Online therapy on NHS.

[lostmykeysagainandrunoutofmilk]

referred by Gp to local mh services - after telephone assessment - they directed me to an online site...

can't understand how to work it to access the 1:1 therapy

you ask for help and you need a degree in computer science to access what they offer.

anxiety so bad and I just need to talk to someone - a counsellor etc.

am so stressed and it took so much to ask for some help and now I just wonder why I bothered.

writing on a brick or drawing a sad face isn't quite enough to get me through this but that's what's on offer.

[ShowYourVeracity]

I referred myself online to an NHS service for anxiety and am now at about the third stage of the process before actually having a proper conversation with anyone and am beginning to think it's not going to work for me - and my anxiety is not too bad at the moment (on ADs which help greatly).

Could you go back to the mh services who did the phone assessment and explain that you are not feeling able to do the online site and you need more direct help? If you don't get anywhere with them, go back to your GP and explain you need help.

I do sometime think that the people who design these systems have not really thought through what is will be like for people who are already anxious or otherwise not at full capacity to deal with them.

Please don't give up trying to get help. It is up to the mh service to provide you with help which suits your needs so if you are not able to use the online site they should be able to help you another way.

Are you on any medication? If not, have you thought about trying ADs? They are not for everyone but for me have made the difference between not being able to cope and being pretty much okay.

[jovialjulia]

I have been doing the online program after being turned away by my very unhelpful GP. I've had to tell them it's not working as the "little and often" approach is meaning that the way I cope with things is completely impossible. The suggestions of breathing exercises and grading my mood are frankly an insult when you live with these problems day in, day out. Anyway, I told them it wasn't working and what do they do? Set me up a telephone appointment with a 23 year old chap (checked him out on LinkedIn and Facebook - part I my anxiety issues are not trusting people) and honestly I know it sounds awful but he is a trainee who simply asks me again the list of NHS questions about how much you enjoy things, whether or not you struggle to sleep etc.
worst thing now they write to me at home telling me my "score" which sent me in to a panic as I like to put all of this in a box and deal with things at specific times. I imagine that's quite common for people with anxiety?
Any way, I hope I haven't derailed your thread there! Just to say that I think the way the NHS handles mental health is shocking and no wonder people on here are worried to seek help.
I hope you feel much more well soon.

[jovialjulia]

Sorry, just to add. I don't think that the online program allows access to one on one. You have a therapist who will log on once a week and see how you are getting on and send you a message. You can speak with them if you want to on the phone but not until that day.
I will say though that having researched the person who was given to me (as well as the guy I subsequently was moved on to) none of the staff are IMHO qualified to help with real MH issues. They are all one or two years out of university and studying/ working toward qualifications. In my (again humble) opinion, the service is for short term, mild, situational depression or anxiety and isn't helpful in it's suggestions of ways to manage problems as most if not all of us have been using these kinds of techniques for a long time and are reaching out because that is no longer possible.