I think I had a form of norovirus until about Tuesday and I've really been struggling mentally. I went to the doctor's because I was a bit desperate and couldn't really understand why my antidepressants just wasn't working anymore.

The lady basically said because of the severe stomach bug, my antidepressant wasn't digesting properly. I mean it makes sense because I was having a really bad time with my bowels for a week!

I was recommended to get sachets for dehydration from the chemist and as disgusting as they are they have made the world of difference. Replenishment of my body salts and whatever else is in the dioralyte.

I can't believe how much despair I have been in for it to finally start to lift a bit.

My friend saw me at my worst on Tuesday and told me a saying which was breathe in the good and blow out the bad. For some reason that's helped me with my grief recently as well.

Hi I’ve been struggling for a long time with depression and as part of that I have a lot of suicidal thoughts.

I’ve had a load of therapy and I’m on a bunch of drugs which have helped a lot and I can function day to day.

I’m at the point I’m wondering if my suicidal thoughts are just ‘shit life syndrome’ and unfortunately I can’t see a practical way to change things to make my life less shit. So I think am I stuck with this.

I’ve told my mental health team repeatedly about my suicidal feelings but they don’t take them seriously as they are so long lasting and so I feel really unsupported.

It’s that situation that you feel you need to harm yourself for them to take you seriously and I am getting to that point again. I think about harming myself enough to end up in hospital and then in the mental health ward because I don’t see the latter happening unless I do something drastic. It’s awful that I start thinking like that.

I’ll try not to over complicate this but it is a complex situation so apologies.

I have 2 teenage children with my ex husband. Split up 10ish years ago and both re-married. Son has always maintained relationship but daughter has always struggled with it. In 2019 she stopped seeing him for about a year. Things picked up again and she started to resume the visits with her brother. In 2021 she stopped again and hasn’t stayed at his house since.

My daughter is diagnosed with autism and has mental health issues. She stopped attending school around March 2022. She has been having MH support since she was 7/8 and has an EHCP.

I have always found communication very difficult with him and he very much only speaks to me if he has to. If he’s away or can’t have his scheduled days he just says he can’t and that’s it, there’s never swaps or suggestions to work out a better option. He tells me what he’s doing and I work around it. This has always been a problem for me but we had mediation years ago and since then I realised that I was never going to make the co-parenting relationship work in a way that benefits the children so I just kept everything factual and minimal. There have been many times that he has gone back on agreements, let me know same day that he can’t do it, missed parents evenings, meetings, football matches etc.

I had to change the child maintenance payments because he was constantly ignoring my request for a p60 and refusing to discuss the terms of the shared care. When he was contacted by CMS he threatened me over email.

This year, my daughter has had and is still having a major depressive episode. She made a serious and almost fatal attempt and has spent nearly 4 months in hospital. She’s been home since August. When she was admitted as an inpatient, she requested that her Dad not be updated in the weekly meetings, or contacted by the unit. They did explain to her that he would be told certain things as he has parental responsibility and she was ok with that.

The last time he visited her was in April when she was at our local children’s ward. He did not visit her at the in-patient unit and he has not spoken to me since August. He stopped replying to my updates (I let him know she was coming home etc…) so I stopped messaging him. He has spoken to her twice since May, one of those texts was to say happy birthday.

For info, He lives 10 minutes down the road and picks my son up from my house.

Daughter is 14 now. I have had to give up my whole career and life to be a full time carer for her. She does have a school place agreed but it doesn’t start till next summer. Me, my son, husband and extended family have been extremely traumatised by the events of this year. Having my 13 year old stay at an inpatient facility for 3 months was the worst time in my life and it was in a whole different part of the country. I visited every week, I went to every meeting and I had to also make sure my son was ok throughout all of this, as his Dad didn’t have him any extra during this time.

Ex has emailed today to say a few things about the shared care calendar. He asked me for an update on the daughter as I haven’t updated him since August. She doesn’t want me to tell him anything and she won’t talk to him herself. I want to reply to him with some short responses to the shared care stuff but not mention the daughter at all. As she is now 14 I believe I’m within my rights to do that and he only need be involved in any decision making if she were to be sectioned at any point.

