Problems Getting Help

[Paula]

is it just the mental health services in berkshire, or is anyone else struggling to get help?

i got diagnosed in 2002, then they just discharged me.

it was like, hey, you have bpd, bye!

they have been trying to refer me to psychotherapy ever since but i kept getting told there was no funding.

i am finally on the waiting list, but have been told it will be MONTHS before i am even assessed!

i cant take any meds, as i have tried LOADS and they ALL make me sick :0(

my cmht say they can only do assesments (which i have had, and they said i just need referring), and they dont take out of hours calls like they used to

i have applied for a copy of my medical notes, as i dont think they even told my gp what my diagnosis was (??)

she seems to think im just a freak (but then so do i most days)

i dont really know what to do in the meantime whilst i wait for therapy, because to be honest, i can be COMPLETELY FINE

or i can be REALLY REALLY CRAZY

i had been coping really well, and went back to work 3 weeks ago after 2 months off, but he past week i have been struggling.

but thats mostly because my friend left me on 7th january :0(

and i havnt heard from him since.

anyway, the point is, does anyone else have this problem??

[lille_eskimit]

It's shit everywhere else too...I've been up and down the country, and where do I stand today?...Even god, in his infinite wisdom and power (who I don't even believe exists), doesn't have the answers. :(

[flowergirl]

Have to agree with Charme,

Pretty crap everywhere, I live in Yorkshire and when I tried to get help from CMHT they said it wasn't really their problem, not something they could deal with.

Sorry your'e having a crap time.

At least you are on the waiting list now, and hopefully it won't be long.

Loads of hugs whilst waiting

Flowergirl x

[Wisdom]

Here in the usa, everyone can choose at any time to see a therapist or psychiatrist or any specialist. Those with private health insurances may have to rely on referals but those ppl still have a "right" to medical treatment regardless of how poor, disabled, or whatever. Depending what agency or private therapist/pdoc they may or may not have a waiting list. This still would allow the individual to get treatment elsewhere. The nice about living here is that treatment doesn't need to be approved by a higher authority gov,t'. I can't imagine being told to wait or being told there isn't any funding.

I'm so sorry that you have to wait for help. That really rots and its not fair. Get a visa and move to usa.

Wiz

[Lauren]

Wisdom,

That is exactly why I said treatment is so much better in the US in the debates forum.

Though I do appreciate there is also flaws in your system.

Plus the fact that they seem to take you more seriously there.

Ho,hum im of to write a snotty letter to my mental health team lol

xx

[Wisdom]

Hi, I absolutly there are flaws in the USA MH system tho its no where near other countries. It is however (don't want to argue) the best in the world as far as research, treatment, long services/supports, availability.........

Lorna, I'll be sure to read your posting with regards to this in the Debates forum.

You all deserve more than what you are currently receiving or not receiving. Back in the 70's and 80' mental health was a hush hush in US. Its now considered an bonified illness and it needs treatment. Treatment modalities have modernized and are now available to all ppl regarding economic level. BPD has been (and still is) highly researched............the stigma of years ago is becoming obsolete. Thank gosh, its difficult at best to have an illness without being treated like crap from our family, friends, community, state, country. Its no wonder why we feel abandonment and rejection................

Wisdom

[paddypotty]

Yup it was pretty much like that here,seen only if in crisis,in severe crisis you were sent off to psych ward for a few days to cool your heels,if unlucky you ended up in ward thirteen.

Thankfully we now have a new psychiatrist and a crisis team,the psychiatrist does take bpd seriously and even reckons we are nearly human,it can be a bit hit and miss with crisis team as there are some err traditionalists who believe we are just time wasting attention seekers.

Possibly a letter reqesting a little more help wouldnt go amiss,I hope things work out.

[lostsoul]

yep shit in london too. whole thing needs reforming. fk em all.

hang in there.

love

lost

xx

[star]

yep crap here down south too..

Sorry to hear that meds don't agree with you

Am i right in thinking you were diagnosed and then left to get on with it alone ? no cpn,counsellor or input from the cmht at all?

If this is the case you should go back to see your dr and demand to be referred back again even if you are on a waiting list in the meantime you are entitled to a cpn or someone from the chmt at least to keep in regular contact with you.

I know you've said that all the meds make you ill but remember there are hundreds of meds and they are developing new ones all of the time - all im saying is never rule out anything

hugs star x

[star]

unfortunately in my experience you have to keep pestering them and fighting to get any sort of help.

but remember

You are entitled to it !

[kraaken]

Dear pinky,

The first time I went to hospital was in 2003. Since then I have been in hospital twice, but to my knowledge was only diagnosed BPD after my hospital admission in Autumn 2004.

Well the first time I left hospital in 2003 I decided there was nothing really wrong with me and I went back to work. I hadn't been offered any support from eg. a CPN at this time, and anyway my work took me away from Glasgow where I had been living at the time. Before I had been admitted to hospital I had been seeing a psychologist about once a month but while I was an inpatient he left his job there and I wasn't referred to another psychologist. And I had had to wait about a year before I saw him, after being referred from my psychiatrist/GP in 2002.

In January 2004 I went to work in Inverness. The GP there kept complaining to me that I was on too many drugs and referred me to a psychiatrist there. However in the meantime I was getting addicted to the sleeping tablet zopiclone and I had started taking too much of the antipsychotic amisulpiride as I was getting increasingly stressed at work. Well I ended up getting admitted to hospital in Inverness. And when I was discharged I was going home to another health board's turf and didn't get any support.

So my GP where I'm living now had to refer me to a psychiatrist in this health board, and I had to wait about 3-4 months before I saw her. I didn't have any other support and felt like I wasn't being taken seriously and was self-harming a lot. Eventually I got admitted to the local mental hospital due to drink/diazepam/self-harm problems, and I was there about 6 weeks.

