"No empathy, didn't listen"

I spoke to a GP, who I presume was a locum. I took with me a piece of paper titled 'How to talk to your Doctor about Social Anxiety'. It recommends writing down a summary of your symptoms for the GP to read, because people who suffer with social anxiety, like myself, struggle to talk to others about their condition because we fear being judged and negatively evaluated. I have suffered with this condition for 40 years and never sought help before, but I am in crisis now. The GP refused to read the piece of paper and insisted I tell them verbally what was wrong. This immediately increased my anxiety.

Normally, with other GPs at the practice, I receive reassuring comments and expressions of concern about my feelings. This lady showed no empathy at all and seemed disinterested. I tried to explain about my social anxiety and how it affects me but she didn't want to know about the symptoms I was experiencing at all. I asked if I could get a diagnosis of social anxiety and she said she would refer me to mental health services, but could not say when they might contact me.

I tried to explain that I have difficulty talking to people because of my social anxiety and I tried to explain about the specific

CBT that has been developed to treat social anxiety disorder (based on the Clark and Wells model or the Heimberg model), but the GP cut me off and said she knew about social anxiety. I told her that I was not happy with the service I was receiving from her and she accused me of being rude and aggressive. I was growing increasingly distressed by this point and I left.

I felt traumatised by the whole experience, it was like she didn't want to listen to anything I had to say. Needless to say, for a person with social anxiety, this is the very worst way to behave. My anxiety is worse than ever and although I would like to book another appointment at the practice, I am terrified that the same thing will happen to me again.