Still No PTSD Therapist What Next

[adrian_newbridge]

Saw my psychologist again today and I'm still not getting The help I think I need. Am I wrong to think I should be doing trauma exposure therapy again, after I went through all that and my last psychologist said she had gone as far as she could with the PTSD. As I posted before, I was re admitted to the psych unit back in November 08. Should I be just dealing with the flashbacks, hallucinations and intrusive thoughts as though this is me now and it is my normal mental state to go through all this for the rest of my life and just accept it or do I keep trying to find ways to make it all go away. I went to the funeral of a close friend yesterday and while looking at the coffin all I saw was my mum after she had passed away, just sitting up in her coffin and waving her arms about and shouting to me to help her. I just want to be sad at things that upset me without getting the horrible stuff in my head as well. So should i be treated for the anxiety and thoughts and flashbacks without thinking about PTSD. This sounds jumbled up and I'm sorry if I sound confused but I just can't think straight, I'm totally mixed up as to what way to go next :dontknow:

 

[cherryblossom]

Should I be just dealing with the flashbacks, hallucinations and intrusive thoughts as though this is me now and it is my normal mental state to go through all this for the rest of my life and just accept it or do I keep trying to find ways to make it all go away.

This comment strikes a chord with me, because this exactly how I feel. I have asked for help, and seen psychologists, and psychiatrists.... and after going nowhere, I have been discharged. I feel like, from now on, I'm on my own.

I don't have any answers for you... but you are not alone. I don't think there are many people out here in the UK to help us.

I wish you well

Regards, CB

 

[fin]

Adrian I have possibly from the sound of it, been having the same problems as you for years, can you go to your GP? And can you get an advocate? And have you seen the NICE guidelined for PTSD managment and treatment?

~fin

 

[Deleted member 541]

HI Adrian,

Sorry to hear that you are still struggling with finding a therapist, and with the same old shit of PTSD..... I feel for you...... I have been triggered also, in the past few months, and feel like everything I struggled for with years of therapy has just been flushed down the toilet.....

Don't give up, keep pushing for what you think/feel that you need. You are the only one that can and will fight for you and your healing.....

 

[Lisa]

Adrian I have possibly from the sound of it, been having the same problems as you for years, can you go to your GP? And can you get an advocate? And have you seen the NICE guidelined for PTSD managment and treatment?

~fin

Fin speaks sense, I was going to say NICE guidelines too

I saw a good psychiatrist recently (though I paid £400 for the hour), and he absolutely and categorically told me that in the NHS, I have to promise to shout LOUD for help.

Unfortunately, this is actually my experience in the past, particularly in mental health. Those who shout loudest are the ones who have a chance of getting.. You have to keep on, and on, and on, and on, and in some cases you have to keep on until you are actually wasting more money and time being denied it. Sometimes.

Depends on your GP too.

I have decided to avoid the NHS wherever possible. But being not rich, this is not going to be absolutely possible.

I wish you the best.... we are in hard times here in the UK for healthcare, and the recession is going to continuously affect this. But, keep on keeping on and you WILL get there.

You have a right to treatment. Is there something you haven't tried? What have you tried? NICE guidelines say CBT, interpersonal therapy, EMDR, psychiatry...if my memory is correct so don't quote me on that..

Additionally, if you do have enough money to pay for a one off assessment privately by a psychiatrist/psychologist (but a good one) - this would be beneficial. You could get an assessment for the purposes of second opinion and letter to you GP that way...

 

[fin]

hey Lisa, I was reading adrians threads and it looks like he was at one point getting really excellent care and then it all stopped, when the psychologist moved away. I am thinking they didn't get a replacement probably.

I do agree you have to be LOUD, although when they (NHS) suggest complaining, try not to because I believe I am not 100% though, but I believe everything freezes until a resolution is found. So you can get caught by this as thinking you will maybe get somewhere while the reality is, that they get to shelve you more. Unless maybe you have a solicitor in the family or an advocate that will speak for you. In which case go for it complain away. Oh and I am not suggesting anyone gets taken to court here, the NHS is already very under funded as it is.

