Prof of Respiratory Medicine I saw recently.

I'm dropping this thread. It's just depressing me further.

Same here, Luckygirl. Not only that, but it's online or group CBT. It's absolutely hopeless.

In our area all such services have been outsourced to a private company who only offer CBT - if that does not suit, then you are on your own! Great!

I really don't see any point in me seeing him again!

And nothing from PALS about the professor.

Got a letter today from TalkingSpace.
With two forms to fill up. One six pages and the other ten! all about physical problems and asking some questions which I cannot answer correctly....

I answered their previous online form and their letter says my answers to 'low mood' are 'moderate' and to anxiety are 'mild'. again it's because (I think) there was no (multiple choice) answer that I could put and feel it was right!

This doesn't touch on why I have been feeling so down and as if life is not worth living at times.
There has been no question about my family.

Very tired today.
It's been ten days...this weekend I may see my grandson which cheers me up...I will leave it until Monday, I think. Thanks.

If it's anything like my local service, what will now happen is that your case will go to a person responsible for allocating you to 'appropriate' therapy, which is likely (in the first instance) to be some kind of group or online therapy. Obviously, online therapy doesn't have resource implications, but group therapy does and there is likely to be a long waiting list.

I agree with cornergran. Ring them up and ask what's going on and explain that you're finding it increasingly difficult to cope. The problem is, of course, that it's difficult to be assertive when you feel depressed. If there's anybody you trust in real life (maybe your GP), you could ask him/her to ring.

allie, please do phone them and explain, you've nothing to lose. You shouldn't have been left in limbo, no excuse for it but sometimes things do go awry and really no harm in reminding them you are waiting and your symptoms have worsened. Also no harm in requesting a face to face assessment, it can happen although of course no way of knowing if it will. I really hope some support comes soon.

Thank you, dd. I had the phone consultation....just questions. No letter since.
Mostly I have coped but my situation has got worse. Mentally and physically.

Aha! Just Googled it. It looks like NHS Oxford have outsourced mental health to a partnership. The website says you should be contacted for a telephone consultation in five days.

Good luck with it. Hopefully, it meets your needs.

My experience with something similar is that patients are referred to online therapy and/or group 'courses'. If patients don't think these are right for them and don't attend, they're discharged and sent back to the GP, where they have to start all over again.

I've suffered from depression for over 40 years and I've witnessed the decline in the services offered. I now cope with my condition myself and see a private therapist if I feel out of control. I can't think of any polite way to describe what I feel about mental health services.

That really hasn't helped.

It's Talkingspace, sorry.

Oh lord.. I knew there would be a wait, but not that bad. and of course they didn't say. I was looking for groups near me, and there seemed to be some....

Private is not possible.

I might be wrong, but I think TalkSpace is an online therapy service.

The waiting time for initial face-to-face consultation in my area is about nine months. After that, you'll be lucky to be offered group CBT.

Mental health services in most parts of the country are in meltdown. Almost everybody I know seeks a private counsellor @ £70 - £100 per hour, or gives up.

Hope PALS can help, allie. Not sure about the referral process for NHS counselling in your area. If you self referred give them a ring and ask the wait time, if the GP referred I would still give their office a ring and chase, that's if you can bear to, it all requires energy I know. Hope something resolves soon.

Nothing yet.
Also nothing about possible counselling from TalkSpace (NHS) for depression......

I have spoken to the PALS at the JR. They will contact the department.... ring me back....

GP said yesterday I have to deal via the hospital. Pity it was 7pm by the time she phoned and I think she was quite stressed.....

Absolutely. Should not be used in the acute recovery stage of MI. I have also seen it cause an acute MI in young patients who take an OD of the drug.

Another discovery - among those who shouldn't take Amitriptyline, are those who have had a heart attack or have
an irregular heart ....both apply to me!

My sister says 'He's a prat!'

FAir point Alie

The point my sister is making is that he should have told me that it was not licensed. He didn't and she says this is illegal.

Yes, I agree the drug is not licensed for this purpose, but it has been prescribed for pain and also arthritis for decades. It acts as a muscle relaxant and is often used in MS patients too.

I also saw a professor (orthopaedic in my case) who had a dreadful manner and disliked being questioned. I was so aghast at being offered a knee replacement I just walked out of the consultation. I went back to my GP who did not seem surprised. When asked what I felt was the best way forward, I asked for a physio referral. Result? A completely different diagnosis and all sorted within 8 weeks. Now running 5- 8k's. Although more often than not its just the 5!!!

My GS was recently prescribed amitryptiline so it is certainly not obsolete. But this was for anxiety and sleep problems. Very different!!!