Private Treatment

[thesloaneranger]

hi peeps

sorry ive not been about much, but had another complete crack up on wednesday night

im desperate to get on top of things, but feel very let down by alot of people. my local community mental health team still havent been in touch, despite being chased up twice by my doctor. i organised my own counselling, but she had to cancel our face to face meeting because she had a plumber coming out and gave me a session over the phone which wasnt what i really needed for a 1st time. my husband will not come near me until im at least a little better and without him to give me strength i need to get back on top of things and fast.

there is a priory clinic near me which does treat depression and what i would like to know is if anyone here has used private treatment and found it effective? i know theres going to be costs involved as i dont have private health insurance, but i cant wait for the NHS to pull their socks up, so an idea about cost would be good too. if i stay as i am for much longer i wont be around to spend the savings i have, so figure that i might as well use them to try and get me back on track and hopefully salvage my marriage too.

[Dani]

i went private rather than waiting .each therapy session was £50.

the priory is majorly expensive,i enquired and it was hundreds of pounds a day.

Good luck with it,maybe you could go for some relationship counselling once you are both ready for it too,to help with your relationship.

x

[hummm_mabbe]

Hi sloaney

As a short reply - EVERY private therapist I have seen has been 100 times better than an NHS counterpart. Ive had 3 NHS ones and 4 private ones. The NHS ones made me go backwards, the private ones I made gains all the way through.

Wont say much more than that, tis just my experience.

[thesloaneranger]

thanks for the replies. the priory is the only option available in my area - 99% of the private clinics dont deal with depression unless you have an addiction to go with it. going into residential treatment is not something i would relish, but im so desperate to get out of the hole im in. why is it so easy to get into depression, but so damn hard to get out of it?! :(

[Dani]

depression is so hard... i wonder if mine will ever go away.But i have good times also and periods where i feel happy.

hopefully those periods will become longer for us...and as they do we become stronger.

x

[Benway]

hiya

private is probably better. i think our health system in ireland is pretty soimilar.

the best public psych i ever had (bless him!) was head-hunted for the most expensive private hospital in ireland. grrrr.

the several consultantsd when public i have seen since then - well they were bleedin' useless. as comparrionate as dr. mengele.

wrong diagnosis' all over the place. witholding my meds-5 sifferent ones! (which i am physically additted to- esp. badly then-(effexor and xanax have horrible w/drawls)

soi ended up benzo - fitting for the 1st time.

but i am a socialist!

the 2 tier system sucks, thats for sure. i feel esp sorry for people who cannot afford excellent care as they are so ill, but cannot afford it, or make themselves sicker by working extra hrs/jobs to pay for private.

my councellor told me i'd never get as well as i could get on the public system here. i have no one to call after 4pm weekdays if i freak out.

someone i know is young and working in the sex industry to pay for private healthcare. im pretty sure she has bpd, she is a mini - me in behaviours.

i could get very political - but i won't - too devisive and its not allowed.

but i wish you the best in finding a really good t

A.

[Roses]

I have been private. Had a consultation at the Priory in Woking (didn't see Robbie Williams though) and they said I had BPD after knowing me for an hour.

I saw a Dr next road down from Harley Street and he reckoned hormones were the answer to everything.

Going private can be good, but always remember they are being paid an awful lot to be nice to you. Turns out the hormones weren't the thing that was helping me and I am really 100% NOT BPD and I don't think they are suposed to dx you in an hour.

It is all worth a shot just go in with your eyes open. xxx

[successful_workthru]

I didnt know private mental institutions existed.

That might be my naiievety though.

Last year, when I was in the psych ward, care of the NHS (Thank you NHS, for food, a bed, care, convalescence space, one therapy session, and nice hot water)

Their art room was wicked.

Anyway, I digress.

I started off on section 2 then voluntary.

This year, I asked if I could have a short stay (even just a few days) on a volunrary basis, but was told this was not possible. They are geared up to help those with my symptoms in the home, if I need.

In other words, there aint enough money.

I'm just guessing here, but I think, looking back at my stay on the psych ward, that perhaps, some of the patients there were private. Not sure though, like I say.

The thought of a total private health care system freaks me out.

What if you are skint, are you left to die?

Are countries with totally private healthcare more vulnerable to infectious epidemics, as the poor cannot afford vaccines?

The list goes on.

Sorry to rant, but to me, money and health should never the twain....

PS I got admitted with amphetamine psychosis, as I had made a bit of a pig of myself with speed. This does not mean that I was not genuinely mentally ill.

