Anyone else feel alone?

[DiagnosisBipolar2]

Apologies for this rant as that is what this is! But anyone else feel they have been diagnosed with a serious disorder and then just left to it?

This is the stage i'm at. I know the legislation and all the regulations regarding what should be happening regarding my care however I have not seen any of it! I have come to the conclusion that unless you behave as a real attention seeker to your mht they leave you to it. I dont even have a CPN. I have been left with no one to call on when I really need help and no one point of call.

My initial meeting with my psychiatrist was when my mood was quite stable. I am Oxbridge educated, articulate, and dont smell,manage to dress in clean clothes so i'm ok right? Wrong!

I am fed up and disgusted quite frankly. Please tell me i'm not alone and others have experienced similar things.

 

[keepsafe]

I have just got a c.p.n after being ill for such a long time - I do have a psych and c.b.t. also - but I am not an attention seeker - just trying to get well. I have waited for all these things.

KS

 

[DiagnosisBipolar2]

How long did you wait keepsafe? I dont see why people should have to wait, well I do actually it comes down lack of resources and money at the end of the day like everything else. I feel I have been let down by the mental health team and waited far to long as it is considering I have probably had Bipolar for at least 12 years.

I wonder if the mental health services vary greatly depending on which part of the country you live in. I'm sure i'm not the only one feeling isolated and alone.

 

[keepsafe]

Hi,

Well I have been ill for a lot of years but only went for help last July, I have just got a c.p.n but did get psychological therapy from Feb with a gap then May/June to now. I think it does depend also on what part of the country you are in.
Hope that you don;t have to wait too much longer.
Take it easy
KS

 

[mad as a hatter]

I,ve got bipolor i,ve only just got a cpn i,ve waited 8 yrs before they caved in and gave a cpn cause i,ve tried for a lot longer than that 2 get ne help it,s only after i was in hospital for over 3 months and my family help did the consultant offer me more support and yes i,ve been called attention seeker and it,s sickenin and not very nice 2 be called this cause it,s so much further from the truth i,m just some 1 that struggles 2 cope most days but for over 10 yrs mh services couldn,t have cared less about me exactly the same as u it,s hard go bk 2 ur gp say how un happy u r and that u need more support thet might be able 2 help u in someway

 

[Jo1760]

Hi DB2,

I think it really does vary on the part of the country you live to the support received. I have had Depression for 6 years although only sort medical help just over a year ago. My GP knows the amount it has effected.

Its taken me since my first assesment in February until yesterday to get my first CBT appointment. I also had an appointment with a pdoc and he seem to focus more on how i came across as well spoken and able to state confidently my problems in the report rather than being suicidal and running out of ideas to keep myself safe.

The physcologist in my local borough said their was a lack of resourses, hence the waiting time being so long. Very frustrating. I do find that there seems to be no professional to speak to and vent the frustrations or ideas that are making me feel like this. Unfortunately due to that I vent rather too much on here I think.

I hope you have better luck getting some support DB2. Take good care of yourself.

XX

 

[Wonky]

First of all, yeah, psychiatrists will use any sign of competency and togetherness AGAINST you. Why do they do this? Well, obviously lack of resources in MH services mean that psychiatrists are under pressure to keep patient numbers down. They have various ruses to do this - one thing is to change your diagnosis, especially to change it to a PD diagnosis. I have seen a case where a MH patient who had had a diagnosis of schizophrenia for a number of years eventually ended up with just a PD diagnosis and, surprise, surprise, was quickly discharged from the Community MH Team. I had some contact with the charity Rethink in 2007 and was told, unofficially, that over the previous couple of years they had seen a lot of cases of schizophrenia changed to a diagnosis of PD. So folks, beware, if you show that you are intelligent, informed, articulate and assertive, if you struggle to keep yourself presentable, the eagle-eyed psychiatrist may well mark you down as another one to get off the list.

Those people who seem to be "attention seekers" may actually be one of two things - people who are ill, know they are ill, but are determined to fight for help; and people who have learnt from bitter experience that the only way they can get the help they need is to play up a bit. Neither of these types should be condemned - they are both struggling to get the help they need in a MH service that lacks resources. It makes me very sad to see people with MH problems criticise other people with MH problems - it isn't your fellow MH sufferers who are making things difficult for you, it is the bloody system and the lack of resources!

