Seeking help from a councillor - help

[mxgncraig]

Hi,

I have decided that I have reached a point within my anxiety where I need to speak to a professional. For the last 16 months I have been dealing with waves of severe anxiety since I was in a car accident which almost killed me. This accident has resulted in me needing complex reconstructive surgery, more than a year down the line since it happened. This amongst other personal happenings (one. thing. after. another.) has become a plague in my life. I have found myself more recently dealing with intense feelings of depression and panic. My weight has plummeted - and as someone who used to suffer with eating disorders this is a scary concept to me. My work life is suffering. My personal life is suffering.

While I have the most wonderful, caring partner (whom I just got engaged to), I am beginning to feel as though I need to speak to someone who can help. Before it becomes too much to handle. However, I have no idea how to go about this... I am embarrassed to talk about it because I genuinely feel as though I am just being silly, and by being negative about it all - I am just attracting more negativity. But I'm not, I know that.

Can anyone please tell me how they approached finding professional help?

Thank you.

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi mxgncraig,

Welcome to the forums and thank you for being here.

I feel mixed feelings reading your post; on one hand I'm so sorry for your struggles and to hear how you are suffering, and on the other hand I feel so proud that you want to get help. I know that it is so hard to reach out.

So, without further adue -

There are a few different ways to look at getting some help but the go-to is to see your GP.

Make sure you book a double appointment, and once you get there you can let him/her know you'd like a referral to see a psychologist. This way they can get you what's called a 'mental health care plan' which allows 10 free visits under the Medicare scheme.

They can choose a psychologist or you can;- here http://www.psychology.org.au/FindaPsychologist/ Note that if you use this site make sure you tick 'Medicare Psychologist'. This site is more helpful if you're in the city/suburbs and/or have specific kind of things you want to talk about (i.e. trauma).

The other thing that might be handy to know is that you do not need to go into specifics with your GP if you would prefer not to. They may ask you general questions about how you're sleeping etc and ask you to fill in a survey like this one - https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/anxiety-and-depression-checklist-k10 It's also okay to ask specifically to see a psychologist and to refuse the idea of medication. Sadly some GP's can prescribe rather than refer; so tell them. You may want to rally your partner for a bit of support and advocacy if you're not comfortable with this.

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any questions you like.

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi mxgncraig,

Oops! Forgot to mention - there is no shame about seeing a therapist. At least not in the BB forums.

A lot of people liken seeing a therapist to seeing a doctor. The only difference is that we can't see mental illness the way we see a broken bone. That doesn't make it any less real. It doesn't make you any less capable for needing a bit of extra help or support.

I have seen a number of therapists and I am okay with that. For me, the benefits of seeing one far outweigh the idea that I could just be a negative nancy or the belief that I should just handle it on my own. Your feelings are valid, your story is important, and you deserve to be heard.

[smallwolf]

I had a ("full on") breakdown a little over a month ago, though suffering for over a year with anxiety. While waiting to make appointment with doctor, they had a message about if you want to make appointment about anxiety and depression to make a double appointment. So I did that, and the doctor asked me about my "symptoms" which were chest tightness, racing heart, lack of appetite, tiredness in addition to the negative thoughts. (I am somewhat understating what I was going through at that time! I was referred to a psych. for what I will describe as a consultation (but still a session) and from that, I then had to go back to the doctor to get a mental plan. I have had 4-5 sessions with the psych. I call myself a work in progress, making slow improvements with each session. I had to do something before things got worse which could have ended very badly.

My recommendation is to see a doctor about your conditions and hopefully you would be referred to a psych with a mental health plan... the first step takes courage (than to ignore it), but after that (at least for me) is also a relief knowing there is hope.