Has anyone else disagreed with their diagnosis

[GooseFatRoasties]

..but not been listened to. Long story, but wondering if this was common. Have nothing to do with mental health services but am stuggling.

SA you seem to think that if you cannot prove you are depressed that you will end up with a PD - there is no basis for this thought!

A family member has spent yrs denying the diagnosis she was given and this has HUGE implications for my family.
Huge awful implications
I cannot believe that so many
people believe that doctors spend years studying and working their backsides off to then glibly risk their profession/years of work --- to give someone a false diagnosis .

Thanks Total, that is very reassuring. I'm trying not to get anxious about it all, but as you know I have experience of dealing with 'some' professionals who are PAID to help but have consequently made my life hell to the extent that I wish I had never asked for help in the first place.

I am keen to avoid that again. If, ultimately, my life is going to be worse for going down this road, then I'm not going.

It doesn't help that this extremely valid mistrust of professionals that I have now can be interpreted as a symptom of a disorder for which there is no treatment.

If, indeed I DO have a PD, there appears to be no point in getting a dx as at best it will be harmless, but at worse quite quite harmful. There appears to be no advantage to getting a dx of PD.

The PDs that I have read about aren't familiar to me, my DH or my DM in the context of my moods or behaviour however, so I would like to chug along and see what, if anything comes up with an investigation.

But if there was any risk of coming out with a dx, no treatment and a question over my credibility as an challenging client of the services provided for my ds then I will stop this instant.

thefent I have good cause to mistrust other professionals in similar public servant roles, not as a collective, but certainly a number of individuals.

madmouse Thank you for your support. I know I come across as a suspicious, paranoid, neurotic person indeed.

I am. I have been turned this way over the last couple of years as a consequence of my experiences.

However, the issues I am hoping to be investigated were present long before I became paranoid.

I was going to do the cbt, but moved. Now I can't access help at all. I was well for a while so left it.My Mum has Bipolar i think like her I have a mood disorder that requires medication.GP has offered antidepressants but they do me no good.Said the threshold for being refeered to mental health services were high and I am not my mum.(very rude and judgmental from someone who had known me for five minutes)
I had several different psychiatrists as they kept changing.I didn't discuss my personality or relationships with them so I think the diagnosis was made on shaky grounds.Wonder how much it costs to go private as I am ill and being left to rot.( the shaky grounds being overdoses and a few rows with staff members who were rude to patients)

Starting afresh -you have nothing to lose by asking for help you are likely to get a decent doctor , I think most are, I have just been unlucky i think.

StartingAfresh Could you ask for a second opinion - get a completely new referral. I Dont work in Mental Health but in General health and would encourage anyone with doubts to do this.

Thank you thefent, as madmouse points out though, the GP 'suspects', I haven't had a referal or a dx.

She's so far been the best GP I've had in a long time so I'll give her half a chance. I'm just worried that her 'suspicion' stems from that fact that I have been arguing with professionals iyswim which she knows a little bit about.

Oh well I've got bloods due back soon so will ring for those and see where we go from there.

Goose sorry for hijacking your thread. I hope that you get it sorted. Can the psychiatrists themselves refer you for a second opinion, or are you on a looooong waiting list to see one?

I don't think the GP referred me , no letter came back.I have changed GP. I have not got the courage to even discuss my mental health as I have lost all faith in the system.

You really shouldn't be self medicating with someone elses drugs

Thats why wondering about a private assesment.

Your GP "suspects"

• Please push for a proper referral so that you will hopefully get a proper diagnosis and if appropriate treatment.

Ps As I understand it isvery difficult to be diagnosed with a PD as it takes alot of evidence to confirm diagnosis and I have met many Psychiatrists and they are all meticulous in their assessment and certainly dont jump to apply "labels"iyswim

must be in the wrong then fentiger.

Have hope I too found it hard to get anyone to listen, even now some family members refuse to believe me as I usually go missing while manic and hide while depressed. It takes someone with bipolar 10 years to get diagnosed on average and quite often at least one misdiagnosis. It took my partner having me admitted while manic for people to start listening. Please keep fighting to get some help. It may alo help if you take your mum so she can say she is concerned too.

