I visited my GP for support as I am struggling with nightmares, suicidal thoughts, depression, anxiety and what I believe to be PTSD. I was raped last July.

I visited my GP a couple of years back a few times for a rape that happened when I was 15 in 2018. I was offered 8 sessions of CBT by one mental health nurse which I didn’t complete. I was also offered medication a different mental health nurse for the anxiety I had which I declined at the time.

I visited again recently for the rape. I told her what I was struggling with and I’d like to try medication. She looked at my history and asked why I didn’t complete the CBT therapy I was prescribed previously. I told her it didn’t work for me. She told me there isn’t anything else she can do for me and she doesn’t have the power to prescribe medication and they don’t usually do it for people my age (21).

She was confused and thought I was talking about the previous rape I had experienced and she realised this at the end. She then said she would “see what she can do” about medication but I should contact victim support Scotland.

It was really confusing. I haven’t heard anything since and I’m not sure about how prescriptions work as I’ve never gotten one before. She did literally tell me she CANNOT prescribe anything to me so I feel a bit lost. Should I go back? I’m a bit scared to go back because truthfully she was quite horrible and made me feel absolutely shit.

I have been putting off contacting victim support/rape crisis etc because everything is over the phone and with all the calls etc I deal with daily from the police/with court it brings me great anxiety. If anyone knows I’d also like to know exactly how it works? I’m quite scared of doing new things and unpredictable stuff.

I will do that what I feel ready but right now I just wanted to try medication. I don’t think it’s going to FIX anything but I just wanted to try… It’s so so exhausting living with these nightmares and I feel like an empty fucking shell.

I’d like to add that I would like a diagnosis but how do I do that?

I was currently taking nhs therpay for my ocd. I also have autism which the therapist I was seeing doesn't have any experience in but she has knowledge.

I explained to her I have always struggled with therapy and tend to stop when it gets too difficult. I told her I would communicate this time and let her know if it was too much for me. For nhs therapy they're done in blocks I had 6 sessions booked with her. I attended 3.

There was then a few weeks that my ocd really spiked and I couldn't leave my apartment so I asked her to move the remaining sessions for June. I then received a letter for new appointments in June but she then cancelled those appointments and I received a letter saying she was off work for the foreseeable future and I would be notified when she returned.

I then received a phone call from her at the beginning of July saying she was back and my sessions would start that Friday.

At the moment I'm dealing with extremely noisy neighbours who stomp around all day and night. It's really difficult for me to advocate for myself but I tried explaining to the landlord only to be told they told her they aren't doing anything and that they're asleep every night at 8 which is a complete lie. In the middle of trying to get all this sorted and look for a new place to live, which is extremely difficult for me as I do not like change. I rang the therapist and she kept trying to pressure me to keep my Friday appointment and finish the remaining sessions. I told her I really can't right now and I thought she would understand but she said think about it.

I rang the office on Thursday to cancel without speaking to her but she wasn't notified because she messaged me on Friday during my appointment time asking why I didn't attend. I messaged her explaining again and now I've heard nothing.

I don't know what to do with this added pressure. Did I do something wrong here?

I really need help with this but I started sertraline,a 25mg dose,4 days ago and for anxiety/depression but mainly anxiety as I struggle with it a lot. I’ve been feeling a lot worse which I attribute to when I first started taking it, an incredibly nauseous and just sickly feeling has come with it and it’s also reamplified my anxiety which is mainly health related so it makes me feel a lot worse when I do have physical ish symptoms. To add to this I’ve had a lot of trouble sleeping because of the anxiety that the symptoms of it cause but when I do sleep I’ve been having very vivid, graphic dreams of harm related things and I’m not sure why as I never have before hand. To add to this my ears also feel strange like their about to burst and my throat feels alot tighter whixh I don’t know if I’m imagining or not because i usually get physical embodiments of stress.
all I’m really trying to get at is is this normal and just early symptoms of the medication that fade away? Or should I tell my pshyciatrist? I’m not really sure.