Are there any other parents that have troubles like this? What I really want to do is scream at him and let him know I have PTSD and am on medication and in therapy due to our child being so ill, I want to tell his that the reason she doesn’t want him to know anything is because he’s shown her over the last 10 years and particularly this year that he doesn’t give a shit about her. But I know that won’t help anyone so I just want to ignore it. I just don’t want to get slapped with court or legal fees because I am still very broken and I have nothing left in me to fight. I have to watch my daughter closely 24 hours a day due to her risky behaviour. I have to make sure the house is safe all the time and I can’t sleep unless she sleeps. I’m exhausted.

If he were to get legal advice, would they advise him to get a court order? Am I making things worse by ignoring him over the issue? She has so many other problems and him being out the picture has given her one less thing to battle with so I do feel supportive of it. I did try to get him to engage with the family therapist at the unit but he never called them.

Am I failing her? Is this the right place to ask or should I be in the legal bit or parenting bit? MH is just such a huge part of it and like I said, I’m broken and feel like I’ve lost the ability to be reasonably minded and fair. I just want my kids to be ok.

Sorry for the long post.

I've been referred by my GP to the "community mental health team" (in London) and am now waiting for them to contact them (got the impression it could take quite some time). I can't find out much information about it online and am a bit confused about what exactly they are, how they operate etc. Will I see a psychiatrist? A psychologist? Somebody else? What exactly happens?

The referral came about because I had already gone down the IAPT / generic talking therapies route and my GP agreed that CBT wasn't appropriate for me, and that we needed to try something else.

(I realise my question would have been an excellent one to ask the doctor at the time but it was a bit of a blur so only realised this afterwards)

I cry myself to sleep thinking about all the mistakes I’ve made. I don’t think I can ever forgive myself,whenever I think about the past I start breaking down.Its been like this for 5 years now, every day is somehow worse for me.

I’ve stopped eating and just lay in bed every day doing nothing.I want to be happy but don’t want to seek help since it’s taboo in my family to talk about mental health. I tried to kms before but failed and since then It’s like I’m stuck in a life I don’t want to live in.

Disclaimer: I’m not currently at risk

Hi all,

Long and winding rant ahead but I need to get this off my chest. TL;DR below.

I (27m) increasingly feel obligated to move back home and sacrifice my life opportunities to care for my mom’s mental health.

For context, we lost my dad, my eldest brother and both maternal grandparents in the last few years. Needless to say, this has been devastating and has turned both of our lives upside down.

I have done my best to cope with this. In recent years, I have managed to graduate and move away to pursue a career. Work is extremely fast-paced and stressful, but at least I have friends and community there. I go for long walks in the green spaces, attend therapy regularly and I feel like building a life is actually possible.

Back at home, my mom has also tried in her own way to rebuild her life. But she is very obviously clinically depressed and I suspect suicidal on and off. She says I am the most important thing in her life and that she doesn’t have anyone that cares about her other than me. I don’t think this is true - she has lots of friends, a bunch of hobbies a busy social life, but we just don’t have a family in the way other people do. This is compounded by the fact that - thankfully - very few of her friends have suffered to the extent we have. Many of them are retiring, becoming grandparents and enjoying the tail-end of overall very nice, comfortable lives.

I am not expecting my mom to pretend nothing has happened or to be a ray of sunshine at all times, but her poor mental health impacts my life dramatically. She is only happy when I’m back home, which means taking time off or away from work specifically for that purpose, which annoys my colleagues to no end and takes a huge chunk of my annual leave which I could’ve spent relaxing or pursuing my own interests. Moreover, I feel like our relationship is inverted - I’m meant to look to her for stability, not the other way around.

If I don’t text or call for a few days (due to my very stressful job), she will become very upset with me. Even if I do call, the conversation will ultimately circle back to how lonely she is, how she has nobody and how lucky I am that I’m young enough to build a new life. Needless to say, this evokes an enormous amount of guilt whenever I do manage to enjoy myself.

I have begged her to seek help but she doesn’t listen. She is finally going to therapy after I sat her down and made her pick one, but I think she expects them to just hand her a roadmap of how to fix her life and says it’s useless when they don’t. She also refuses to try medication, which I find frustrating as it has helped me enormously.

