Best way to go about getting help in the uk.

I’m from the UK and feel that I’m just declining more and more and want to get proper help. But I don’t want to visit an NHS doctor because I’ve done that before and they just do not care for your individual situation and hand out SSRI’s like they’re kids sweets. They’re over worked and are seeing someone different every 10 minutes so can’t give individual cases the right attention.

Also the therapists I’ve seen in the past we’re private but they didn’t really do anything for me or have anything constructive to suggest so I stopped seeing them.

I’ve heard that it’s very important to see a psychiatrist in order to get an actual diagnosis? Can someone confirm that for me? I’ve got money to pay for one Privately so I won’t have to wait.

My symptoms are the classic depression symptoms. Delusional thoughts, fatigue, apathy etc. But lately they’ve been manifesting in me literally not being able to stand the way my face looks and hating what I see in the mirror. I’m aware this is what the illness is doing to me but it’s incredibly difficult and feels very real.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

angus18 wrote:I’m from the UK and feel that I’m just declining more and more and want to get proper help. But I don’t want to visit an NHS doctor because I’ve done that before and they just do not care for your individual situation and hand out SSRI’s like they’re kids sweets. They’re over worked and are seeing someone different every 10 minutes so can’t give individual cases the right attention.

Also the therapists I’ve seen in the past we’re private but they didn’t really do anything for me or have anything constructive to suggest so I stopped seeing them.

I’ve heard that it’s very important to see a psychiatrist in order to get an actual diagnosis? Can someone confirm that for me? I’ve got money to pay for one Privately so I won’t have to wait.

My symptoms are the classic depression symptoms. Delusional thoughts, fatigue, apathy etc. But lately they’ve been manifesting in me literally not being able to stand the way my face looks and hating what I see in the mirror. I’m aware this is what the illness is doing to me but it’s incredibly difficult and feels very real.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

i can somewhat relate in the sense that the therapists / or mental health specialists i see, they don't normally give good information or feedback, and even if they do, they are only answering my own questions and repeating what i already know, yes, time is a limiting factor a lot.

i was gonna ask how long have you been seeing mental health specialists? you mentioned the importance of seeing a psychiatrist, it would seem you haven't spent much in the mental health support field? well, the answer to the psychiatrist part is that it depends, normally psychiatrists only prescribe medication and you can talk a bit on symptoms, etc, but i wouldn't necessarily rush to a psychiatrist unless you have some sort of tact, it's easy to fall into their "trap" or get brainwashed or w.e, i suffered a lot from side effects and abuse from them because they clearly didn't understand my problems and condition, one medication in particular they prescribed which was latuda had sent me to the hospital from it's near deadly side effects and the way the medication simply worked, ( which never should have been prescribed to me, stupid psychiatrist , and poor innocent me not knowing what else to do with my depression and conditions )

currently, i do not take any psychiatric medications myself nor would i want to, i am simply living / existing with my conditions as they are ( major depression being one of them ) and regularly see my psychologist every week and follow up with other stuff, hopefully finding some more safer or natural supplement or homeopathic solution in the future, but really, for your diagnosis, you should be seeing a mental health specialist, particularly a licensed psychologist, of course, you can have good or bad therapists, regardless of background or credentials.

have you done any psychologist testing? iq test, etc? all of these are important in seeing what route or treatment would work best for you / how well you can benefit, etc.

overall, i would say to first do all you can with mental health specialists, take any psychological testing, explain yourself to the best you can, please try to be accurate, and if there is something you can't talk about in depth or it's too personal, then let them KNOW! it's important to have all these details informed.