"Felt they were too quick to dismiss me"

I would like to share my experience with you because being assessed at Stonebridge Centre Nottingham left me more confused and overwhelmed than I could imagine.

My story is that I have been struggling with anxiety, depression, binge eating and spells of purging since I was 13 years old. I have been treated for depression and anxiety and sought help for my eating problems since 2014. Before my assessment day at the Stonebridge Centre, I had already completed 20 CBT sessions for my depression/anxiety (primary care), 12 CBT sessions for my binge eating disorder with EDISS (Eating disorders in Student Services by First Steps) and was already on 30mg Citalopram and 10mg Phenergan. My GP was aware of my long-term problem with eating disorder and anxiety; therefore, she referred me to the secondary mental health care at Stonebridge.

The day of my assessment, a member of staff greeted me and guided me into a room and started asking questions about my past and my story. I shared as much as I could regarding my past on anxiety, depression and eating problems. It is important to mention that this member of staff did not give me any standardised questionnaire to measure any of my symptoms, it was just a casual chat. At the end I was told that they cannot offer me any help because I have “disordered eating”, but not an eating disorder (please note that I wasn't asked anything about the quantity, intensity and frequency of my eating problem). I was utterly confused and asked what was meant by “disordered eating”.  I was told that that I do not have an eating disorder because I am aware of using food to cope with negative emotions. However, later that day, I had a session with my EDISS therapist at that time, and was assured that people who suffer from eating disorders use food (or lack of food) to cope with negative feelings and I fall into this category. Basically, the assessor was wrong. In addition, when I asked the assessor what the difference between a person with an eating disorder and disordered eating is, I was told that we were running out of time and refused to elaborate on my question. I felt totally confused, awkward and let down. The assessor also told me to use self-help to deal with my eating problem and did not suggest any further support. On the other hand, my EDISS therapist assured me later that self-help is what people do before even trying having CBT, which I already had. Overall, I felt that they did not take my mental health problem seriously and were too quick to dismiss me without even offering any alternative support. I felt let down and disappointed by that service and felt they did not care at all.