All of this to say - I feel enormously guilty for living my life and that I may eventually lose my mom to suicide if I don’t go back home. I love my mom, but home has absolutely no opportunities and I know for a fact I will stagnate. I am stressed, depressed and feel like I have had to deal with way too much, way too early in life. I don’t know how to solve this beyond accepting that I need to move back home and give up on the life I might’ve had.

TL;DR - my mom and I lost most of our family. She is extremely depressed, possibly suicidal, won’t seek help and is only happy when I’m back living at home with her. I feel guilty for moving away and building a life I enjoy and I don’t know how to resolve without giving that up and moving back.

Im looking for a new therapist who specialises more in BPD. I can’t find one in my area so I’ve found one that does online. I found them on findatherapist. The job title is ‘chartered physcologist’. They are also really cheap (£40 per session of 50 minutes). But there not registered on BACP? Are they legit, do you not have to be registered on BACP if you’re a chartered physcologist?

So if you've been following my posts this last week you will know I haven't and am not doing well.

So much going on in my head. But thankfully I'll be returning to work Saturday so I'll be abit more occupied. I guess it's not a bad thing not being to handle being off work.

But anyway.

So I went out and I was on the phone to my brother and I was crying. Crying so much and I could see people looking at me. At the time I didn't care. But i got off the bus and was like WTH. It's difficult.

It was also scary because it was one of those days when my brain was telling me that people wouldn't notice or care if I just didn't exist. I told my brother this whilst on the phone and then my mom when I got in.

It's just difficult. Everything. I'm so lonely and i miss having friends. I miss having hugs. I miss being silly and forgetting the world.

I hate that I still miss my ex. I'm not sure if It actually her I miss anymore or is it the warmth and love of being in a relationship? I've just been so scared. So scared to move on. Maybe I'm too broken? Maybe the next person will just end up treating me horrible.

Will I realise? I don't even know anymore.

T.w - self harm and suicide

I've been together for serval years. He has only tried therapy, maybe once or twice. Had a bad experience and refused to go back to it. The same on his antidepressants.

For the whole time we have been dating, he has had bad mental health. Mine has gotten worse, too. To the point where I self-harm and have thought about suicide many times. I am in therapy and on antidepressants.

He had another breakdown at work. He is a chef and had to break down the kitchen alone tonight. It's a big kitchen and it took him around 3 hours to close. I don't know. I'd this trigger it, but he let's stuff build up, like what happened tonight and then snaps.

When he came back, he just said outside for 30 minutes because I was asleep and refused to use his keys. He didn't talk after I let him in. We cuddled for around 10 minutes before he pushed me away. He isn't talking to me.

He definitely has some sort of anger issues or something. He yells at me and calls me stupid and such. I can't type it all in this post.

But I am making plans to end our relationship. He does not know this. But I am worried that he is like this at work. What happens if/when I do leave him? Will he try to commit suicide again?

I've been on citalopram for about 3 years and in this time I've noticed certain changes (e.g. Loss of concentration, increased migraines, loss of motivation, fatigue, and more). But I've also had some major life changes in this time so can't be sure if what I'm experiencing are side effects of citalopram or if they are just depression/anxiety. I spoke to my GP about coming off citalopram but they instead asked me to increase my dosage because I recently suffered a bereavement.

I've tried other antidepressants but had bad reactions to most of them - citalopram was the one I could tolerate best.

Tia!

Tw suicide mention but I am not in danger

I (f28) suffered badly with anxiety and depression in my teenage years but since getting on escitalopram at 21 I have been pretty stable. However, things have got worse and I am incredibly scared for my future.

About a year ago I broke my leg badly and ended up having to deal with infected metalwork, more operations etc. My last operation was july and since then my leg has been getting stronger. I have been working as a freelance writer but the content industry has took a beating recently and earlier this year I lost my two main clients and couldn't find any more. However, because of my leg I couldn't go back to bar work (which is what I have previously done). I couldn't get any financial help from the government because of my partners earning which left me feeling awful as I have been relying on him and my mother for cash. On top of this my cat passed away in August. Its been pretty horrible.

