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Mental Health Assessments

Posted , 3 users are following.

Sapphire07
Sapphire07

Hi, anybody who has had a mental health assessment before how did you receive your diagnosis was it in writing, verbally or what? Are there some cases where they won't make a diagnosis at all?

0 likes, 9 replies

9 Replies

  • richard89308
    richard89308 Sapphire07

    Posted

    you usually have to do a care plan to see what your expectations are in the future. It is easy to fill in. That is what happens in the UK anyway.  The nurse will then type it up and send it on to you.  If it is your first assessment then the  Dr will ask you a lot of questions about your illness and moods etc so be prepared to give honest answers.

    rich 

    • Sapphire07
      Sapphire07 richard89308

      Posted

      Thankyou so they would let you know the outcome of an assessment in writing, or verbally?
  • georgeGG
    georgeGG Sapphire07

    Posted

    I was very anxious in not having a diagnosis and for several weeks expected to be told I had little wrong with me and did not need further attention, However I was allocated 8 therapy sessions. At the end of the first session the therapist showed me how the scoring system worked and that I had severe depression. At the end of the third session the therapist worked out with me my care plan. I signed two copies. He kept one and I the other.
    • Sapphire07
      Sapphire07 georgeGG

      Posted

      Yeah it's making me really anxious. I'm going to be having therapy but they haven't actually given me a diagnosis
    • georgeGG
      georgeGG Sapphire07

      Posted

      It is strange isn't it. Just when you don't need extra stress too. The only diagnosis I had was the verbal one. There was the running 'diagnosis' of the score and so how the score indicates mild, medium and severe depression. I do not know how it works with other ailments.
    • Sapphire07
      Sapphire07 georgeGG

      Posted

      Thankyou. Think it's a case on focus ing on feeling better because it's too stressful to keep wondering what label their gonna give me.
    • tersia03817
      tersia03817 georgeGG

      Posted

      Mine was a written assessment and diagnosis given to my GP. Well, he did first tell me what he thought the problem was. He told me what they symptoms are for vrious diagnosis similar to mine, and said he was having difficulty picking one as I have symptoms for a few different ones. So as we discussed it together, he ruled out some on the basis that I was missing a key symptom. For example, I do go manic and achieve enormously, but that is not followed by depression, as I never get depressed, and I have all the symptoms of schizophrenia except my speaking is not muddled (I don't speak word salad). So eventually, the one that fit the closest was Schizoaffective disorder.
  • tersia03817
    tersia03817 Sapphire07

    Posted

    I had to have a mental Health assessment.

    I told my GP the mental troubles I was having and asked her what to do. I got a shock when she said I need to see a psychiatrist, LOL. I thought she'd just prescribe something. Anyway, she booked me an appointment and it was for 2 weeks away. That also shocked me because I had been told you can wait MONTHS to see a psychiatirst.

    When I arrived, 2 big male nurses took me into a back room. They interrogated me for an hour. It was horrificly stressful, but I managed to almost hold myself together, although I did start shaking and shivering badly. I giggle when I'm nurvous, and try to make light of things. That's my stress response. So, I thought that was the end of that and I'd never hear from mental health again. I was wrong.

    A few days later a letter arrived in the post telling me they made an appointment for me to see the top consultant psychiatrist! I was utterly confused. I thought the male nurse attack on me had concluded that I was just full of sh*t and I should get over myself. Ha ha ha ha

    The psychiartist was lovely. A brilliant clever switched on man. He asked me a million questions and really made me feel safe and at home. I saw him several more times in the following 4 months, and then he booked me off work for 18 month and gave me a diagnosis of Schizo-affective disorder and DID. I actually also have PTSD and anorexia in remission (though I'm still thin, but not skinny anymore).

    That was 3 years ago, and I still go see a psychiatrist every 6 months.

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