Thank goodness when I was discharged from hospital this time, I got a care package from a day centre in the town. So now I have a support worker, an occupational therapist and a counsellor, all of whom I see once a week.

My mum was going bonkers throughout summer 2004 as I didn't have any support and still says she can't believe it's taken so long. My parents even have a support group for them to go to.

Bye for now

K

[Paula]

thanks. im going to get a copy of my medical notes, then change surgeries and get a new doctor.

cant be any worse.. lol

not keen on trying any more meds, as i had a really bad experience.

during 2002, i had just about every medication they could throw at me

which resulted in 6 weeks of hell b4 christmas,

where i had a bad reaction to one drug, and ended up in hospital because i was so paranoid

they switched it and i had 2 weeks of being REALLY REALLY ill where i couldnt even keep water down

have since tried to go back on some things but my stomach is SO sensitive to everything, it's wrecked

have to be really careful what i eat now too

none of the drugs actually helped my mental state, anyway so im not too bothered..

would like some help though

feel like i need calming down today... really hyper

[LadyMacbeth]

Lorna,

Just wanted to apologize for debating against you in the USA/UK debate forum. After reading many of your posts about the UK system I have realized that the grass is not greener on the otherside. I think you all should petition ands fight this.

[kraaken]

Dear pinky,

I doubt if they will give you your medical notes, not unless you are prepared to wait for months on end. I've got a friend with a really bad back and he couldn't get his notes and in the end the administration had photocopied the wrong ones so he had someone elses! (haven't they heard of confidentiality?)

Well, the thing with psychiatric notes is that the doctors can decide it would be detrimental to your well-being to see them yourself and refuse your application.

As for changing GPs that might not work because maybe it's not the GPs' fault the psychiatric services are slow. The medical practice where I go, the GPs are good, but there is only one psychiatrist allocated for outpatient appointments in this area and she doesn't seem to be very efficient. So it was good that I got admitted to hospital in the autumn, so I could see a different psychiatrist, and change medication but as I understand it the GPs had to hassle various people to get me a bed and that was about 7 months I had been waiting.

What medication did you react to? Was it a tricyclic antidepressant? I had one of those called lofepramine once and I got really paranoid. Since then I've read that TCAs can make BPD worse.

Unfortunately for the medication of BPD it's prescribed according to how you react to what you've already had, and your main symptoms that interfere with your life.

So for example for the paranoia you might do well on a low-dose atypical antipsychotic like risperidone or quetiapine. However if you have already reacted badly to one of this group of drugs e.g. muscle spasms the doctors should be very cautious about prescribing you a different one. However with a lot of side effects especially gastrointestinal (tummy upsets) they tend to go away after a month or so as your body gets used to the drugs.

Did you get medication for nausea? Examples of these are metoclopramide or prochlorperazine. If you are still off your food and losing weight or getting malnourished, then you could ask for a meal-replacement drink called Ensure or Enlive as they have all the vitamins and minerals you should be getting from a well-balanced diet.

Hope you feel better soon,

K

[Susanna]

I'd really appreciate some advice on where to get help? I've been mucked around from one GP to another, put on various waiting lists and been given one anti-depressant after another.

Is there anywhere central that I could ring that might be able to offer some REAL advice??

Any help would be much appreciated!! :(

[flippy]

i was diagnosed in 2003 and put on a waiting list to see a pyschologist, that was nearly 2 years ago and im still waiting, i see my pyschiatrist every 6 months and the last time after telling her how bad i was doing she said well you're alive that's progress. it sucks big style.

[Lauren]

lol.

I remember years back telling them I was living on squash(fruit juice mix) alone. (this had been going on about six months)

she turned round and said well you must be doing something right you havent wasted away yet.

[kraaken]

I think LadyMacbeth has a point; a petition to No 10 Downing Street! Or lots of individual letters to the Health Secretary. If I find his address I'll post it here. Then everyone could write a letter to him and describe their experiences of the mental health services! It's like we've been put in a dustbin and forgotten about.

K

[LadyMacbeth]

I think everyone in the UK should! Take a stand and fight for your rights! Give you all something productive to do and you can make a difference for not only your own situation but for others in the same situation.

[kraaken]

I've just found a document that might make interesting reading:

By: National Institute for Mental Health in England

Title: "Personality Disorder: No Longer a Diagnosis of Exclusion: Policy implementation guidance for the development of services for people with personality disorder"

I found this at http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/05/42/30/04054230.pdf

I'm just having a read of it just now.

K

[crunchynut]

From reading all these posts the lack of help and support seems nationwide I live in the south west and my experience is no better. I finished seeing a psychologist 6 months ago which I am sad to say did not help and saw a psychiatrist who was difficult to communicate with due to his language skills and so gave up with the mental health service, have just been struggling along. I felt at crisis point about 4 weeks ago due to family problems and ended up at my GP after being persuaded by the Samaritans to go which is no easy feat for me because I can't cope with busy places and when I go spend the time stood in the toilet crying waiting for my name to be called out anyone reading that will realise I am truly a crunchynut! Well she said she would ask the mental health team to contact me, that was 4 weeks ago and I am not a new patient so I am sure what they do is against NHS guidelines, but because one is alone has no confidence and low self esteem you feel you can't cope with any of it and just give up. I start with thinking that they all want us gone because of the way we are treated. It's hard to fight alone. The NHS sucks! I wish I had the ability to fight my corner and sit outside 10 Downing St until something is done for people like us but I am sure it is the same whichever health problem one has there are no dentists a severe shortage of midwives MRSA out of control the problems go on and on. When will any of this change. I don't think it will unless one can pay for private care because I am sure they want the NHS gone. It's so disgraceful! :(