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Care Opinion

Battling severe anxiety

Posted By worker and service user

"Battling severe anxiety"

About: Royal Cornhill Hospital / Adult mental health Royal Cornhill Hospital / Psychotherapy

(as a service user),

I have struggled with my mental  health ever since I was a teenager and I eventually took the decision to seek help last year, and I was subsequently assessed for psychotherapy, following a very difficult period in my job. However, the team came to the conclusion that I was not ready for therapy and that I should go away, socialise more, and improve my confidence in order for me to be able to undertake therapy  successfully. What's more they will not accept a referral until at least a year has passed. This has left me totally stunned. What kind of a system casts people aside and will not help them? I have been begging for help alongside battling severe anxiety and suicidal thoughts. The service are aware of all of this from the formal complaint I submitted  yet their response is to say improve your confidence and socialise more. I have battled these feelings since I was a teen so I can safely say these things cannot change overnight. It can take years to help bring about change. I am an NHS worker myself and I strive to give my patients my all. Yet I feel like I am not worthy of help, and even life sometimes. I feel I have less and less  fight in me every day to carry on. And I would like to add that just because I can muster the strength to drag myself out  of bed every morning does not mean that I am not struggling; this has been implied by some in the industry. And what is appalling is that there is so many others in the system in my position. Please help us. We are just as worthy of treatment as those will a broken leg or appendicitis.

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Responses

Response from NHS Grampian 4 years ago
NHS Grampian

Submitted on 14/10/2019 at 16:30
Published on Care Opinion on 15/10/2019 at 10:38

Dear worker and service user,

Thank you for getting in touch with us via Care Opinion.

I’m sorry you have been struggling with your mental health and glad you sought the courage to seek help after such a long time – making those initial steps can’t have been easy for you and I’m disappointed to read that you have been left feeling cast aside and not worthy of help – this isn’t how we would want you to feel.

The need for the Psychological therapies services, including the Psychotherapy Department or Clinical Psychology Department, to deliver Psychotherapies and other interventions for adults is assessed initially by the Community mental health teams, or sometimes in other specialist teams.

Assessment then is taken forward in the Psychological therapies department when a patient is referred onwards to see whether a particular form of therapy can be expected to be of value.

Any dissatisfaction with services offered, or not, on this pathway can be thought about with the help of your referring GP and the relevant Community Mental Team.

The details you have offered in this feedback lead me to believe that you are in contact with the service via the complaints team. If this is not the case and you feel the interventions offered aren’t working for you – you can be referred back to the service by your GP at any time. Please don’t wait for a year to pass if you need help – we understand that just because you are able to get out of bed it doesn’t mean you aren’t struggling.

Shona Sinkins

Lead Nurse

Division B

Royal Cornhill Hospital

Aberdeen

shonasinkins@nhs.net

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