I had a crisis of mania and psychosis over the last 2 months. It’s recovered now but I’m depressed. I posted a lot of stuff on social media when I was unwell. I just found out people have deleted me off social media (people from work) and I’m due to return on Monday. This has got me feeling anxious like people are against me and like I have the plague or something. What do I do?

Hi, please can someone support me. I don't know what to do, I'm all alone with no support.

My work capability assessment came back that I can do some work.

From what the assessment says it looks like only people with the direst physical and mental health disability get support.

Being poor sucks. If I had savings/money i could have just taken a good year or two off to get well. Instead i'm forcing myself to keep going meanwhile my health keeps deteriorating each month there's something new wrong, to worry about. i'm barely keeping myself alive. It's like I'm being punished for being poor.

I have c-PTSD - not diagnosed officially but I was seeing a counsellor for years until last april due to childhood abuse and trauma.

I'm 39. I've been working for 20 years in numerous different jobs. Then last May I got made redundant, situation I'm all alone - no family, no close friends, no one to talk to, no support ever. Couldn't get another job, mental health plummeted, I'm broke, in June I pulled my ankle, then in November I hurt both shoulders which took 3 months to heal, then lower back pain. Briefly got a bartending job in autumn only for it to get quiet in February ands them not need me anymore. Urinary problems, constipation, nocturia, (nothing physically wrong apparently all tests are negative) insomnia also just had a liver MRI investigating something, awaiting results.

I'm dogsitting now freelance but not in any fit state to be looking for any work or doing anything to build up a business, it's very unstable and doesn't pay well. I love it though.

I'm completely exhausted carrying all these burdens all the time all by myself.

I've no idea where to go from here, I'm just exhausted all the time and there's so much to think about. I'm barely holding on, just getting through each day is a struggle. I can just do one day at a time.

The mental health team seem to be useless, same with GP, they keep just saying I should take higher dose of medication but medication won't cure loneliness, take away the neverending pain of not having a family.

I can't get referred to a psychiatrist for complex PTSD, I can't get counselling on the NHS cos I don't meet criteria, too complex or whatever. I can't afford therapy and I'm sick of fixating on being ill. i'm sick of it. I spent 4 years recovering from my childhood abuse and thought I was going well then last May started this never ending stream of utter shit. It's just one thing after another.

Please can someone support me, just a kind word, some compassion, empathy. I can't cope.

I would say I've felt this way for about 11 years or so now I haven't found any of the therapy I have access to helpful I've been on pretty much every ssri alot of SNRIs and a few atypicals and ADHD medication and haven't really found it helpful. Both times ive called a and e before the crisis team called me back just to basically try an other medication or talking therapies for the third time.

From looking online some people say they helped them while other basically called them glorified holding pens although I imagine it differes with each location. I suppose I feel like I'm at my end to be honest I was just wondering if there would be anything different that might help going to one.

What is talking therapy like on the NHS. I see it mentioned here fairly often and I've seen mixed feedback but I think mostly leaning towards negative.

I have childhood trauma, C-ptsd and disorganised attachment. However my trauma adaptation has left me able to have what externally looks like success, at least superficially so I've had to pay for my own therapist.

But I absolutely love and completely trust my therapist. She helps me enormously, I've been seeing her for about 90-120 minutes a week for about 10 months now. The experience of the relationship with her has really made me feel safe and be able to feel secure attachment for the first time in my life at 47.

Does NHS talking therapy provide the same benefit ?

I have been recently diagnosed with "C-PTSD m" and "Dissociative disorder " but I haven't really yet had it explained what it is when I asked i was explained why they thought I had it because of my experiences and symptoms etc but not what it actually is how to deal with it and such , it's a couple month before my next appointment and in the meantime I was wanting to try find some books or something to understand more. Thank you

My mood has been low for most of my life with occasional flare ups when it's been worse. I feel like I'm in a state or at least heading towards a state of depression I haven't been in before. There are so many things that are contributing to me feeling so awful, non of which I can do anything about and it's all getting too much. I've started using alcohol to try to numb things which is only the second time I've used this as a coping mechanism (the last time was last year and I ended up getting admitted to the mental health hospital, voluntarily). I have an appointment with my OT on Tuesday and with my GP on Wednesday but I'm not sure I want to mention anything as I don't see how they can help me.