So I've been stressed about my career but have a plan to go into charity communications. However, I decided to get part time work while building up my portfolio through volunteering etc. I recently got a part time job as an activities coordinator in a care home. I've done similar things before and enjoy being creative and helping others, so I was really excited to start!

But, when I started on Monday I basically mentally collapsed. I cried for the whole day panicking and panicking. Tuesday I managed okay but I felt so horrible constantly. I cry and panic every night that everyone hates me or I'm going to do something horrible by accident. It's really frightening how strong this has come on. My mental health hasn't been great this year for obvious reasons but I didn't expect this to happen. I used to be so confident and upbeat - now I'm a mess.

So now I just don't know what to do. I cannot quit as I need the money and I don't want to quit because it feels like anxiety will win. But I hate being this uncomfortable I am in actual pain.

I am on the highest dose of esticalopram so I can't even up that to take the edge off. I feel so worried for my future regarding my career and work. What if I just can't work with people any more ?

I don't know what to do. I feel lost and hopeless. My partner and family and friends are so supportive and wonderful but I just feel like I am a burden to them. I have suicidal thoughts, but I don't want to do that. I know I can't do that. But I am just so scared for my future.

For the better part of the year I have been trying to get through to both the NHS therapy service and the GP because of poor mental health that is only getting worse. This in itself has been difficult because I have not found CBT to be effective and my situation is too bad for the "wellness groups" that I keep being offered. But on the other hand, I'm neither suicidal nor in danger of hurting people, so I've been stuck in limbo trying to find out if there are any other options.

I finally made some minor progress getting to see a counselor in person. Not a therapist as such, but she can refer me to other services, I believe.

But I am really struggling to talk about my problems honestly and clearly.

The problem is that I think I have issues that are blatantly unfixable. I am extremely unhappy with my physical body, appearance, gender, and just about everything. This has no "cause" (such as a traumatic event) and I have felt that way for as long as I can remember. I cannot say this out loud. Not only do I get far too emotional beyond my control, and thus it's PHYSICALLY hard to talk, I also fear being either deemed too crazy/unstable, having some undesirable misdiagnosis slapped on my record (I've seen too many stories on this subreddit about women being quickly misdiagnosed with EUPD/BPD) or dropped entirely because my case is too complex (which has happened before with the therapy services)

I know how I feel is "illogical" and doesn't make sense, but I can't change that. I have tried, for years, to "just accept it", or cope, or wait it out to see if I "grow out of it" - I didn't. I'm in the second half of my 20s now and I've reached that point where if I don't do something now, then nothing is ever going to change.

I don't know what to do or how to begin explaining. If I could get a few words out without sobbing, that'd be a great start, but even if I could I don't know what to expect, I just feel like it wouldn't end well. But I can't keep hiding this, because I'm getting nowhere.

For example I'll say that I don't do anything with my life and don't have any motivation to do anything. That I don't socialize, but as much as I want to, I also don't want to. The counselor (or whoever else) will ask why. I will say it's because of my face or how I look - they immediately assume low self esteem or beauty standards, or social anxiety, then I stop them and say no, that's not true actually. But I then can't explain the real reason why.

Any advice appreciated.

Hey there. I'm trying Lamotrigine for the first time and I just wanted to know if there's anything I should be aware of? I'm currently being reviewed for Bipolar (Type 2 to be exact) and I was wondering if anyone on here can give me their experience as I feel nervous. I've been on many antidepressants for over 10 years and nothing has really worked. What am I getting myself into exactly? Is it any good? What side effects should I be worried about?

So I’ve had recurrent depressive disorder since I was 13 I’m 24 now. I’ve been on fluoxetine for years and it doesn’t work anymore. I’ve been to countless nhs counselling sessions over the years and nothing helps. I thought I had adhd and got told I didn’t. I’m at a total loss. My boyfriend tells me I need to get better. My family tell me I’ll never be happy and I’m really struggling again.

Im angry all the time. I cry and I hit my head so hard I bruise. It’s the only way o can express my frustration. My GPs are useless and I don’t even know where to start with private healthcare. It’s expensive and confusing.