After a breakdown caused by work issues i was diagnosed last year with BPD by a cons psychiatrist. Had weeks of CBT to no effect - have chronic depression also + am onto 3rd anti d. Am on high dose mood stabilisers. Am lucky enough to see a psychologist fortnightly. I'm 34 now and realise i have a long way to go in coping with normal life. I'm 'high functioning' - work full time, pay the bills, mates just think i've got depression - but only just holding it together really. I had problems as a child and was referred to a paed psych but my parents ignored the referral. I tried counselling at 24 but the counsellor asked me to see my gp as she thought i was bipolar.
I wish i had followed her advice - i ignored her as i suspected she was right.
So now i have the BPD diagnosis - a total shock as despite being a nurse i knew nothing about PDs.
I was in total denial at first (mild bipolar would maybe have been rock'n'roll - look at britney, robbie, stephen fry). But the thought of a PD freaked me out.
I do understand why i have the BPD diagnosis now and therapy is helping me to cope with life again. I can honestly say the meds, crisis team (and my amazing family and friends) have saved my life in the past 2 years.
To SA and anyone else: don't try to self-diagnose with any illness as you could be completely wrong. Get a new GP, they will talk to you and take things from there.
As a nurse i will say - go to the GP with: a polite attitude, and a simple list of symptoms, then say how those symptoms affect your life.
Do not: give a self-diagnosis, talk about previous bad experiences with doctors, or raise your voice. Some GPs have over one or two thou patients and can quickly lose patience if they think you are (unfairly or not) being 'difficult'.
Try to ignore conspiracy theories if you get paranoid. You don't need the added stress. If you have a DP you are lucky - they can help you with healthy meals and exercise. Good luck.

Thanks thefent, we're just at the blood test stage to rule out hormones, thyroid and iron issues etc.

I should at least wait for the results of that test. It could show something.

Also please FGS stop self-medicating OP. It is SO dangerous. This could be affecting your concentration etc. Go to another GP, be honest about the Seroquel and they will safely get you off it or continue at the right dose for you.
Yes you will get severely told off but that's cos drs do actually worry about their patients you know :).

I used to work in a specialist regional personality disorder service, which was set up to advise CMHTs and acute wards in dealing with personality issues.

On that basis, I would beg politely to disagree with anyone who believes that personality disorders are diagnosed consistently, objectively or fairly diagnosed or treated. In our service, we came across the following

1. A CMHT working within a catchment that was 70% Afro-Carribean, yet whose patients diagnosed with personality disorders were 90% white. When asked why, a senior nurse told us that black people are dangerous and white people just make a lot of fuss.

2. A psychiatrist who refused on principle to diagnose anyone with a personality disorder, as to do so would irreperably stigmatise them and destroy all future life chances. To be honest, I came to agree with him.

3. Several A&E departments which refused to treat patients with personality disorder diagnosis, even if they were presenting with problems unrelated to their mental health.

4. A psychiatrist who only medicated female patients with a diagnosis of personality disorder if they responded slept with him. Several patients and carers submitted complaints to the NHS Trust in question and to the GMC. He was never investigated, but was offered and accepted early retirement with enhanced pension rights. He still lecturers and publishes regularly.

And no, I don't do conspiracy theories either.

I find your post somewhat staggering - in what capacity did youwork in the specialist regional personality disorder service? I am not inferring that you are not being honest but find your post very unbalanced. Surely there was some good practice you could have relayed, so as not to scare people on these threads who are afraid to seek medical advice for their mental health problems.

BC, what you say may be true but i don't think this thread is the best place to say it. As a surgical nurse i wouldn't eg. go on the Health thread and say negative things about surgery to people who need operations.
People on here who are ill and paranoid need sympathy and positive advice.
In my post i hope i showed that a PD diagnosis isn't the end of the world - i've now met a few other women (black and white) with BPD - some cope with jobs and children, some don't.
I do feel there is a stigma due to lack of knowledge about PDs so have told only my manager and my parents about my BPD.
In my ten years in the NHS i've seen a huge improvement in attitudes to patients with MH problems anyway.

"(mild bipolar would maybe have been rock'n'roll - look at britney, robbie, stephen fry"

I am sure you did not mean to offend Lara but I find this sentence extrmily upsetting. Next time I am smasahing my head against the floor because I am depressed and I believe God is telling me to kill myself, or when my brain neurons are moving so slowly I enter a catatonic state, or the fact that my mental illness will most likely get more debilatating as I get older, I shall stop moaning about it and remember it is just a bit "rock and roll" not that bad really. That is just my depression my manias are worse although many people are under the dellusion that manias are fun (hypomania is fun, mania is scary and dangerous).

I just wanted to point out that as a nurse surely like me you have seen some bipolar patients whoose lives have been completly destroyed by thier illness it is not a mild fun thing to have and it is upsetting for you to make out (using your position as a health professional) that it is. I am very intelligent got straight As, yet I am unable to work or study as the stress will send me manic, bipolar has ruined my life. I may be being over sensitive if I am I apologise right now and for the past few months I have been depressed so I am more sensitive and likely to react badly to things which is why I have been staying iin mental health forums so as not to trigger me further or upset anyone.

Thanks for the post borderlineconsultant.

I really do think whilst most psychiatrists go into the job to help people, if you get a bad one you're stuck. You can't request another one and don't have a right to a second opinion.It seems like the bad ones go unchallenged.I know it's worrying, but if I were to have my time again I would have gone to every appointment with an advocate.Sad but true.

You don't have the right to a second opinion?

goosefat you do have the right to ask for a second opinion