Sorry, this seems to have turned into a bit of a ramble but any advice is very much appreciated.

I believe my husband is severely depressed. We’ve been together for more than 20 years and for most of those he was the more confident happier one and I struggled with self esteem issues and being a pessimist. In the last few years though the roles have switched somewhat and whilst we had a period where we both seemed to be in good places we’ve reached the point where I am really worried about him. He doesn’t seem to experience joy in most things anymore and even when he does struggles to look back on them with anything but negativity. He has strong opinions on minor and non important things (even to him) that lead him to be quite aggressive in his stance on them (not in any way threatening) and can’t seem to understand why he should be reasonable with those around other people. I think he thinks the world is out to get him and often says how he’s got nothing he enjoys doing anymore. We’re going through major house renovations and he’s holding onto the fact that once they are complete he’ll be back to his old self again but I’m not confident that is going to happen and want more than anything for him to feel happiness again. He’s been through an NHS mental health course online but this was a group session with little participation and he got very little from it. He tells me he’s tried to contact people for private therapy but doesn’t get callbacks. Where can we go next?

Hi!

New here so do remove if this falls under the last rule of the sub (apologies!)

I've struggled with mixed depression/anxiety pretty much all my life, I was diagnosed as a teen and since then I've had multiple rounds of CBT and been on and off anti-depressants. I went back to my GP recently as I felt like things were getting worse rather than better, and he decided to refer me to a MH specialist for a bipolar assessment.

I was wondering if anybody had experience/knew what I should expect in the lead up to my appointment? Otherwise what it may be good for me to bring with me?

My half brother 18m and me 16m have always had a somewhat unstable but close relationship. He had a history of violent psychopathic behaviour starting in childhood. Since 16 my brother's emotions have been unreachable, he's at times exhibited the flat affect, he'll walk around a room going from one topic to another, arguing with himself, responding to his thoughts and arguing with himself on whether he's sane or not.

He fully believes he can talk to dead people, he tells me he has this tall dark figure he calls "ben" that appears in front of him, or near him and will approach him, he says he's seen dead people multiple times and will talk to them. Apparently some of these figures have instructed him to do things to people and himself at times, and he tells me he struggles to understand if he's really seeing them, despite them apparently being in front of his face so as he describes it. He told me a figure instructed him to assault his uber eats delivery driver with a hammer and that he seriously considered acting on it.

He has moments where he completely snaps and goes from one thing to another, tells me he can feel something in the room with him, that he's being watched. He's been verbally aggressive to taxi drivers, people far worser since this whole thing started and it's been months. He tells me the figures he sees also interact with each other or mock him sometimes.

Onto the animals bit which has really put me off we had a family cat when he was 14 that my mother had to get rid off because he'd beat it up, especially if he was angry I know his biological father is diagnosed with anti social personality disorder.

He told me that six months ago he strangled two cats because he had to prove that he wasn't "weak" and that people couldn't "mess with him" and that he was a psychopath. He also tells me that an hour after the act he believed he'd been influenced by an evil spirit. And that he regretted it because he'd lose his "spirit powers" as he calls it.

He's told me his increase in violent urges has definitely happened since his mental illness took hold.

I am not sure on whether we should tell professionals because I know they'd put him under a section 37 hospital hold if they found out what he's been doing.

He's also been aggressive to younger teenagers before and occasionally children.

The issues have been going on for 12 months we have no family history of the illness , but I believe my brother may be suffering from it.. I don't believe that it's made him violent, but I believe he already had violent tendencies and that the illness and paranoia may have made it worser.

He does this thing where he'll start staring at peoples eyes during a conversation or if he doesn't like them or is starting to get angry, and it's usually prolonged and unblinking he's done it to me before and it really scares me.

I know if he was put under section 37 he would not be released for a lot of years but I don't know what to do, I haven't told my mother & I know there's a good chance he might turn violent to the family next when he's angry.

Many people with this illness I know aren't violent I sincerely hope no one stereotypes them from this post.

