"Healthy minds" initial telephone assessment

[BusyBB]

After a bad year I eventually saw my GP regarding depression and anxiety in late September. I was given sertraline which was awful and recently changed to mertazapine. I also self refered to healthy minds. My GP's been great.

just now I finally had my initial assessment, over the phone, with healthy minds. it was awful. I was having a good day but now I just feel like getting some junk food and going to bed.

She was firing all sorts of questions at me and it was like I was giving the wrong answers. kept asking me to be specific and give more examples and even when I was she's asking what else, and why and how. she just seemed so abrupt, I started crying a little after the beginning of the call and told her some really personal stuff (because she kept pushing me for it) and she doesn't even react just keeps asking for more.

at the end of the call she just said they will get back to me saying if they can help or not, but I feel like it's all an attack, like she thinks i couldn't tell her enough to deserve mental health help but I think if I was any more ill than I am now I wouldn't have even been able to complete the phone call.

what's gone wrong?

I do these most days. I'm sorry you had a bad experience, the person doing it was probably a young trainee. Hopefully you will be offered some face to face support now. Mental health services are tough to be in both as a client and staff!

My initial phone call was horrible. The woman was clearly reading a script and typing my answers and didn't give a flying fig what those answers were.
"Are you having suicidal thoughts?"
"Yes"
"Are these just fleeting thoughts?"
"No they are persistant constant overwhelming thoughts"
"Ok. So why haven't you acted on them?"
*crying "I don't know"
"Ok someone will be in touch in 6-8 weeks to arrange an assessment appointment to decide what help we can provide and you'll then be added to the waiting list or discharged back to the care of your gp. In the meantime here is the number for the samaritans."

I hope it goes OK, @Booksandwine80

As Stripey has shown, some trusts do actually get it right, so let’s hope you’re one of the lucky ones

As has been stated, IAPT has varying presentations, there are some good experiences. However, they are essentially a 'gaslighting' psychological service, (not a mental health service), who regulalry attempt to coerce the public into under-reporting or over-reporting their central psychological problem, so that the 'service provider' can 'milk' the patient to fund their business goal.

People with modest issues are more likely to achieve benefits. Those with long-standing depression or additional serious childhood difficulties would be wise to keep away from IAPT. They were not set up to help you, so they may 'use' you for their own aims.

There are hundreds if not thousands of accounts of pressure being placed on patients to 'perform' (to score their sheets) for the delight of IAPT accountants. Staff are also manipulated into thinking that they are helping people when they are not.

The most dangerous aspect of IAPT is that they often convince patients to NOT deal with serious matters, so that IAPT can 'profit' out of 'high yield' churn (low hanging fruit) - this leaves patients feeling that very serious matters in their life are not important.

There is talk of some people wanting to take action against the organisers of this scam - a scam that leaves over 50% of staff depressed because they feel guilt over the inadequate treatment of patients. Don't blame staff as many do not have the skills to know what is and isn't a valid treatment.

IAPT results of so called recovery are 'doctored' as they do not include patients who dropped out, or the massaging that many staff are discretely steered towards.

What more can be said? Loads!

It is better to find a private qualified practitioner than have months of your life wasted by a poor NHS impression of care. If you have had better experiences of care from IAPT in your area you are very lucky indeed.

It was the person, not the service. These people shouldn't be allowed in these roles.
Ive experienced this telephone consultation with them and the lady I had was really lovely and understanding.
My son had to be referred to younger minds and the woman who spoke to me about that over the phone should have been fired on the spot. Horrible woman that affected my whole opinion of the service