To think these comments left by my gp were rude

[Ispy9]

This isn’t really relevant anymore as I am in a much better place now than I was but I’m still quite annoyed about it. A year ago I was suffering quite badly with anxiety and depression so I went and saw my GP about it.

I recently downloaded the NHS App and I thought I’d have a look through my notes. I saw that on the appointment about my mental health my GP had wrote these notes.

‘Examination: Not sleeping, not looking after herself. Unkempt, looking down, shoulders hunched, not wearing a bra, hair not brushed’

aibu to think these comments on my file are quite rude?

I can sort of see why they would write it down, maybe not so much the bra.
I had PND and apart of mine was to look perfect, and be perfect all the time.
even scrubbing the house all night, it was hell.
My actual HV was brilliant and knew how bad it effected me.
Some health professionals were not and said I couldn't be that bad if I had make up on.

So just to check I've got this right: if you use the NHS app, you can see notes from every GP appointment you've ever had, and what they wrote about you?!

Depends partly on your practice - mine aren't available. I haven't cared enough to ask my GP if I/they need to sign something or do something to allow it. I can do all my repeat prescriptions one, which is usually all I'm interested in.

I can't remember when I last wore a bra, including not at various medical appointments in the last year, nor in the office. My hair doesn't always look immaculate by the time I've walked down to the surgery, especially if it's windy. I don't wear make-up, either. This is normal for me,though, and I think my GP probably knows me well enough by now to know that. I know the signs of when my mental health is starting to slip these days, but I live alone, so it's probably not so clear to others,because they just don't see it. But a lot of things can be subjective, and not everyone is known to their GP, if they don't go often.

What's rubbish? How my sister was treated or what I've written?

Fortunately for my sister I was her advocate. I was present in the room for the assessment and the assessor basically wrote a pack of bullshit. Mandatory reconsiderations weren't the process then (which is why I can't remember what the sodding benefit was called, it was a while ago) so I pushed for an appeal. The system banks on people with a tenuous grip on their mental health giving up at the first hurdle. It took the appeal panel less than 15 minutes to decide that my sister was entitled to the financial support she applied for.

My point was that if the GP has been involved in cases like this with DWP they'll know that simple factual observations on a patient can make a difference when it comes to them accessing additional support.

Well it's not, is it? They're not expected to be in a bra.

My late step-daughter had serious MH issues for much of her adult life. A sign she was dipping into depression was that she stopped wearing a bra, and we knew she was heading for a bad patch - it's simply an observation.

But only because she usually wears a bra. A bra is actually optional, some women choose not to wear one when perfectly OK and not wearing one is not automatically a sign of depression.

Pisses me off when people decree women all have to dress a certain way.

I don’t think it is rude. I work in healthcare and DRs are quite to the point when it comes to things like that so as to avoid any ambiguity. Don’t take it to heart

Of course it is ok to not wear a bra. But as this thread shows, for some people it is something that goes when their MH is poor. Commenting on it in a mental state examination means that the next person who assesses the patient can flick back easily to see if it is something normal for that patient or whether it could be a sign that their MH has deteriorated.

Did GP prescribe you anything or refer you to somewhere?
They wouldn’t be able to prescribe you certain things or refer you if you were ok and looked absolutely fine. In a way this description worked as a justification for your diagnosis and treatment.

Factual.

Not all all if they were factual.

Mine must have pages of that.

Love the way some have assumed GP is a male, it's not mentioned by OP.
Surely these are just observations to assess general health and well being of a patient. I would be impressed with the attention to detail and if the GP knows the patient well from previous appointments then perhaps these were stark changes from their previous appearance.
Personally I wouldn't be angry, if the care prescribed was good.

Another vote for factual. How you look and how you appear to be looking after yourself are important for diagnosis of depression. It gives an indication of you care about yourself.

I'd rather have a Dr who noticed me as a person when I went to see them and for clues from how I looked than go to one who asked the same rote questions until they figured out what pill to give me.

not wearing a bra

I wouldn't be happy about that one. You're not obliged to wear a bra and it doesn't suggest anything about your mental state if you don't.

Its standard safeguarding protection type stuff to describe, same with children in some households when police do protection notices. The bra thing is very odd though.