Iapt Assessment

[Beetle]

Does anyone have any experience of the telephone assessment they do. I have been told it will be 90 minutes.

I am not good on the phone. I think telephone assessments are flawed as communication is about body language as well as talking.

I do not like the thought of dealing with just a voice, I need to know who they are, what they look like, where they are, are they real........ How can I trust what I do not see.

I am scared that too many people will get to know about my past. I am afraid of meeting people who will know all about me and gossip to others and people finding out I told on them, even though I would never say their names.

It feels like lots of people have bits of information about me, some more than others, what do they do with it all. Where is it kept and how safely.

I know I am paranoid, I am sorry.

 

[digger]

IAPT services vary hugely around the country. It's worth asking if you can arrange a face to face appointment instead as you aren't comfortable discussing your issues over the phone.

 

[Deleted member 20280]

I know I am paranoid, I am sorry.

There is no need to apologise for being paranoid at all @Beetle. That is all part of PTSD unfortunately. My initial assessment was done on the internet in the form of a tick box questionnaire and not face to face which I found quite distressing. I know just what you mean about numerous people knowing bits about you as I saw several NHS CPN's over a twelve month period and none of them actually helped me at all.

I send :hug:s from Devon if you accept them

Laurie

 

[J.L. Pitts]

I was a military wife when ptsd took me down.cant say i had much of a life hubby gone a lot. when he was home depended on him for everything man I was so co-dependent I could have been his doppel ganger but he was on maneuvers when I crashed and called a suicide crisis line. They calmed me down and told me about the fact that since i was a dependent I could go on post and receive care. That was late at night I stayed up all night and at 8 called the office they said oh we just happen to have an appointment at 2 pm so I just made myself sit still in the chair and wait till two. When I got there I was barely able to not breakdown. I couldn't fill out the paperwork cause I couldn't even remember what year it was! So this army captain comes in his dress greens and tells me who is and he will be my doctor I was only able to follow simple commands by then and he got me to his office and this young man inn his 20's was in there too and he explained he was an intern blah blah blah Then he asked me what was wrong. The words came out out of my like projectile vomit i could not stop telling things and I don't know all of what I told him but the words just kept coming and when finally there was nothing left in my mind. He said I'm referring you off post. I remember rage like I have never felt build in me my mind screaming kill him he knows too much why didn't he stop me why did he let me tell him everything? Just as I was about to rip him to shreds Numbness came from the back of my skull over my head and I was completely like a zonbie i followed his directions how to leave and I got to my truck and I sat there. I don't know how long completely numb not even a cohesive thought. it was summer at Ft Hood Texas. i hadn't even rolled the window down.Then I just decided that was that. I was a dead person no more pain. I went home got my gun sat on the bed and called and asked to talk to that lady on the crisis line and she talked me down and asked me the names on the paper. I told her and said how could i trust anyone ever again to hear my story. One of the therapists worked at the crisis shelter she convinced me to call her. I called her made an appt for the next day because I hadn't slept in so long I went to sleep still holding the gun. I woke up the next day and made the choice to put the gun away. I saw her and the first thing she said was so tell me about you. I immediately started to talk about the abuse and she said No Whoa. That is what happened to you I want to know who you are. Those words reminded yea I was a person. Changed my life but the lady on the crisis line is why I am alive today. Sometimes that phone call can change everything and just because you see someone in person doesn't mean they will fit you. Keep trying get referrals . And remember to separate the person you are from the abuse that happened to you. I was diagnosed co-dependent with PTSD Complex PTSD is what they refer it mow didn't matter PTSD is complicated no matter in every case. PTSD Survivors of America are not only for soldiers, but anyone who has PTSD to any degree from what ever the trauma was. But they are not nationwide yet you can find them on facebook. They might could suggest a therapist in your area.

 

[joeylittle]

PTSD Survivors of America are not only for soldiers, but anyone who has PTSD to any degree from what ever the trauma was. But they are not nationwide yet you can find them on facebook. They might could suggest a therapist in your area.

@Beetle is in the UK and is referring to an assessment program created by the National Health Service over there - IAPT stands for Improving Access to Psychological Therapies, and it is supposed to help improve access to the right kind of therapy for the specific needs of the patient.

I don't know much (read: anything) about how this process works in the UK except to say that @digger has good advice. You can always ask for your preferred method of communication, the worst they can say is "no".

When I'm wrestling with my paranoid feelings I try and remind myself that people are generally more interested in themselves than in others - that is to say, people aren't usually paying as much attention as we might think, when it comes to "putting together" the puzzle of who we are in real life. But I also understand how frightening it can be.