EPISODE FOURTEEN

Please note this is a verbatim transcription from the original audio and therefore there may be some minor grammatical errors.

Welcome along to this episode of The tickety boo podcast, the mental health podcast that says it’s okay not to be okay.

Struggling with your mental health is often a very lonely road for those experiencing.
But what do you do if you feel like your GP is not helping you? Well, that’s what this episode is all about. Welcome along.

The harsh reality is that seeking out mental health support via the GP can be this incredibly frustrating process.
So many people struggle with medication as the only option given and it just isn’t helping.
And right now, there are people that are struggling seriously. And they’re denied urgently needed treatment, because their symptoms are seen as not quite severe enough.

And then there’s this other group of people who are seen as off as attention seeking, instead of actually been recognised as they could genuinely be at risk.

And then there’s this other group, this other group of people that are stuck in lengthy waiting lists, or fell victim to constant admin errors that lengthen the wait for therapy even more.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to start bashing our healthcare system. But there are issues here, and there are issues with GP’s and the system as a whole.

Now, I do believe that most doctors take their patient’s mental health seriously, and they do want to help them. But with this massively underfunded NHS, our doctors very often feel powerless to give patients the support they need.

And then on the flip side of that, sadly, there are also doctors who can be dismissive, and they lack real empathy. And some of them not all, but some even lack the knowledge to handle mental health issues.

And often, the simplest solution for an overworked doctor is just to prescribe a set of antidepressants and see if that helps.

But it moves on from there,
there’s a bigger problem. The problem is the impact of not been diagnosed, or worse been misdiagnosed.

There are many people stuck in the system that have spent years trapped in depression, anxiety, or battling eating disorders or self harm, or maybe they’ve dropped out of school because their anxiety or they’re unable to work. Some people create these unhealthy coping mechanism to start to creep into addiction with drink or drugs or strike up this really unhealthy relationship with food.

But we’re supposed to get help. Because in the UK, we’re lucky we have the NHS, this institution that was set up in 1948, to provide us all with medical care. And I love the NHS, it does many wonderful things. I have many friends that work in the NHS. But nevertheless, there’s this problem. And it’s been around now for a good while. And sadly, it doesn’t seem to be getting much better. Despite there been lots of talk about.
I speak to lots of mental health professionals as part of my work. And they’re all saying the same thing to me. And it’s currently we’re just not good enough. We are just not good enough at dealing with mental health issues.

So we ended up in this situation where we have this huge disparity between physical health and mental health. And until both facets are dealt with equally, the struggle for the good quality help will continue. So we have the NHS National Health Service, we actually need the MHS, the mental health service. But what I will say to you is if you’re listening to this episode, please do not give up on getting help.

If you’re listening to this, I’m guessing that you or someone you care about may be struggling to get the right mental health support.

If you haven’t been to see the doctor yet, please do not let this put you off going because the doctor is your gateway to help and you must always start there. So if you’ve not spoken to your GP, ring them now or ring them tomorrow as soon as they’re open and get an appointment as soon as possible and do not give up until you get an appointment.

Now trust me you’re not alone. If you’ve ever felt like your doctor won’t help and isn’t listening to you, or you’ve been stuck on a long waiting list for treatment, you are not alone.

So help you with a little insight into this. A client of mine went to their GP in November last year. The GP recommended talking therapy and set the wheels in motion so my client
waited, and waited and waited. And eventually, in January, they received news that they were being referred to our onto a local organization who could help them quicker. So two months in, they get referred. So eight weeks of waiting, be, you know, I can only begin to imagine the sort of sense of relief of this guy must have fell, after waiting two months or support, the last something was going to happen, he was going to get help. And then it happened,
a text message to say that he was on the waiting list. And they will be back to him within three months, within three months.

So here, I find myself in my therapy room, and this guy just sat in front of me in tears, absolutely broken, looking pale, just looking for any kind of help.
He started talking to me about how dark the nights were and how totally alone he felt, even though he had a wife on a young child. And I could see in his face he had mentally checked out.
And in moments like this, I have to ask that question.
I have to ask, have you have thoughts or made plans to complete suicide? And it’s just one of those questions you dread asking as a therapist. Because before the client even speaks, the look they give you tells you everything you need to know. And this guy was close to the edge and was ready to make the worst possible decision any human being will ever make.

So what do you do? What do you do when you feel like the system that’s supposed to help you fails you?
What do you do when prescription after prescription does not work? Or stay tuned as some of this may just help.
Don’t let this get you down. Don’t let this story of failing health and GPS not helping us let you get it down because a little bit of knowledge is power. And with this power and knowledge and the right approach, you will get help. And the more you know about how to get help, the easier it’s going to be to navigate your way through the system.
So if you take nothing else away from this episode today, please take this, you must ask for help. I’m going to say that again, you must ask for help, you must speak up.

I’ll say that again, you must speak up You MUST speak to your wife, your brother, your sister, a friend, anyone you trust, you must speak up. And anyone that speaks up is a true champion. You’re a total hero. And the thing is that every time somebody asks for help, it makes it harder and harder for the powers that be to ignore this mental health crisis we have in this country. So don’t ever feel embarrassed about approaching someone for help. And if you don’t know what to say, just say I’m going through some stuff, and I struggling to put it into words, but I need some help.