It sucks

My situation is similar in some ways and has been going on for many years, I don't know I think you have maybe read my bits about this, and my GP is now wondering why he is not in the loop with the mental health trust, so hopefully he can get it going again. if you have an interested GP they can get you to another part of the service and go through (I have been told) a panel for funding for this.

So if adrian has already been getting treatment and the only reason it ended so abruptly is because they didn't replace the psychologist's specialism, well he might possibly be able to get it again. Just like LIsa says above be LOUD. I am trying to be, I have hopefully now gained something of the hope I once had, that had evaporated, and now I am trying as hard as I can to be loud. This is our lives and somehow we have to make a stand for it. I had given up last year completely and if I hadn't found this forum, well it doesn't bare thinking about.

I said about the recession also and I was told that none of health service will be affected, I don't know if they are living in an alterante reality from the rest of the planet, (I think maybe), but they seemed absolutely convinced of this!!! It is like I said, I have PTSD I am not stupid !!!! and I don't know how they can remain immune to the recession, when even in affluent times funding and treatment is so bad, and such a lottery.

And my experience has shown me that after all the "beating down" we take about trying to get treatment and then never being told anything etc, that when they do something, and it isn't even the right thing, well we don't always see it as what it is, because we are just so darn gratefull that they have done something.

I am so sick of hearing empty platitudes, and being placated, and ...

~fin

 

[becvan]

Sadly, the situation here is the same. Who ever makes the most noise gets the best care. I advocated for myself. I made phone call after phone call and I never let up till I got what I needed. I didn't make a single complaint either. I just kept calling. Where am I on the waiting list, where is my son on the waiting list, constant reminders of what I needed and from who. Once they all knew me by name, I got care fast.

If you want help you have to make it known. Don't stop calling.

bec

 

[adrian_newbridge]

thanks everyone for your help and support. I read the NICE guidelines and from what I can see I don't think my local mental health team has followed them properly. This will give me some much needed ammunition when I go back to see the new psychologist. I think I would be lost without this forum, There is always someone on here to give me a reply and give me strength and hope to carry on. A big THANK YOU to all of you for replying. Lets stick together.

 

[Lisa]

thanks everyone for your help and support. I read the NICE guidelines and from what I can see I don't think my local mental health team has followed them properly. This will give me some much needed ammunition when I go back to see the new psychologist. I think I would be lost without this forum, There is always someone on here to give me a reply and give me strength and hope to carry on. A big THANK YOU to all of you for replying. Lets stick together.

:smile: Thanks! Always feels good when somebody tells you that you've been helpful... exactly what this forum is for!

... Best of luck! Let us know how it goes.

Lisa.

 

[2notbedefeated]

I'm cheering you on Adrian. I have similiar issues. My coverage only allows 20 sessions a year, if I'm approved. I don't know, maybe I shouldn't complain about it. Atleast I have had that, compare to some not getting any.

My question is, "how in the world does one with PTSD, dissociative disorder, severe sexual, emotional and sexually get better from only 20 sessions a year? Do others get better in 20 sessions?"

If feels to me like, just when I'm beginning to break ground, or make any glimmer or headway with this PTSD and other stuff, my time has ended and I still have along way to go.

I'm so frustrated by the mental health insurance and coverage!

I have just moved too. The therapist I had before was really helpful and I began to make alittle headway with him and now we've moved and I have to see if I can find a decent therapist that can work and by helpful to me. All my prior therapists, until my last onlye seemed to make me worst. There answer was to put me on more and more meds ( I was on over 30 psych pills a day for a while there = that would be 8 different kinds).

Anyway, I have take some strength and encouragement from your thread and others replies to keep pressing on and standing up for what I need. This is ever soooo hard for me to do. I need to think about standing up more than I do.

I wish you best of luck and we can press onward together and encourage one another to some level of wholeness.

You go for it. hugs to you.

 

[cherryblossom]

I quite agree that you need to be LOUD to get the right help in the UK. It's such a shame, because I know myself that when I'm in the worst place due to PTSD, being loud and being heard just aren't on the agenda. If you are lucky enough to have someone to speak out on your behalf, maybe this will help to find the right person to help you.