"I feel forgotten and very let down."

I had an IAPT appointment back in early July 2017 after a referral from my G.P. as I was tearful, anxious, depressed and at times felt suicidal. After attending this appointment I then had a follow up telephone call advising that I would benefit from counselling which I agreed to and also that attending the anxiety IAPT course would also be helpful. I expressed concern about my level of fatigue as I am mostly housebound. I did however agree to attend the anxiety course as well as the counselling.

The following month I received a letter from the counsellor saying that she was hoping to start my counselling in September and that she would contact me nearer the time to arrange an appointment.

I preceeded with the anxiety course whilst waiting to hear about my appointment. Due to a long standing illness, my health only allowed me to attend 2 out of the 4 sessions. The sessions each last 2 hours which is exhausting for me and I was unable to continue. I filled out a form at the beginning of each of the sessions, so it was know about my illness and that I was in receipt of ESA. At the end of the course someone is supposed to contact each person who has attended to check if they need continuing support. No one contacted me. I decided at the time although it was unprofessional of them not to contact me that I would let it go as I was expecting my counselling to start soon and wondered if they knew this and that that may be the reason I had been overlooked.

I was never contacted to attend counselling!

Continuing life events deepened my anxiety and sadness and I felt to exhausted and let down that I felt unable to tell my G.P. until May 2018. I now have breathlessness, severe chest heaviness and a racing pulse as a result of my worsening anxiety. My G.P. contacted IAPT to say I was still waiting for counselling and queried if I had got lost on their system. She also carried out health checks and prescribed medication.

I then received a letter from the counsellor saying that I had been discharged following an IAPT course. I have now been offered an appointment for counselling, but I have had to wait almost a year and still do not know why I was discharged???

Not getting help when promised has contributed to the worsening of my anxiety and I am left feeling unable to trust IAPT services. I feel angry and extremely let down.

I am lucky, my husband supports me. I do not know what I would do without him. Not everyone has this support. But he is less strong these days and also cares full time for another family member who lives with us and she is house/wheelchair bound. We have no other support or family. IAPT should not withdraw promised help. It is unprofessional, careless and in some cases this kind of treatment could be fatal given this is supposed to provide a service for people suffering from anxiety and depression.

Please learn from this and do not let others down in this way.