Frustrated with the lack of Mental Health Services in the bush!

[NetDog]

So I have BPD! Anyone would think it was Covid, as a lot of psychologists and psychiatrists avoid BPD patients!

My psychologist is advising me to go to a mental health clinic for time out as she is of no help to me outside of hours. But since I was in there for 2 weeks back in 2011, there is no way I am going back there! I hated it then!

My psychiatrist travels from Sydney each month, but typical of rural areas, the waiting time between follow up appointments is 3+ months, and for new patients it is 10+ months. My follow up appointment isn’t until April. So really I have only got my GP to depend on somewhat, and generally GP’s don’t want to adjust or change medication without approval or instructions from your treating psychiatrist.

To add to my frustration and anger over the lack of help, to use a psychiatrist online you have to go to your GP to get a referral for a Telehealth appointment with a psychiatrist online. To get into your GP can be 5-10 days waiting! So I am left to battle on by myself, and am running out of patients, let alone time, for all this shit!

Psychologists these days won’t offer after hour care, and most psychiatrists are diagnose and treat. No psychiatrists I know of do somatic mindfulness or do psychotherapy like my old psychiatrist from Sydney did. Once my therapy ceased with him in 2013, due to his retirement, I have had no suitable replacement that does what he does! Has Australia become that backward when it comes to Mental Health and providing much needed psychotherapy and somatic therapies for personality disorders? Yes it has! I am totally over it and totally over the multiple steps we need to take, and the time it takes, just to get help.

Is there any easier way to get help?

[Croix]

Dear NetDog~

I'm afraid you are running up against al the shortcomings of the Mental Health here in this country. It does indeed take a GP to initiate psychiatric treatment, and if you live in a remote area then yes, the options available to you are strictly limited.

I too am going to be in exactly you position, with the exception my psych is till on the go and does indeed to psychotherapy on a frequent and long term basis. Sadly the day is coming when he will retire too.

As you can imagine this has been in my thoughts for quite some time and frankly I'm hoping he will be able to recommend someone else who operates in the same way, if not then I will have to do an awful lot of ringing around to find a replacement -somewhere. At least at the moment tele-health makes this possible, let's hope it stays.

One thing I notice about myself is dependence. I am dependent on both the psych and the therapy, and I would think this is not a particularly good -or practical- thing in the long term.

My next serious discussion with him will be about how to transfer this need to my own resources. Not easy but maybe possible with some other psych who does not do more than prescribe and support.

Sorry, don't know a quick way. Perhaps in the interim you might find some suitable on line therapy as a stopgap with an organisation such as Mindspot

https://mindspot.org.au/

You never know there might be something.

Croix

[Aunt Jobiska]

Hi! I'm wondering how easy it is to get a telehealth psychiatrists appointment... That's where I'd look, and then a telehealth appointment for the referral. You usually need an established relationship, but there still are psychiatrists who do therapy - mine does, but it's an up to them kind of thing.