I went for a walk tonight on the same street someone got stabbed sort of hoping I’d be next. I’m fed up of being a burden and fed up of never getting better.

My family and my boyfriend just roll their eyes at me when I complain about my job, how expensive it is to live and the state of the world. I can’t change my job bc I can’t get a better one anywhere else. I’ve been looking for years. I work for the nhs myself and trying to get anywhere with occupational health is impossible too.

Totally at a loss. If anyone can help that would be great. This is a last resort

I'm in a situation where I'm being directed to find a psychiatrist ASAP.

I've had to move back into my parents home for the past couple of years, and my mental health has taken a massive hit (left an abusive relationship, and my parents for a whole variety of reasons are not healthy to live with).

I've been seeing a private psychologist/therapist, and I really like them - and would like to continue seeing them - but because my dad feels he has not seen any progress, he has told me I need to find a psychiatrist. He expects me to give him a name in the next few days, if not tomorrow. I'm feeling quite overwhelmed about it.

What is the best way to find a psychiatrist and book an appointment? What should I expect in the initial assessment, and what about follow ups? What do long term treatment plans look like with psychiatrists, what do they usually recommend/expect? My understanding is that generally, they give you a plan - but beyond maybe talk therapy, I'm not sure what to expect on that front.

Going private, how long would I expect to wait for my first appointment? I think my dad expects that I'll be able to get an appointment set up next week, but even going private I'm not sure - I feel like thats incredibly optimistic.

i feel sad taking meds ive been doing better in life a little

but i just feel crapy taking meds i know ill come off it some day one thing at a time but its making me sad right now :-;

Hi, I’ve been asked to have a Care and Treatment Review for my autism diagnosis by the CMHT. I have been diagnosed with autism since childhood.

I can’t find any information from people who have actually been through one of these reviews online. I can only see complicated information about policies and processes.

From what I have been able to understand, CMHT will offer a Care and Treatment Review to people with autism and / or learning disabilities if they are expected to go to hospital (psychiatric inpatient) in the next 6 weeks.

I am very confused because no one has spoken to me about going to hospital or indicated that I would need to.

I have had an extremely negative experience with CMHT as an adult (CAMHS wasn’t too bad for me). On multiple occasions staff members have been manipulative towards me and have refused to listen to me about anything. I am wondering if this is another tactic they are using to make me feel anxious?

In all honesty, it feels like CMHT want me to be unwell and want to keep me unwell. The time when I had the least contact with them is when I made the most progress in recovery. I want to discharge myself from their care but with this review thing I don’t know what could happen, I don’t know if they could force me into hospital for refusing to engage with them.

That's all I am and how I feel. Week in week out. And today is another painful day looking back at the things I do and the stupid decisions I make.

I don't even know anymore. I just.

Does it ever get better?

I'm 22, struggling with depression and feeling completely overwhelmed. I work full-time, but most of my paycheck goes quickly, leaving me constantly stressed about money. I also have to take care of my disabled mother and my younger brother, which means cleaning, doing laundry, and making sure everything at home is taken care of. By the end of each week, I feel drained and stuck in a cycle that I can't get out of. Does anyone have advice on how to handle this situation or ways to cope better?

• I’ve been wanting to do YouTube, & Music / Have A Business. But just need to know if it work with what I’m going through. Thanks

I have PMDD and borderline personality traits. I don't really care , this is on my diagnosis report. I would stay I feel depressed , but i just feel I really hate a lot of people. I feel angry and bitter. I have chronic pain. I hate this stupid town I live in, I moved around so much as a kid and young adult , I never really made friends. I never figured out what I wanted to do with my life. I have this most amazing partner who's kind and says don't worry we can live on my wage ( maybe it's a small wage but he's sweet) and I'm just a total head case? Why can't I just be content ? Why do j get so fed up or bored in my work ? My back pain is bad thing at the moment and preventing me from leaving my job . Am I too old to go to uni? Will we ever move out of this crap town . I'm just overwhelmed, I feel like giving up..I'm off sick with the chronic back pain ( genuine physical pain , and I also feel mentally drained . I feel like my life has fell apart .)

I've been trying so well to stay positive and happy but now I'm just depressed and lonely, just came back on suddenly, everything just feels pointless, can't deal with this

Really stuck on what to do.

