If you went to the gp about anxiety...

[Sonny23]

What happened?

I'm getting anxious about going to the gp about anxiety

I'm worried about being put on medication, I was told that the medication can stop the anxiety but also affects other feelings, like you just feel flat constantly.

I'm also worried as my ex h took me to court for contact with children (a long history of dv, which I think caused this anxiety), he repeatedly accused me of having mh problems which was proved untrue, but if I had to go back to the court in future which my dv support worker is suggesting, he may use this against me.

Any advice would be appreciated

I know what you mean about being anxious about seeing the GP about your anxiety.
She listened to me, didn't argue when I said I didn't want meds, attempted to persuade me otherwise when I said I didn't want signing off work, gave me the phone number to self-refer to counselling/ CBT/ whatever (I didn't, so I don't know what exactly it was), agreed to do some blood tests but they were for some other issues, advised me to come back and see her again if things got worse or I changed my mind about time off work (I didn't do that, I recommend being more sensible than me).

Re your ex and court: how would he know about your MH if you don't tell him? Surely he can't have access to your medical records? Even if there was some way that he found out, I doubt the court would agree that your anxiety makes you a bad parent or whatever he is alleging, especially as you are seeking treatment and help for it.

Thanks happy, part of the court thing was because I said he had mh issues (he had quite severe problems, which affects his ability to care for dc) so then he said I had mh issues in revenge I guess. Because of this they made us both disclose our entire medical records. They said that he was a risk to the children but should still have unsupervised access. It may go back because I still have concerns but my solicitors admitted I was not represented properly and given wrong advice. But I worry if I go back it could all go wrong if he starts about me having mh issues again. If that makes sense the courts just seemed very unfair and I don't trust them

You won't know until you try the medication which side effects if any will apply to you.

I went to the GP about anxiety and depression many many moons ago, they got me to tick scaled boxes on a list of criteria (think cry often, sometimes, rarely). I was issued with two prescriptions (one for each condition), and asked if there had been any traumatic events that might have contributed to my feelings. When I said yes I was offered a place on a waiting list for counselling.

I healed and all was well. Recently hit a bump in the road and visited my GP (a different one). Promptly burst into tears. Was offered medication, counselling or both. Took the medication.

There should be no judgement, just understanding and empathy.

I've no experience with court for access etc, but I would think that providing you show a willingness to address the problem and that you present no danger to yourself or the children then they are unlikely indeed to remove the children from your care.

I would recommend both explaining to the GP your history of dv and the connection to your anxiety, and accepting or persuing counselling for two reasons:

1. The domestic violence will be noted as a contributing factor or cause of the anxiety, and if your ex was responsible for that it would not shine him in a good light if it came up and he would be less likely to want your MH brought into it. He will just make an arse out of himself.

1. You may find it actually helps put things into perspective and it may help you heal.

Zero applicable qualifications, but you deserve the chance to move on and I think you should get some help

You can also try some mindfulness techniques such as breathing exercises to help you cope, and make sure you are eating and exercising well because poor diet and lack of exercise can make you feel worse. Plus exercise is proven to release endorphins.

Thank you tumble

I am top of the list for dv counselling but they won't offer it to me at the moment as I have dd with me all the time. She is due to start pre school soon so I'm hoping I can start that up.

I found meditation helps a lot but I haven't been able to do this as both dc have sleep issues, hopefully I can also get back into this once they are both at pre school.

I went to my GP about anxiety. He was brilliant. Had a chat with me about what might be causing it, listened when I said I didn't want to go on medication and gave me lots of information about IAPT, with a recommendation that I self-refer to them (you have to self-refer). Also asked if I would like to be signed off work for a couple of weeks as work was a major cause of my anxiety. I didn't want to be as knew being signed off would make it worse, but he basically told me if I felt I couldn't cope to phone the surgery and he would write a letter immediately for me. My GP surgery are generally great, though. I found IAPT really helpful and my anxiety has improved hugely since the one to one sessions I had through them. So much so that I have been discharged (with instructions to phone them straight away if I feel like I'm struggling again).

That's good to hear toast.

Sounds like most don't go down the medication route, I was worried about that.

Hopefully I'll get the nerves to go soon