UK QUESTION.Anyone with Mental Health Problems had problems with NHS Direct judging you and being unsympatheti?

NHS direct are the biggest waste of time they are just call centre operators who have been given a crash course. Best to go to your gp and get numbers for your local crisis team who are trained in mental health issues and available 24/7

My experience with them was very good. I called them once when in crisis and they wanted to call me an ambulance but I refused. Instead they kept me on the line and talked to me for ages to calm me down whilst another operator called my local crisis team. They didn't hang up until the crisis team arrived. That night, they saved my life.

Approach your local CMHT and highlight the problems, they will direct you to the right course of action.

I suppose it depends on the person, I'm not going to say they're ALL bad. I'm sure most of them are fine, especially my cheery, good looking doctor..he sometimes makes me WANT to see him :P Anyway, I went to this nice doctor because I had been suffering from depression after suppressing memories of sexual abuse. So he said that I could either go to a specialised s.abuse counselling, or I could go through the NHS. Foolishly I chose the NHS, perhaps because I still didn't want to believe what had happened to me. So he referred me and I waited. After 3 months of waiting, I still hadn't heard anything, except for the intial referal letter. So I actually contacted the s.abuse agency and was put on their waiting list. After only 3 weeks, I got to see a counsellor there! A week later, I got a call from an NHS counsellor so I made an appt with her, so this was a total of 4 months waiting. So I went along to see this NHS counsellor and she was...well, not very caring or sympathetic at all. She asked about my support network so I told her that my mother was not very helpful and I've never really connected with her and things like that. And she made me feel really bad for having negative feelings towards my mother and was just saying that not everyone gets along with their parents, so I should sort of 'get over it'. I then told her that I had been seeing this other counsellor for about 2 weeks so she basically just shooed me away and said that she wasn't going to offer me any more appointments. 4 months waiting and that's what I got! In a way, I'm glad that I had somewhere else to turn to, because my counsellor now (from the abuse agency) is sympathetic, genuine, caring etc, and has helped me so much with feelings towards my mother, and things from my childhood. So there we go! I hope that helps. I'm interested to know what your experience is? I'm guessing it's not good, seeing as you've asked this question... lol Take care x

i have a problem with my heart caused by my past bulemia, The first time i was in hospital for a fews days, i was in hurrendous pain and the doctor didn't take me seriously because of the scars on my arms and left me for hours, i passed out in the toilets in the hospital and wake up on the floor (nobody even realised i'd gone), my BP was low and i was in so much pain i couldn't eat but was told to just go home and rest and that there was nothing wrong with me. That night i passed out again and smashed my face off the radiator, causing me severe concussion and a horrible black eye (now i have perminent sight problems and need glasses) My sister phoned an ambulence and i was taken back into hospital where i was seen by a junior doctor. i was vomiting everytime i tried to eat or drink and was really confused (i can't really remember much about it, my mum told me) i was sent home again as the doctor said i was having a relapse of my bulemia and thats why i was vomiting, i was told to come back the next day for an x ray on my face, i went for an x ray and one of the doctors how seen me was concerned about me passing out and again i was admitted to hospital. up on the ward one of the doctors seen my scars from previous self harm and asked about them, when i told him he was really horrible to me and put on my notes that i was still a self harmer. i was put on a ecg tape to monitor my heart and was approached on a number of occasions about my very low pulse rate (<40) after a week in hospital i was discharged again and told to rest and i'd be ok, as my immune system was low i contracted broncitus, when i went to see a doctor he told me i was ok and that it was just anxiety, it wasn't until a few weeks later when i seen my GP that it was diagnosed, my GP is the only one that is taking me seriously at the minute and she can't tell how serious my condition it is but i have put in a complaint at the hospital with reguards to how i was treated because of my mental health history. my broncitus has cleared up but i still don't know what exactly is wrong with my heart, at hospital they don't really tell me much as they think because of my mental health history i am totally incapable of understandong what they are talking about, i feel very let down by the hospital and if it wasn't for my own GP i would be totally clueless about whats going on.

I have an interest in Religion being a reality. I left letters at a local church and one found it's way into my then G.P.'s office and it followed me in the 'bag of words' and I came across it 3 GP's later - so I keep myself to myself when in company. Guess I'm a real nutty fruit cake - but, it's other peoples opinion. No one talks reality in places where they could do some good - so, I 'sound off' here. I even support the B.N.P.. Their bad name is PUBLIC. I'm still 'private'.