My sister has been in the system for 14 years with Bipolar. She's only been on Olanzapine and she has significantly worsened since 2018. She hears insulting voices, that she believes is us, her family and in turn she verbally abuses us on a daily basis.

She had been sectioned in 2022, which in itself was degrading and she didn't get any help, stayed on the same medication and they called us everyday to pick her up, even though she was fighting with other patients and still talking to herself. They just needed the bed back, rather than actually monitoring if she had got better or tried a different medication.

We've begged her outpatient psychiatrist to consider a medication change but they said it's ultimately her choice and as she believes she is mentally well and she refuses to change the medication.

She's currently having on her many psychosis episodes of this year, she hasn't slept since the 3rd of November, been up all night arguing with the voices, slamming doors, opening windows to shout at the voices outside the house, shouting at passers-by.

We called the 24 hour Crisis Team on Saturday morning, they said they couldn't do anything without her consent, we should call back on Monday to speak to her designated community outpatient nurse. Ring the nurse on Monday, she can't visit, speaks to my sister on the phone, who suddenly presents as normal, refuses the Home Treatment to come out to help encourage her to take Diazapam or Promethazine. Lies and says she has been sleeping, not hearing voices.

So now what do we do? Go through sectioning again, where she will come back the same or just as bad but blames us constantly for sectioning her, like she did the last time.

We haven't been able to sleep for nearly 4 days because she she's screaming and shouting all night.

We as a family have no say in her care and she is given all the rights, even though they have seen her talking to herself and she has been verbally abusive to staff members.

We have recorded her abuse but they don't want to listen to it.

Tried to complain to PALS, guess what need her consent to put in a complaint.

Complained to our local MP, you've guessed right, need her consent to put in a complaint about our treatment as family members by the local trust.

We are probably going to end up being hurt by her and not sure what to do to prevent this abuse and get her the help she needs.

Hi Everyone! Thank you to anyone who has taken part in my study so far! I am just reposting this in case anyone who might want to take part and did not see the advert.

My name is Katie and I am a Trainee Clinical Psychologist at Lancaster University. I am writing here as I am conducting some research looking at engagement with Early Intervention in Psychosis Services in the UK. Specifically I am looking at some of the things that might impact upon someone wanting to / felling able to engage with Early Intervention in Psychosis services. It is a short 20 minute questionnaire asking about current or previous engagement with early intervention in psychosis teams and some other factors around this. As a thank you for your time you can choose to opt in to a prize draw at the end of the questionnaire to be in with a chance of winning one of several £25 amazon vouchers.

If you would like to take part you must be aged 18 years old or over and be currently OR previously (in the last 12 months) under / engaged with an Early Intervention in Psychosis Service in the UK.

The survey is anonymous however if you wish to provide an email in order to enter into the prize draw you can do but this will not be linked to your survey responses to protect your anonymity.

If you would like to take part, there is a QR code below or the link is here: https://lancasteruni.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8HboQWhvMLKSHMW

This research has been approved by NHS Health Research Authority and Research Ethics Committee and approved for posting by the moderators of this page.

Thank you so much for reading!

https://preview.redd.it/veybbhul8h0e1.png?width=872&format=png&auto=webp&s=ed3e3d24750f0d743239d6381e215e0a644e3bb0

I did a form to get all my medical records from my GP and picked my records up today and there were some letters from mental health services to my GP which had parts redacted by covering it with a black box.

Any idea why it has been redacted? It's in association to assessment feedback. There are also named health conditions/diagnosis which I was not informed of as a part of this so I'm really curious why I wasn't informed about them and why there are redacted parts. This letter was only sent to my GP I never recieved any information about this. I was over 18 at the time incase that matters.

It's from 2017 and I've been discharged from the service since 2019 so I think I'll struggle getting back intouch with the original drs for elaboration so not sure what/if I can do anything.

Thanks for any help 💖

I having been feeling overwhelmed recently and thoughts of sluicide have been creeping in. I won't actually do anything but the fact that they are there worries me greatly and I want to get help ... the only thing that stops me is I'm scared that as soon as I say my thoughts out loud to a medical professional social services will get involved or worse, my kids will be taken off me, or I'll be investigated to see if I'm a fit mother.

