and frustrated all the time and emotional outbursts, after which I feel mortified and embarrassed. I've gradually been withdrawing from people to the point where I no longer see anyone outside work and my family lives overseas. I avoid dating completely as well because it seems like such a huge effort with a lot of risk of rejection and being on an emotional rollercoaster.

I have a feeling I have lifelong GAD and depression, but for a while I've been feeling like there is more going on, like a mood or personality disorder. I've been taking medication for a few months but don't feel like it's helping me enough and overall my mental health is rapidly declining. I can't afford to lose my job so I feel like I have no choice but to get a proper diagnosis to help my GP and psychologist work out what approach might work better for me.

At the same time, I am very nervous about what a psychiatrist will say. I have so many issues I don't even know where to start. Should I make a list before I go to maximise my appointment time? Do they just ask questions or do any other assessments? Can they force you to go to hospital without your consent? My gut feeling tells me I need to just stop thinking about it and just go, but it's a bit nerve-wracking at the same time.

[Sophie_M]

Hey Izzieste,

We are so grateful that you decided to reach out here today, as we know it can be really tough to do when you're feeling so low. We're so sorry to hear that you you've been struggling with these thoughts and feelings for such a long time, and we can hear that this must be really tough to cope with. We think it's really strong of you and so important that you have been so proactive in recognising you need some help and seeking it. We recognise that this must be a stressful situation for you, but we just wanted you to know that if you find yourself feeling particularly overwhelmed before receiving further mental health support, please know that there is always help available to you. Many in our community have had similar feelings and understand. Hopefully a few of them will pop by soon to offer you some words of kindness and advice.

If you'd like to talk these feelings through with a friendly counsellor before your appointment, please know you're always welcome to get in touch with our Support Service on 1300 22 4636 or you can get in touch through webchat 3pm-12am AEST here: www.beyondblue.org.au/getsupport  The counsellors may be able to help answer some questions or concerns that you might be having before the appointment, and can also offer some great advice to help ease your nerves going into this.

Please also feel free to keep us updated here on your thread with what you are feeling and experiencing whenever you feel up to it - we hope that you find this to be a safe and non-judgemental space.

[missep123]

Hi Izzieste,

Sorry to hear that you've been feeling that way. I think that you should be very proud of yourself for going ahead with the referral and seeing a psychiatrist despite feeling nervous about it!

Can I ask when your appointment is? Or if you have already gone, how was it?

Mental health professionals definitely care about our best interests so it's important to be honest with them about how you are feeling and then they can address any fears or questions that you may have. That's what I have heard!

Here for you!

[White_Rose]

Hello Izzieste

Welcome to the forum and thanks for telling us your story. First posts can be difficult as we have all found out. I hope you will be comfortable soon.

Your psychiatrist will not be much different to your psychologist. They both want to focus on you and your needs and will help you with your nervousness. Just to agree to see a psychiatrist brings all sorts of worries and fears as over the years this title raises all sorts of images. Please remember they are just doctors with a special interest in mental health.

You are very aware of yourself I see from your post. That's great insight. I think you are right to make a list of your issues and give a copy to the psychiatrist. You could also print your post and take that to show the psych. All this will help the psych to help you as quickly as possible. Please remember you are not there just to get a label on what sort of person you are. You are there to examine how you interact with the world in general. Your post shows you already know a great deal about yourself and this cannot be other than helpful.

You spoke about medication and how you think it is not helping. What do you think medication will/ought to do for you? Generally speaking an antidepressant (AD), presuming this is what you are taking, does not cure your difficulties. You will always need to manage these yourself with the help of skilled people. The medication is to help your mood and resilience. Although we talk about taking other meds such as antibiotics and liken these to AD it's not really the same. An antibiotic will target the source of your infection and work to eliminate it. An AD will help you to think more clearly, feel more rested and motivated and resilient. They do not cure depression or anxiety etc.

Yes I take an AD and I find it very helpful. I have more resilience due to both the AD and the help I have received. I think many people take an AD and believe they will wake up one morning soon and be 'cured'. I would love this to be the case but it does not work that way. I'm not trying to put you off taking meds, just to be realistic about what they do and they can be extremely helpful. This could be a question for the psychiatrist.

Your description of yourself says you are prepared to look at your life in a fairly objective way. This will be an enormous help. However no one is devoid of emotion so let this come to the fore when things get a bit sticky. I've written a great deal and hope it's been helpful.

Mary

[Izzieste]

Thank you Mary. I don't feel my AD medication is having enough of a positive effect. It has made my existing insomnia much worse, I struggle to focus, am increasingly angry and frustrated all the time and keep having terrible emotional outbursts. I also can't stand to be around people because they really get on my nerves and I end up arguing with everyone. I also have no interest in doing anything at all and have no social life anymore. I certainly do not feel more resilient or motivated. I know AD medication doesn't fix mental health issues but I imagined I would at least feel a bit better. Anyway, I guess that's why I should see a psychiatrist I guess.

[Izzieste]

Thank you for your kind message Sophie

[Izzieste]

Thank you for your kind message Missep. I still need to make an appointment with a psychiatrist so I don't know when I will get to see them.

[White_Rose]

Hello Izzieste

Thanks for your reply. I also think AD meds should help to tone down the worst of your difficulties. If this is not happening them maybe you need an increased dose or a different AD. As you say, this is something to discuss with the psychiatrist. I struggled with SSRI meds for some years constantly trying new ones without success. Ironically it was my GP who put me on my current AD. I cannot discuss names of meds but I can say my AD is not part of the SSRI group. It was one of the first AD to be used and comes from the TCA group. It has helped me enormously but it is not for everyone. It's a good reason to make an appointment with the psychiatrist.

Sometimes it can take a while to get an appointment to see the psych. If you can summon up the fortitude to contact the psych you will have achieved a lot considering how distressed you are. Please try.

I can see you are very aware of your feelings about yourself and towards others. It may not feel like it but this insight can be very helpful for your healing.

Mary

[blondguy]

Hello Izzieste

I understand the anguish you are going through and yes its hard work for sure. I am on a SSRI and its the best decision I have made. I failed by trying to self heal for many years and my anxiety/depression only exacerbated

Meds are never a 'fix all' unfortunately....They do provide us with a solid platform on which we can heal more effectively using frequent visits to our doc/counsellor/therapist. I still see my GP every 8 weeks for a 'fine tune' in conjunction with my meds and it works very well

You are a proactive and self aware person...I hope you can stick around the forums...only if and when you wish

any questions are always welcome

my kind thoughts

Paul

[cozza3220]

Hi my name is Coral,

I have been diagnosed with PTSD, depression and anxiety. I am on medication and have earlier this year undergone ECT. I live in a rural area and am finding it difficult with the fact that I only see locum psychiatrists. Yesterday I had an appointment due to my high levels of anxiety (as I have a couple of medical condition that have just arisen) I have actually left that appointment feeling much worse than when I went in. I feel like I was belittled and told that my anxiety was making everyone in the room uncomfortable. My partner came with me and was also upset with the they way I was spoken to.

I am unable to work at the moment and am trying to look into a disability pension and struggling with this. Does anyone have any experience in how to go about this ?

Thanks for listening.