You have no idea. The difference talking about your issue will make because bottling it up never, ever helps. So let’s start to think about what help do you need?
Well, to know what help you need, you have to start paying a bit more attention to the symptoms that you’re currently experiencing.

Because we’re going to do a little bit of detective work here. So what I want you to do is start by keeping a daily record of your mental health symptoms. And I want you to write things down, like Where were you when they happened? What were you doing? What time of day? Was it? Because of this information can help us to start to look for patterns. Did it happen in the morning? Is it happen at night isn’t happening after you’ve eaten?

And what I want you to do also is make a note of any frequent physical symptoms. Why do we do this? Well, the more information you have, the better because the reality is, when you get in front of the GP, he’s probably only gonna have 10 minutes to talk to you. And the more information that you have to hand, the more likely they’re able to help you in that session.

What I’d also like you to do is talk to your family. Does anyone in your family have a diagnosed mental health condition? Because some of these conditions are hereditary.

Going on from this, what I want you to do is keep a detailed list of any appointments or treatments and what the outcome was. So you have your own records to easily refer to and you take these to every single appointment. And keep note of when you’ve made phone calls. And when you’ve chased things up and the outcome from that because we need a record because it’s going to help your case as you go forward. Listen, I know it’s exhausting.
mustering the energy to ring your doctor or to visit your doctor with this constant fear of dismiss, but we’ve got to do this. And it’s all too easy to feel like giving up. But please, please, please keep trying, I promise it’s worth it.

Now let’s just say you get in front of the GP, should you feel like the doctor didn’t listen properly to your concerns, you need to ask for clarification. Because sometimes doctors may dismiss your words because they don’t understand the full extent of your concerns. So ask your doctor to explain their reasoning for dismissing your worries. And ask for clarification on any points that you don’t understand. And if that fails, ask the receptionist to book you an appointment with another GP in the practice. Or ask Is there anyone in the practice that has mental health training? Or is there a mental health nurse that you could talk to?
If you feel like you’re butting your head up against the wall, this and the practice is just not helping you. You can also consider changing practices and registering a different doctor in your area.

Now what I will say two as at any point during this process, if you feel like you’re at crisis point feeling suicidal or just completely overwhelmed, please call NHS 24 or a local mental health charity or head straight to your nearest a&e That is really, really important.

Now assuming we get in front of the GP, and you’ve got your point across, at some point, you’re very likely to end up on a waiting list. And you want to get off that waiting list as soon as possible and get some help. So how do we get off that waiting list? Or during your session with a GP? Ask them about the typical waiting times for your condition. And they’re not guaranteed to know, but they should be able to give you some kind of idea of how long you can you’re going to have to wait.

Ask the GP, what could you be doing to help yourself as much as possible while you wait, and what support is there available.

This is anything that you can do between appointments or waiting for appointments is going to help your recovery and it’s going to definitely speed it up.

Ask the GP who should you contact if you haven’t heard anything, or if your symptoms start to change and you become worried.

And ask them when the clock stops and starts on your total waiting time. For example, not being able to take them to appointment. This can affect your priority because of the waiting time statistics. So you need to understand that.
Now once you know you’re 100% on the list, you need to call or email your doctor Sergi regularly, at least fortnightly for updates to make sure that things are progressing.

Because the reality is as frustrating as it is that people do fall off waiting lists. So we have to stay on top of this. If this feels like it’s just a bit too much for you to handle, get a friend or a family member to help you.

While you’re on this waiting list, start to research local mental health charities and organizations and peer groups because so many of these do fantastic work. And very often they can provide practical solutions very quickly.

One thing you could consider if you can afford it is start to look for local private therapy options. There are so many alternative therapies now that can normally see you within a few days notice this and I need to be straight, it shouldn’t be this way. You shouldn’t have to do all this stuff. And I know it takes effort to get going. But the reality is, that’s just how things are for now. So if you can get your family or friends in your corner helping you do it, to give you a bit of accountability to give you a bit of support to be the extra voice for you. rally around get people together, get a team to help you do this. I know that the struggles can be tough, and it may feel like you’re facing one challenge after another after another.

But I want you to know this things will get better.
Look already how much strength and resilience you show by making it this far. And you do have it within you to keep going. And every day is just a new opportunity to take one more step forward and make progress towards your recovery.

The hard times won’t last forever, I promise. But it’s so important to keep moving forward and have faith that things will improve. Try to focus on the present moment and just take things one step at a time. That phone call that appointment that follow up that bit of research, that little bit of self care, because all the small steps can add up to really big progress.
And just stop for a moment take time to appreciate
The good things you have in your life, no matter how small they may seem your family, your pet your home, the meal you had last night, the ability to go out and walk and enjoy the outside. We’ve always got something to be grateful for, and celebrate your victories. Don’t be too hard on yourself. If the receptionist that the GPS answers the phone, celebrate the weight, and if you get the appointment, celebrate the win. Don’t be too hard on yourself when things don’t go the way you want them to. Because you are capable of overcoming any obstacles that come your way. So start to believe in yourself and all that potential that lies within you. Because you’re stronger than you realize you are resilient and you are capable of beating this. So keep pushing forward.

Try to stay positive. Take one day at a time. And just try to remember that better days are ahead. You’ve got this.

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