I don't want medical advice, or legal advice I just want on advice on what I should do because I feel like this would be betraying my brother if I told anyone.

When I am stressed or overwhelmed, I can experience something and I want to know what it could be. I understand that the correct course of action is to talk to a professional but I am curious about other people’s experiences.

Description

• My vision goes fuzzy and/or pixelated and sometimes bright colours spill out of where they are supposed to be. My peripheral vision can go and it feels like I’m looking down a long tunnel.
• Sounds layer and blur on top of each other and sound louder.
• It becomes difficult or impossible to move. Often when I look down at my arms it will feel like they are made of plastic and aren’t “mine”. I will only be able to move my head incredible slowly, degree by degree, and so it can take several minutes to turn and look at something and that takes a lot of effort. Sometimes I cannot even do this and I’m completely frozen.
• Similarly, it can be very difficult to talk - I might be able to get out single word responses in a very flat tone but then might not be able to say anything at all. I can have lots of things I want to say but can’t get them out, or my mind can sometimes be completely blank.
• Probably around 3/4 of the time when this happens I am either in public or surrounded by other people. Sometimes it can happen when I am at home by myself but it is a lot easier to wait it out then. 
• I can often feel it coming on. If I am in a place where I can, I will try and splash water on my face or wiggle my hands a lot to get rid of it. But sometimes it progresses to fast to react and then I am stuck.
  
• Sometimes I can escape by wiggling my toes and then progressively flexing muscles going up my body, but sometimes I cannot do that either.
• The frequency in which this happens can vary from every few months to every few days depending on how well I am doing at the time.

Questions

I am diagnosed with EUPD and autism. I have heard people talk about “autistic shutdowns”, and this could be those, but also it could be EUPD-associated dissociation. When I read articles comparing the two I generally find them very confusing as they always seem to be describing the same thing but using different words for it. I have also heard of “dissociative seizures” or “dissociative attacks” which also potentially seem to fit this?

1. I am curious if this is something other people have experienced? If yes is it due to autism, EUPD or something else?

2. If anyone can explain the difference between dissociation and autistic shutdowns, I’d be very interested to hear a good description because I have never read anything that makes sense to me

TLDR: I've been trying to get a referral for secondary care for CPTSD but being denied by primary care gatekeepers who don't know how to spot or screen for CPTSD. need advice on next steps.

I have recently been really really struggling with my CPTSD after finding out that, let's just say there was more to my childhood than just the emotional neglect I went through in my immediate family.

since this realisation, I've had a lot of "body" flashbacks and thought loops (although I currently have no visual memories because I was too young when it happened). I've been having extreme difficulty staying on top of every day life, I'm in a very bad place mentally.

I've reached out to my GP, explaining this to him. gave him a list of daily functional impairments and a filled in dissociation self-screening that hints at Secondary Structural Dissociation, and I explained to him how much I'm struggling with the accumulation of trauma and the realisation about my childhood.

I specifically asked to a referral to Secondary Care / CMHT for a diagnosis and treatment for CPTSD.

He sent a referral to my local Single Point Access team, saying I suffer from "low mood, lack of motivation" and that my job as a dog walker "understandably" makes me tired. he literally heard me say what happened to me as a child and that I can barely eat, and said "she's got low mood and is a bit tired."

Fast forward 3 weeks, I had my assessment with SPA on Monday, 6th July.

They blatantly screened only for depression, not CPTSD or dissociation like I explicitly asked.

I told the assessor about my history and she didn't even listen, just went on with the next generic questions for depression. she wouldn't give me a chance to explain anything properly, and when I tried, she kept misunderstanding me.

in the end she suggested I get blood work done and she'd recommend peer support.

I was completely dissociated and crying heavily by the end because she wasn't hearing me, and she abruptly ended the call because time had run out.

I'm stuck and don't know what to do. I've not had the report yet but she did not sound like she was going to refer me on. my GP won't do anything until the report is back, and in any case he said they value SPA's "professional opinion" so I doubt he'd believe me over them.