The psychosis was a chemical imbalance from my greed for speed, but the compulsive speed taking* was a symptom of mental illness, so I was not mentally balanced to begin with.

*I haven't taken speed for ages now.

[sundries]

if i could afford to go private i wouldnt touch the nhs with a barge pole.

but what is fantastic about it is that it IS there when you cant afford. Despite the fact it is often crap in mental health id be lost without the drugs and if the nhs wasnt there i wouldnt have them. beggars cant be choosers and if it wasnt for nhs etc i would be on the streets.

ultimately the nhs is charity, you get what you pay for. (and i know people say well i paid with taxes, but people were paying taxes long before the nhs, the nhs is basically free healthcare)

[Benway]

If people boycotted the private health system - the 2 tier system would fall apart.

Why does someone with money deserve better?

Load a me bollix.

[successful_workthru]

I have a dental phobia, and once, I considered going private, when I was in a situation where I had a few spare quid from being in recept of benefit arrears.

I have always gone with nhs dentists and had as many excellent ones as I have bad ones.

Thing is, they keep changing. You register with a practice, get a good dentist who has a great chairside manner, but six months down the line, you get a cold one who hasnt a clue about dental phobias, chairside manner. One even failed to administer antibiotics to an abscess, this was later picked up by a very cross and apologetic dental surgeon, who was to extract the tooth.

Out of sheer fear, I was prepared to blow a bit extra on the assurance I would be with private dentists who specialise in nervous patients. As it turned out, I got fixed up with the nhs community dental service, who are good.

[wednesday]

Many private therapists work in the NHS too.

Going private here is impossible due to a lack of therapists.

I have a hard time with private therapists because I would need to justify it to myself in terms of the family income. I would also feel that I did not deserve their help because I was not referred, when I was more ill, I wondered if they could handle me.

One of the difficulties is that you need to go for quite a number of sessions before they start to be useful.

[sundries]

if people boycotted the private system, the whole system would fall apart...the private system saves the public system millions if hte public system was suddenly having to pick up the costs of the private system i doubt it would cope.

[Roses]

Yeah, my Dad wasn't happy with my brothers treaatment and said to the guy do yo uwork privately and they walked out of Gt Ormond St and round the corner to private clinic and got dx that day!

[steven]

I think there are certain times when one has 2 go private + pay!

I too have a dental phobias, specifically a phobia of having mercury fillings + with good reason! theres very strong evidence emerging that the mercury DOES leach out into ones system + acumulates in the heart , why it goes there is not really known as yet, causing heart failure!!!

Soes I had 2 pay privatly for white fillings as i refused mercury ones via the NHS.

Mercury is not banned in lots of counties for nothing!!!!!!!!

Im also having 2 now go private for some other health worries + issues which r not being adrressed properly via the NHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gosh iv posted so many angry + unhappy smillyes 2 nite !

Soes it time for a glass of wine now me feels, just 2 make me the whole word a better place + 2 make me feel better agian goodnite every one! :)

[Benway]

If people stand up en masse- - changes would be made. This is how rebellions have been won. This is how people have won their HUMAN RIGHTS.

Sundries, do you want to have to pay for the 'best' care? Does it make you feel superior to the great unwashed?

As for the paying your taxes refrain, you must be a fan of Jeremy Kyle? Margaret Thatcher perhaps?

'All animals are equal,

But some are more equal than others'

George Orwell-Animal Farm

[sundries]

There is no need to be so tetchy absinthe.

I would like to be able to pay for healthcare to ensure i got good healthcare. that is the point of choice. The NHS is the equivalent of a monopoly.

Its not about wanting to feel superior. I think that is your own insecurities coming out. I would like everyone to be able to afford good healthcare. A system like the NHS just allows bad practitioners to keep practising because if one client leaves there are always thousands more. When there is choice about healthcare the bad practitioners end up without clients. The NHS is charity not a god given right however desirable. in this country fortunately we are legally entitled to expect good healthcare from the nhs. It would be even better if we all had the money to pay for it ourselves so we could choose to go to good doctors and i think the nhs is starting to realise this with the increasing agenda of 'personalisation'.

Never watch jeremy kyle and was 7 when thatcher left parliament so im afraid your references are meaningless to me.

[Benway]

i don't have fucking insecurities about healthcare. so what are you talking about?

you wanna pay- why? so you THINK you will get better healthcare.

you are all about money, you.

totally divorced from reality. plane jumping! i have been laughing at that all day.

keep posting - i need a belly laugh now and then.

and don't think im gonna stay up all night ever again listening to your 'problems'. find someone who cares, i don't anymore after seeing the real you.