As for policies and regulations - well the NHS MH services are awash, wall-to-wall, with all manner of documents: policies, guidelines, recommendations, bench-marks, etc, etc. And, folks, it is ALL meaningless, hardly any of it makes a different on the groundfloor, everyday interface between MH patients and MH professionals and services. This is ofcourse very frustrating and very confusing for MH patients, but it is, I am very sorry to say, the way it is.

 

[ixolite]

very interesting wonky
I've had different diagnosis and now emotionally unstable personality disorder
didn't realize this for sure until had copy of letter sent to GP after a review with trick cyclist
so rightly or as i know now wrongly i thought if it just a personality thing i'll stop taking meds after 4 months i've ended up with the crisis team supporting me
i have an above average IQ & well presented and don't ask for help until totally lose it but it takes ages to get them to realise this and that you can be like a swan that is apparently ok on the surface but paddling like hell to keep afloat underneath
but then i've been lucky enough to get some CBT in past but that was only offered after a crisis
also i don't ask for help until really struggling cos don't want to labeled attention seeking

 

[Wonky]

very interesting wonky
I've had different diagnosis and now emotionally unstable personality disorder
didn't realize this for sure until had copy of letter sent to GP after a review with trick cyclist
so rightly or as i know now wrongly i thought if it just a personality thing i'll stop taking meds after 4 months i've ended up with the crisis team supporting me
i have an above average IQ & well presented and don't ask for help until totally lose it but it takes ages to get them to realise this and that you can be like a swan that is apparently ok on the surface but paddling like hell to keep afloat underneath
but then i've been lucky enough to get some CBT in past but that was only offered after a crisis
also i don't ask for help until really struggling cos don't want to labeled attention seeking

Ioxlite, your brave and estimable efforts to keep going even when it is hard for you, are, unfortunately, not qualities and traits that positively help you to get help - they are more likely to be used against you. I know this is an extremely hard thing for people to hear: people want to believe in a kind of moral reward system where their efforts will be seen as creditable and they will be seen as genuine and admirable - but in a system that is over stretched and under resourced it ain't going to work that way.

As for ending up with a shopping list of redundant diagnoses, well, that is very common. Psychiatry is NOT a medical science, it is medicine by opinion alone - no blood tests, no x-rays, etc, etc. If you get a diagnosis of diabetes it is because of physical tests indicating a diabetic condition; if you get a diagnosis from a psychiatrist is it purely their opinion. Therefore, over the years, if you see different psychiatrists, you are likely to get different diagnoses.

Your PD diagnosis should have been discussed with you, not just put in a letter to your GP. When will the majority of psychiatrists learn how to treat patients properly?

 

[DiagnosisBipolar2]

Those people who seem to be "attention seekers" may actually be one of two things - people who are ill, know they are ill, but are determined to fight for help; and people who have learnt from bitter experience that the only way they can get the help they need is to play up a bit. Neither of these types should be condemned - they are both struggling to get the help they need in a MH service that lacks resources. It makes me very sad to see people with MH problems criticise other people with MH problems - it isn't your fellow MH sufferers who are making things difficult for you, it is the bloody system and the lack of resources!

That's preciseley what I was referring to I certainly wasn't attacking anyone with attention seeking behaviour apologies if it came across that way. I was merley referring to the way you are forced to behave in that manner to get anything done!

 

[DiagnosisBipolar2]

be like a swan that is apparently ok on the surface but paddling like hell to keep afloat underneath

I love your analogy that is exactly how I feel!

Thanks for all your replies folks it has made interesting reading

 

[*true-smile*]

i think thats the way it goes some times, i think its deeper than just were u r in the country, iv always found that when i dont want help and just want to be left to my own devices they force things on u, drugs, hospital, meetings but when you are crying out for help and desperatly need it, its further away than ever. if you need more help then be persitant and dont give up, push that you get the help that you need or look into other avenues of help if ur localised help is useless. hope things work out x

 

[DiagnosisBipolar2]

Thanks true smile xx

Things have been ok this week for me though; thats the trouble with this Bipolar i'm like a bloody yo yo!

I think what you've just said is very true though.

 

[just.me]

Emotional Personality Disorder

What is this please?

Would be intererested to know.

Thanks

 

[ixolite]

emotionally unstable personality disorder

well from what i've looked up there are two types of emotionally unstable personality disorder -impulsive type and borderline type.
so its just some fancy new name i think instead of saying borderline personality disorder
perhaps its some mad plan to make us feel better about ourselves ?? like being called emotionally unstable is more acceptable than borderline - i think not