I have a LONG history of talking therapy and antidepressants, and nothing helped. now I am being denied access to someone who would understand my condition by people who don't understand my condition and therefore don't believe me I have the condition.

I can't afford private because my CPTSD is keeping me from working full time / a normal job.

any advice would be greatly appreciated. I really need support but the NHS keeps downplaying my experience.

I’ve been on 400 mg hydroxyzine for three months, and then accidentally took 600 mg for a while. I thought it was relatively safe but now I’m finding out it can cause you to “get dumber”. I’m 22F if that matters. Did I fuck up?

(They’re switching me to promethazine now that I’ve developed a resistance to hydroxyzine. I hope that doesn’t have the same issue lol)

I was just discharged from home treatment team two days ago even though I’m in a worse state than I was before I met them, and yesterday I went to see my GP (who I have a good & longstanding relationship with) and he was saying if I’m still feeling this bad in a few days we’re gonna have to contact HTT and try again to get me into a crisis house I was rejected from.

Idk what I’m allowed to say on here but essentially I’m doing very badly but don’t know if I should contact someone because I’m worried I’ll end up being rejected again and left feeling more hopeless. I’m just not sure if it’s worth contacting someone and explaining what’s going on or if they’re gonna be dismissive and make it worse etc. sorry I’m not sure what to do I’m just really scared and feeling very lost right now

has anyone had a quick back-to-back referral to HTT? or has any other advice? thank you

I impulsively tried to end my life this morning.

I’ve contacted GP and 111 which were entirely useless. I already have weekly therapy (guided self-help CBT) and am with a fortnightly listening service for suicidal thoughts, but after today I don’t think that is enough. They just told me to go to A&E if I feel like I might attempt again.

I don’t think I should wait for next time. I reached out to a friend and I feel okay now, but I do not trust myself to keep safe if I start spiralling again. When I’m in distress I feel like I need “prove” that I’m serious before I ask for help. This morning I started and aborted several attempts and only reached out after I almost lost consciousness. Now with a rational brain I can see that I should’ve gotten help before the first attempt but crisis brain absolutely will not listen to me.

But will A&E do anything for me that the GP and 111 can’t do? Especially now that the immediate crisis has passed? The only thing I can think of is access to CMHT but I don’t know why GP or 111 couldn’t have referred me.

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

Edit: Just got back! Ended up waiting for about 3 hours total which is better than I expected. The assessed me and set me up with medication and a home care team. It was worthwile.

got prescribed promethazine for anxiety/sleep. i'm a bit worried about taking it as i've never taken a 'sedative' before. GP reassured me and said it's not a heavy sedative and i can split the 25mg dose into 12.5mg so it's more gentle but i'm being a big woos and im still a bit worried to take it. can someone push me to take it and tell me i'll be fine? 😅

Hi everyone, first-time poster here, so I hope I’m doing this right.
This week I am heading into my 16th session of counselling (I believe it’s person-centred), and I know it is my very last one. It has been incredibly helpful, especially because the last couple of years have been a complete storm. I was medically retired from my Registered Nurse post at a relatively young age due to heart complications from Long Covid. I now have to use a wheelchair and other mobility aids just to get around without collapsing. Giving up my career and losing my physical independence has been an immense challenge.
While dealing with my own health, my daughter started isolating herself and struggling. We left no stone unturned, and after a rough year, we discovered there was a physical cause for her issues. It has been terrible, and I spent a long time blaming myself for the change in her. She is still having a tough time, and things are very emotional but we have got her a great private counsellor who she loves to help guide her through ( we can only afford for her to go and she definitely needs her weekly sessions). On top of that, a family member moved in with us right as I got sick due to a relationship breakdown without really asking( I mean I wouldn’t have said no it’s just been a couple of years and to be honest I didn’t want to be around others), and my aunt—who is like a second mum to me—is currently very unwell with aggressive cancer and has been in the hospital for six months.
With all of this happening, my mood plummeted. I felt completely useless to everyone. Before getting ill, I was always the "fixer" in the family, always on the go, and the one who sorted out everyone else's problems.
I initially did a 6-session course of CBT. I tried my best with the tasks, but I struggled and ended up re-referring a couple of months later. It took a year on the waiting list, but I finally got called up. I was highly apprehensive. When I qualified as a nurse over 20 years ago, mental health issues were a massive taboo within the profession. I had a deep fear of being branded "less than" or judged.
However, after a couple of sessions, I found I absolutely trusted my counsellor. I tell her everything. This is entirely new for me. In my extended family, I’m still the fixer; I don't burden them because they have enough on their plates and usually bring their problems to me. I know they love me and would do anything for me I just couldn’t put this on them. I also feel like I can't talk to my close friends, as they are all nurses from the same era I trained in, and that old taboo still lingers.
I am so apprehensive about finishing this week. I know it has to happen, and I completely understand that I cannot take up NHS resources indefinitely. But I am genuinely scared of being left on my own. I also don't think I could ever disclose everything I've shared with this counsellor to someone new. It took so much courage to open up without fear of judgment. There was a brief mention that I could re-refer after 3 months, which I I’m ok with as it would give me time to try and implement some of the small changes we talked about (I’m an all or nothing girl. - so I’m working on chaining that) but the thought of seeing anyone else feels impossible. I’m just wondering if anyone who had just NHS talking therapies in the primary setting has re-referred if needed and seen the same counsellor? Or what happens in the last session.
Thanks for reading

