"Rejected referrals"

My GP continuously referred me to psychiatric services within NHS Lanarkshire and every time my referral was denied on the basis that I was not a priority and I was functioning.

My GP tried to get me seen multiple times and every time it came back as rejected. Although functioning, I was experiencing a mental health crisis of panic attacks, emotional disregulation, brain fog, binge eating, severe intrusive thoughts, poor social skills, poor communication skills in workplace and personal life, hyperactive tendencies etc.

I noticed that I would talk to myself and rehearse conversations before they happened. I didn't really fit in and tried to copy how people around me acted. I have done this since I was a child. I was told I had anxiety and depression. Eventually it got so bad I decided to see a private consultant psychiatrist. I was worried I had a personality disorder or something wrong with my brain as I was struggling with an existential crisis as well and have always had concerns over the world/the planet etc.

However, after months of assessments and screening, talking in depth about my childhood, having family members fill out questionnaires, deep diving into my brain and how I see the world I eventually was given the correct support and put on medication to help me regulate my thoughts. I also was given an official diagnosis of Combined Type ADHD Moderate Severity and Austim Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It would've been previously known as high functioning autism.

I now have a sort of shared care approach in place, however. The fact this was missed is very concerning. From age 18 I was phoning the GP telling them I do not feel very well mentally due to anxiety and they were referring me and coming back to say the referral was rejected. I was able to function alongside my difficulties as a female due to a term called masking, which is a performance females can do in order to fit in with society. Anyway - the fact this was missed is shocking.