The team I saw when I was in hospital were truly amazing. My consultant would see me twice a week even though she was only supposed to have ward rounds once a week, she'd always fight for me and never gave up when I didn't respond to medication. Her registrar would take her place if she was on holiday, and lets just say he knew how to get on my good side haha. One time I was on leave, came back for a review & he said he really should have sectioned me, but if I agreed to strike up a limited self-harm deal with him then he wouldn't have to. We both knew it sounded crazy, and if it went wrong he could get in a lot of trouble, but we earned eachothers trust and it worked out for the best in the long run. The SHO was by far the most brilliant though, she'd come to the ward and see me almost every day to check I was okay, sometimes even staying up to an hour after her home time to talk to me if I was feeling bad.
Also, I know most people complain about the crisis team, but the team I saw were very considerate and helpful. Their consultant sat with me for a good two hours and listened to everything and explained everything that was wrong with me, before convincing me to get admitted without being sectioned. The rest of the team were also very helpful :)
i had a few bad experiences with councellers before finding one that was awesome. i moved away and had to stop seeing her, but we had phone councelling, so i would have someone to talk to. she really goes beyond what anyone would expect. she has helped me so much. my experiences with crisis teams have been okay, and hospital was alright too, right now i feel like i need to be back there.
The consultant at camhs is really good, cares, understanding. Though my first counsellor wasn't the best. My counsellor at CAMHs now its great. I can have a laugh with her but i can also talk to her about some serious stuff, shes understanding and really cares. The crisis team i saw while i was in A&E ( after a large od) Were understanding but for my own reasons i were very keen on them.
when i was first became severley poorly and had contact with the crisis team i had so little insight into my illness that i hated them being there. I now realise how great they were - very patient and had my safety as a priority.
when i was admitted as an inpatient at times i hated the ward environment and the staff but some were great (for me the HCAs were more understanding than the nurses) SHO's were generally brilliant!
Since coming out i have built a reasonable relationship with my CPN (who is very well intentioned but sometimes a little bit full on!) My Psych was and continues to be brilliant. I have hated her decisions at times but she has always tried to do her v best for me and always gives me lots of her time.
ALtough my illness often prevented me from being grateful at the time i can now see just how many hours and resources have been provided. If it was not for that i would not be alive now.
My psych has been good with me. Whenever we think I should try a new medication, she always asks me to research meds and suggest one that I want to take. Then we discuss it and we make a choice together. For example, she suggested I go on an antidepressant, so I researched them and chose one, and she put me on it.
PM me if you want a PDF copy of the ICD-10or the Mental Health Act 1983/2007. I ALSO HAVE THE DSM-V BOOK and am a pharmacology student.
I have a visual impairment / neurological problems so I need people to type in clear text and no funny fonts. Also excuse any typos, my vision blocks things out.
I have autism and have problems communicating, PMs included.
Just becasue I type well doesn't mean I speak well. I am only part time verbal.
Something that happened yesterday that made me laugh...
Being a female self-harmer I have been referred to as having BPD a fair few times despite the fact I have been told by my psych that this is not the case. Now I'm not saying that having BPD is a bad thing or anything like that, but I've had that label used so many times as a way of invalidating my feelings or to dismiss my efforts to recover and keep myself safe. But yesterday my mental health advisor said "If anyone told me you had a personality disorder I would punch them!". Which was positive because it was in a conversation where we were talking about all the hard work i have done to try and recover and just to know that she felt annoyance about the misuse of that label on my behalf was nice. I find it's important to feel like people you are working with are on your side and are willing to speak out on your behalf.
I've had lots of good experience with the mental health system.
My university counsellor was wonderful and saw me for 4 years even though she wasn't supposed to see people for that long. She listened to me, tried to help the best she could but most importantly she knew when she was in too deep and referred me to alternative services.
My current therapist has seen me on and off for around 6/7 years now and again has been constantly supportive. Many times she has literally kept me alive and has also kept me out of hospital even though it wasn't easy. I could say i owe my life to her.
My current GP is actually a nurse practitioner and again he's been amazing. He tries to do as much as he can for me and again refers me to other services when he can't help me. Its nice to not feel scared when i go to the doctors like i used to.
The crisis team i saw were actually pretty good. At the time i fought against them quite a lot but now i am out of their care i can see how good they actually were. They came and visited me even when i was fighting their help and my main careworker was always so lovely to me and talked to me on the phone when she couldnt come and see me.
Once the Samaritans called me when i was home alone for the weekend. I'd been emailing them and the lady called me late one night. She talked to me for 2-3 hours and even talked me through going to the kitchen on my own and stuff as i hadnt eaten. She was amazing and she was so empathetic and just wonderful. She made sure someone called me back later in the night and the next day to make sure i was safe. If it hadnt been for her i know i would have made an attempt on my life that weekend.
So yeah, there has been some crappy people inbetween but overall my experiences have been positive.
vicky (a nurse) in hospital giving me cheesecake at 3am when the police brought me back.
oh & the head nurse lady on the ward letting me go out for a smoke even when the lights were off.
Oh & the lovely lady in the canteen who snuck me in dominoes :D
I think that is actually the best way, Oly. My new GP is the same. Had become so tired of being told take this/that, with no input 'allowed'.
It is a good way, ty. I had that being told what to take in the adolescent services. It sucked.
Good experiences - a healthcare assistant on the ward spending a whole hour chatting to me even though he had a lot of notes to type up. Another nurse sticking up for me when my Mum was being horrible. And another nurse who was always a good guy to joke about with but who could also be serious too.
PM me if you want a PDF copy of the ICD-10or the Mental Health Act 1983/2007. I ALSO HAVE THE DSM-V BOOK and am a pharmacology student.
I have a visual impairment / neurological problems so I need people to type in clear text and no funny fonts. Also excuse any typos, my vision blocks things out.
I have autism and have problems communicating, PMs included.
Just becasue I type well doesn't mean I speak well. I am only part time verbal.
Candy Tetris
Mahjong
Othello
Mumu