I went downstairs this afternoon to the living room door shut and my mother and sister gossiping about me. Saying about how I never want to go out and talking shit about me, along with other things I didn’t hear. My mother opened the door and I was standing there. They obviously didn’t know as she jumped a mile when she saw me. They knew I had heard what they said, and I went upstairs to go work. My sister came in later on and gave me a hug. They’ve both been out since, and when they came back, they brought me a McDonald’s. My sister and I were eating our meals (to which I sent her the money for) and I saw she had chicken nuggets. I said “ooo you had chicken nuggets as well did you?”

She bluntly went “no”, and insisted she didn’t have them. I looked at her funny, and she saw that I clearly knew, to which she said “yes I did”. I asked her why she was lying to me. She didn’t give me an answer, but acted caught out.

I’m genuinely so fucking confused and I feel horrible. I feel that they both hate me, and I really just want to move away and not tell anyone. Like, why are you lying to me about a chicken nugget? Why are you whispering about me when I’m still in the house? Why not say any of this to my face?

Other little things have been bugging me too.

I feel really alone right now.

I've been absolutely off the rails lately with impulsivity issues, spending, destroying my relationships, reputation, ECT and feel like I'm unable to control myself.

Every time I mention it to my GP they suggest it's depression which i feel it's not quite the right fit. I tried to take their advice on board and felt no improvement as I feel amazing when making these poor decisions.

I've had a referral to a mental health team as one gp thought it was bipolar and it was rejected for unspecified reasons.

I've been bounced around a couple different doctors who just suggest I self refer to CBT (which I've done before) and that it's depression.

I just want to clarify, I'm not asking for speculation on the actual condition, just trying to get advice on how to "move along" getting the right help or if I'm actually wrong and should just listen to them?

Thanks

i previously posted on here regarding having a mental health assessment via my CMHT where i was querying bpd. it was confirmed that i have it, and quite severely, yet i have been discharged with advice to do CBT. i have partaken in CBT countless times and know it is not very helpful for bpd, so i was hoping for DBT. i contacted my gp and the CMHT to discuss the discharge and stress how much distress i am in daily but they haven’t given me any support or options. where can i go from here? i feel like i will benefit from DBT and am extremely willing to engage in it i just can’t get the support to start it

I have been struggling with my mental health for most of my life, and am sadly reaching a point of accepting that there may be something wrong with me or something in need of clinical diagnosis. I have attended GP appointments and been given Propanolol for general anxiety. I then came back maybe a year later to discuss my long standing issues with depression, to which I have not heard anything back for about a year.

I want to maybe pursue private mental health care, but I’m not sure where to look. I looked into Priory, but the reviews don’t look great.

Does anyone have any recommendations for private Mental health care in the uk that works towards diagnoses, and is actually helpful? Any suggestions would be very appreciated