My Fightback Against Poor Mental Health Care

As I've mentioned in previous blog posts I had a pretty horrendous experience during a psychiatrist appointment last year and so I have formulated a letter of complaint that I sent off earlier today. I have obviously removed all names and identifiable information of the people involved. Please let me know what you think. 

"I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with my assessment by your psychiatrist in April 2012.

I was referred to your service by my then GP *******, as I was exhibiting symptoms of Bipolar Disorder and received an appointment with Dr ***** Consultant Psychiatrist.

During the appointment which lasted a mere 10 minutes I was given the impression that the doctor had made up his mind about my diagnosis before I even entered the room. His line of questioning mainly focused on my childhood despite my repeated protestations that I had a happy and normal upbringing and a good relationship with my family.

When it came to discussing my symptoms the doctor seemed to gloss over my descriptions and explanations of why myself and my GP thought that Bipolar disorder was a possibility. 

I was dismissively told "you cannot have Bipolar as you have never had a psychotic episode" which is contrary to much of the clinical evidence presented on reputable websites such as the charity Mind's. In Mind's booklet "Understanding Bipolar Disorder" pages 6-7 list 7 different types of this condition, with only one characterised by psychotic episodes.

The doctor then proceeded to dismiss my depressive symptoms as "not being that bad" despite me describing to him my frequent self-harm and occasional suicidal thoughts. I was told that amongst my anxiety symptoms my social anxiety was because I "didn't fit into society".

As you can imagine I was incredibly unhappy with the tone and outcome of the interview. These feelings were further compounded when I received a copy of the doctor's report to my GP.  The letter was opened by Dr ****** complaining that I had been referred to him in error, if this was the case then why was an alternative appointment not arranged with the correct psychiatrist?

The doctor then proceeded to list my history, unfortunately most of this was incorrect; for example he stated that I had worked for the NHS all of my working life despite me clearly telling him that I had worked for the NHS for just 18 months at that point. He also stated that I showed symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, this was never discussed in the appointment. My anxieties were discussed but OCD was never mentioned. My subsequent research into OCD drew no similarities between my symptoms and that of an OCD sufferer. I was prescribed an anti-depressant & an anti-anxiety drug and dismissed from his caseload.

Over the last year since that appointment my moods continued to be erratic, switching between deep depressive episodes and feelings of euphoria and over-excitement. To try and help me, my place of work referred me to a psychologist through Occupational Health.

During my first appointment with Dr *****, when my full history of mental health problems were explored, she stated that it was a serious problem that my moods were this erratic and having an incredibly detrimental effect on my professional and personal life.  

After a week of tracking my moods and reviewing the results (I had also spent 2 weeks tracking my moods in preparation for my appointment with your psychiatrist but was told "I don't need to look at them") Dr ****** recommended that I was put on a Mood Stabilising drug as anti-depressants were actually making my symptoms worse. I have now been prescribed a mood stabiliser through the Psychiatrist that covers my current GP practice *********.

I am incredibly unhappy that I have essentially wasted a year and a half taking ineffective medication that potentially made my symptoms even worse. Whilst this may not seem like a great deal of time in the great scheme of things, to someone suffering a mental illness this seems like a lifetime.  If I had been listened to and not just dismissed by your doctor then I may well be far further down the road to stabilising my disorder and getting my life back.

To recap my main points of complaint are the following –

·       The dismissive attitude to my face and in writing by your doctor and the compounding errors in his report

·       The doctor evidently not paying attention to what I was telling him and prescribing me ineffective medicine potentially worsening my symptoms.

Whilst I appreciate from working for the NHS that we are under a great deal of pressure and budget constraints I don't believe this excuses the attitude that was displayed to me both on the day of my appointment and in the follow-up report.

I look forward to receiving your comments in due course."

Obviously if I get a reply i'll post it up here, I just feel that we need to challenge poor mental health care else it will never change for the better. 

Love Jen

XxxxX