first meeting with a psychiatrist

tribe,

After a few years of anti-depressant treatment for depression, which worked, I stopped taking the pills. Had a major relapse and now back on pills.

I have also been referred to a psychiatrist for evaluation. Can I ask other users their experiences of this and how I can get the most out of the meeting?

Jim

Jim, my experience is that it is nothing to fear. I have met 2 and both have been fantastic, very competent and caring individuals.

you might want to try and think about your history, whether any significant life events seem to have triggered depressive episodes. I dont know how far away your appointment is, but perhaps you could keep a mood diary, if you google mood diary you will find advice on how to do that.

good luck and try not to stress about it

oh and make up your mind to be as open and truthful with the doc as possible - it in in your best interests, honestly

Hi Jim
Actually I think they are the best people to sort us depressives out. My Gp struggled to get my depression under control almost too scared to prescribe me the strength of antidepressants I needed to turn around.My psychiatrist was just a normal guy. He took charge for me when I had nothing left. He helped me sleep with anti depressants for night time as well as during the day. He batted for me, when I couldn't see that I needed to make a stand. It's difficult at first to open up to a stranger, but I found him to be better than my psychologist. I would go back straight away if I felt myself slipping back into severe depression. He actually told me that I didn't need to see him any more, so he will be keen to get you on the mend. Good Luck x

I hope your meeting went well. I have met many psychs over the years. Many have been bloody dreadful! A couple great! I hope you get one who is warm and understanding!

I hope your meeting went well. I have met many psychs over the years. Many have been bloody dreadful! A couple great! I hope you get one who is warm and understanding!

cheers Matt, still havent even had a referral letter through yet! I feel a lot better than a few weeks ago though. I think Im lucky in that antidepressants really work for me. I just need to keep taking them

Sorry for not reading the post properly Jim. Its good to hear the Ad's are working. I hope the referral goes through quickly.

Matthew

no bother matt,

got appointment in first week of May, and I need it.
I have had a huge crash this week and I'm barely holding it together. Just trying to get to the weekend without losing it at work, or doing something stupid

Has something happened to make you crash like this? Have you missed medication?

Im sorry about the crash. It happens. Can i suggest keeping a mood diary until you see the psych? It is often hard if not impossible to remember all and diaries can be really invaluable to help the MHT diagnose you and get the meds correct.

Take care of yourself.

no i've taken meds every day. its only been five weeks since i started back on them after a really bad relapse, so im expecting to be up and down for a while. I think loneliness has a lot to do with it. I work in a different city from my family, friends and fiancee. I try to go back most weekends but in a way I think that makes it worse, having to leave every sunday. I also went out on saturday with my mates for a drink and felt really bad on sunday (not just the hangover!) so im going to stop drinking. thought i was starting to turn the corner but I suppose these things happen

I relate to the loneliness. I relate to being away from those you love also. Funnily i also relate to the drinking.

I was forced to move away from my home and basically my entire life when i fell ill. The odd weekend away seeing friends would render me distraught for weeks after. No one around me could understand why i was so down after i had had such a "lovely" weekend.

Try and avoid the booze if you can. Do not stop going home to your family though. Have you told your partner how you are feeling? If not then i think you should.

Sounds silly, but perhaps get a web cam and chat on there during the week?

I totally understand the "lovely" weekend sentiments, its the wrench of leaving that I hate. If you havent guessed I never went into work today, emailed my boss to say im working from home. Not really supposed to but he knows I have depression. Yeah everyone in the close family and fiancee knows. I hear what your saying bout the webcam but I dont know how I would be the next day

Jim, I hope you find your meeting helpful and it puts you on the path to recovery!

I have some practical suggestions.

Take a notebook with you and a pen to write with. Make notes of the meeting and anything that is suggested or promised. Time can be short, and sometimes emotions stirred up, so afterwards it can all seem a blur. So if you have it down on paper, you can get past that. Sadly, I've had the experience of a psychiatrist promising me a course of treatment, then withdrawing that offer. Having the evidence meant I could complain and get the treatment that I needed. I wish I could say that it was a given that they had your best interests at heart, but it isn't always the case.

I find I spend a great deal of time in first meetings (and often some subsequent ones) giving a long history. So I've written mine up, so I can just hand it to them. You could also get it to them in advance of your first meeting. There are two advantages to this, firstly it saves a lot of time, and you can move on more quickly to being treated, the second is that it can be emotionally harrowing going over the history (mine's long and complicated) I find it enormously better not having to go over it all unnecessarily.

If you have someone you trust to go with you, that can help too, they could take notes, help get things clarified for you.

Best wishes,

Anna