My kids are loved, cared for, clean, fed and have a roof over their head, I hold down a full time job.

What will happen if I seek help?

Quitting sertraline after one dose

Okay, so ive take 1 dose of sertraline of 50 mg, for The first and last time ever, and I'm honsetly so scared. Its been 3 days and i feel this insanely unforfortable inner unrest, and tingling sensation in my body, anyone who has stopped their sertraline after only one dose? And how were your symptoms??? And for how long did you have them?????? I Think my body is so sensitive to this kind of medication. I cant help but feel like ive messes up my body, because this feeling is unbearable

Hi all,

I was diagnosed with BPD a few months ago after a mental health crisis. I saw a psychiatrist via private health insurance (that I no longer have access to) and they diagnosed me. Psychiatrist started me on Venlafaxine and hydroxyzine 25mg to help me sleep.

They sent a letter to my NHS GP asking them to take over my care, as I would no longer have access to private insurance. GP agreed and referred me to community mental health team. I’m now with a CMHT and on waiting list for DBT.

Still on the Venlafaxine. Asked for my hydroxyzine last week (didn’t need anymore for a while as was doing better but got bad again recently) at a GP appointment and was refused by a very rude GP! She said they will not prescribe this and was unclear on why other than ‘we have guidelines’. Is there a way I can complain about this? It was written on the psychiatrist’s notes very clearly that this is part of my medication and treatment, and also on the CMHT’s notes when I had my first meeting with them. How can the GP just refuse to give me it?!?!

If complaining is possible and likely to result in my medication being prescribed, could someone detail how to go about this please?

CMHT has been very confusing and I have no named psychiatrist who I can speak to within the team about my medication.

This last part is just a rant but - feeling very hopeless as I’m on the DBT waiting list for at least 7 more months and can’t access any other type of help before then. Can’t afford private therapy, had to quit my job because of my mental health, experiencing family issues and significant relationship breakdowns. Takes all of my energy to go to a doctors appointment just for them to be blunt, rude and refuse to give me medicine that I need and have been prescribed previously. I’m exhausted, it seems so unreasonable to be to refuse a simple prescription someone who is struggling so much. Also sick of the disparity between private and NHS mental health care - it’s so, so sad and unfair that money can make SUCH a difference. Not only to quality of treatment but being treated like a human being, GP was so rude and dismissive

For the past year I’ve been using this great medication reminder app called Medisafe but they are switching to a paid version of you have more than 2 meds on the app. I’m looking for an easy to use iPhone app that has similar features and notification sounds or alarms you can snooze like this app does, whether it does it automatically or you have to press a button. Thanks for any help! I have like 4 or 5 meds so I need one if possible that’s free that has that availability.

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I've been really suffering with my mental health for a while. I've been off work since about January, my job can be pretty stressful between the office being very noisy and overstimulating and customers being C**Ts. The last 2+ years of my life has been turned upside down, so this also hasn't helped my mental health. I've also been recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia.

I'm under my local hospital for my mental health and query ADHD. I thought I was maybe okay to go back to work, with some adjustments, one being working hybrid and lowering my hours/days to work 4 days instead of 5.

However after this weekend, I think not. I was really overstimulated on Friday and felt like it was one thing after another until I snapped, left my partner and my two dogs and just fucked off in my car. I was in a state.

I turned our tracking app off so my partner couldn't see where I had gone, and completely ignored calls and texts from everyone, until I turned my phone completely off.

After a few hours I turned up at my mum's house in a complete mess and she called 111 option 2 for mental health. I had an appointment the next day with the crisis team.

This is where I'm pretty disappointed if I'm honest. They gave me a load of leaflets, referred me for emotional regulation therapy something and gave me fucking antihistamines to "help me sleep"...

Antihistamines?!? I don't know what I was hoping they'd do... Well that's not entirely true, I wanted to be sectioned before I hurt myself because the intrusive thoughts were so fucking scary.

But seriously antihistamines?! They have worked don't get me wrong, they make me sleepy AF, but I was just hoping for something.... More?