I need to see the psychiatrist on 12th December to be assessed for treatment. The lady from the emotional wellbeing team who was been seeing me lately referred me there on priority and said that she needs to be there too, which is making me pretty anxious and worried about it. She told me that it's just so they can decide if medication would be appropriate and which therapy on which CAMHS tier would be the best, but I'm still not sure what to expect. Since Karen (lady from EWT) is going to be there too, surely she will have explained most of my issues to the psych beforehand? I'm going to take some little notes though just in case I still have to explain a lot and I find it hard.
Eh... Can anybody help me on what to expect?
There's so much I want to say and I'm quite worried I will forget some things, or she will think I'm being over-dramatic, or she wont think there's anything wrong at all and I'll be left with nothing.
Sorry to hear that you're feeling so anxious about this appointment. Please try not to worry about the fact that Karen will also be joining the session. It's actually quite typical for CAMHS to include the referrer and wider support network into assessment meetings. I would imagine that because she knows how bad your anxiety can get, she wants to be there to make sure all relevant information gets passed onto the psych.
Sometimes the referrer and psychiatrist will discuss issues before meeting with you, but even if this is the case there will be plenty of time for you to share your thoughts and concerns. You won't have to start from scratch, but if there is anything you really want to get accross to them you should be given that opportunity.
It might also be worth thinking about whether or not you would be willing to take medication. Again, if you have any questions you can ask the psych about it, but sometimes it's helpful to have an idea of what you would prefer to happen.
And finally, don't worry about them judging you as being over-dramatic! They will not think that whatsoever. Anybody who feels as awful as you do and has been given a priority referral is NOT being over-dramatic. I would encourage you to be honest with them rather than leave feeling like things have been left unsaid.
I've recently been to see one of the doctors at camhs, to discuss different therapies and medication. The person that referred me also came but that was on my request...
It took them just under a year to convince me to see the doctor as i was too frightened but i have to say the person i saw was actually really lovely. She asked lots of questions which helped and reminded me to say things i might have otherwise forgotten, when i struggled with answers, or wasn't neccessarily truthful the person i normally see at camhs was able to tell her more and when i said i didn't want to talk about something the doctor didn't force me too. I found although they had met twice about me beforehand, she wanted to hear from me what things are actually like and seemed to understand how frightened i was to speak to her. It lasted just under an hour, but i think that was probably because i was struggling so much to say things. She didn't rush me at all, and agreed i spoke enough on one occasion but didn't have enough information to make decisions and so made another appointment for me to see her. She left a few weeks between so i could settle back in with the person i normally see and dicuss how i thought it went etc.
Try to be as honest as you can, remember it's their job to help you! I hope the person you get to see is nice, but honestly it's nothing to worry about...
And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears. And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears...
Thankyou so much for the help both of you <3 You've been very helpful. I would write individual replies like I usually do but I'm not really feeling up to it at the moment, I'm sorry.
Unfortunately I was called up today by the psychiatrist informing me that there was a double-booking, and despite the fact I was supposed to have my appointment on the 12th NOVEMBER I was still the one that got moved to the 19th... I am really deeply upset, and now I have to wait another week when I was already worrying about it tons. Karen called her up and tried to move it back, but she couldn't and so she's going to see me next week just to talk before the real appointment.
It really seems like all the health services, including my GP who I've been trying to see for 2 weeks, are against giving me appointments at the moment.
PM if you'd like my experience with CAMHS, I'll tell you how my initial appointments were. (I've been, then been back, then been back again.)
The NHS can be sooo crap sometimes, I promise that it's not you that they have a problem with. They done it to me before, cancel, rebook, cancel again, and loads of others. They're not there to judge you/think badly of you, and even if they were gunna do that, they wouldn't have time to, with the hundreds of people on their files.
Sorry you're not feeling great. Keep looking after yourself until CAMHS.
For you to be here now trillions of drifting atoms had somehow to assemble in an intricate and intriguingly obliging manner to create you. It's an arrangement so specialized and particular that it has never been tried before and will only exist this once. That is of course the miracle of life.
-Bill Bryson
Don't ever frown because you never know who's falling in love with your smile.
For you to be here now trillions of drifting atoms had somehow to assemble in an intricate and intriguingly obliging manner to create you. It's an arrangement so specialized and particular that it has never been tried before and will only exist this once. That is of course the miracle of life.
-Bill Bryson
Don't ever frown because you never know who's falling in love with your smile.
Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that your appointment was moved. That's very frustrating. I'm glad you have Karen's support through this and that she is advocating for you. Have you got a plan of how to cope until then?