[sundries]

dont really see how you move from wanting to have enough money to pay for healthcare to being divorced from reality but there we go.

youve never stayed up all night to listen to my problems so i wont be missing much there.

you obviously have a bitter resentment about people paying for private healthcare, which is quite strange if, as you appear to think, private healthcare is no better than the nhs. I personally think mental healthcare in the private sector is a lot better than in the nhs and if i had enough money to afford to go private then i wouldnt hesitate.

Im sorry you are in such a bad mood at the moment but I would like you to stop taking it out on me.

[jades]

back to the subject at hand .... private hc was/ is the only thing saving my life i doni know how it is in the uk but for my experience here in the us public hc = meds and pl shut up there was no real t their idea of t was to ask u how u were and how ur pills were id get all insulted and tell them my pills feel fine but im sui and theyd lock me up for 72 hrs not watch me and id go home and wed do it again private hc is expesive its like $120 hr here but i am actually getting somewhere and always feel heard but roses is right any place u go paid or not alwyays be ur own best advocate and question their logic cause god knows they r going to urs and if they r any good they will welcome the questioning tcxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[hummm_mabbe]

Hi sloaney

If you are seeking therapy only for depression and anxiety (and not a personality disorder) then CBT is extremely effective. Whilst CBT can help some people with PD's, most research now indicates that CBT alone leaves many PD sufferers unhelped.

If you go to the BABCP website, there is a tool there called "find a therapist", stick in your postcode and you will be able to find all CBT practitioners (as well as any CBT relatives such as Mindfulness based CBT) near you, and then get in touch.

Fees will vary from around £35 - £80 per hour, though some may give discounts if you are hard up. With a name like thesloaneranger I am presuming you live somehwre posh j/k....

[thesloaneranger]

thanks for the replies - im sorry, i didnt mean to open up a whole can of political opinions though.

my grandparents, my mum and my auntie all work for the NHS and are very proud to be part of it.sadly none of my relatives work in mental health, and have their specialities in other fields. the NHS is under an enormous amount of strain and not everyone can get exactly the help they need when they do need it, especially when its a specialist you need. im greatful for all the NHS has done for me so far, but i know myself well enough to realise that i need help badly...more than they can give me.

im not saying that anyone deserves better or worse healthcare due to their financial status. my depression has been caused by a marital break up, being forced to sell my classic cars which were my pride and joy and being forced out of my business by my husband.....all in the course of a couple of weeks.its not something ive had for years - ive been knocked for a total loop and the only way i can see me recovering is to get as much help as i can, as quick as i can. theres been so much damage done that its not going to be healed overnight, but until i feel better in myself i cant even start to work at fixing that. the money that i have has come from the sale of my cars, and its always going to be tainted in my eyes so i feel i might as well use it to try and make me better.

from what i can gather, private healthcare has helped some of you. thank you for your replies. oh,hummm, mabe........ i live in paisley - possibly the most un-posh place in the world! lol! im a big fan of the sloane movement from the 80s, thats all. lol

[hummm_mabbe]

Hee

I thought mabbe you were a graduate of Cheltenham Ladies College You could have sold one of your Dolce & Gabbana handbags and bought a years worth of therapy

Sorry to hear its coming from the loss of a much loved car ... like you said, mabbe it will turn out to be something that helps you.

[steven]

I feel as tho there is indeed an important point + comparison be made between the health care systems we have in place ie paying for private practice verses free NHS.

Why should someone who has lots of money who offers 2 pay privatley ALLWAYS get the treatment BEFORE an NHS patient??

For example if 2 people who are in hospital with exactly the same condition + who need exactly the same treatment ie a surgical procedure for example, the person paying privatley WILL ALMOST ALLWAYS 99% OF THE TIME be given the operating theartre in preference 2 the non paying NHS patient!

Now that IMHO is TOTALLY WRONG!!!!!! Its basically a corrupt system which benfits the rich over the poor!!!

There is nothing wrong in essence in paying privatley for health care when the NHS fails, + fail misrabaly it quite oftern does!!!!!!!!!!!! I have 2 go private myself! sometimes we HAVE 2 go private in order 2 get the proper + most appropraite treatment !!

But there is somthing seriously wrong + unfair when a health care system which is designed to HELP EVERYONE on an EQUAL basis oftern favours the finantialy rich !!!!!!!

[steven]

I feel as tho there is indeed an import