psychosis referral - anyone?

[HeyKu]

I am contacting by phone tomorrow the early intervention in psychosis team regarding DP who has been experiencing worrying symptoms for a while now (auditory & visual hallucinations, disassociation, anxiety, not feeling right or like himself etc). he knows I'm doing this and has given me permission. I'm sad...and scared. anyone have any advice or experiences regarding the whole thing? can't talk to anyone in RL as they all know him and I wouldn't want to betray his confidence. I have never spoken to them before...

You are doing the right thing. I would write down what you want to say because when you speak to them things might go out of your head.

I am sorry I don't have any great advice but what I will say is that psychosis is treatable (I have had it myself) and there is a lot out there to help. I hope your partner starts to feel better soon.

thank you so much for replying I have got him to write down a list of everything he's been experiencing. Will he need to have a gp referral to get help?

I am not sure about the gp referal. Although I know in my city you can refer yourself to MH services and in my case it was the crisis team that referred me to the community mental health team so it is not always via the GP. The early intervention team will be able to help you with that.

Lots of luck x

thanks fluffy! I really appreciate it, feeling a bit lost atm x

We had to get help for my DSS 2 years ago as he become psychotic, we had to phone the crisis team and they arranged a appointment with the mental health team the next morning, he was then sent to a unit ( not sectioned, he agreed to go ). For DSS it has been a long journey which is still ongoing, a few moths ago he was sectioned but is now living independently ( though getting support from the mental health team in his home ), he feels he is now on the correct medication. It hasn't been easy for him or us ( and the rest of the family ), mental health services are not very helpful and until DSS tried to take his own life they did not offer much in the way of help ( tbh it's still not great ). I hope you can get the help your dh needs, the fact he wants help is a positive start.

thanks for sharing marne, he is still functioning fine, has sleep problems but always has had these and says he doesn't feel depressed as such but anxious and definitely not himself. strong sense of disassociation as if he is looking at life from a hazy view and not part of it. Did your Dss problems come on suddenly and strongly? not sure what to expect

Ds's came on quite suddenly, he was going through a thought patch, had finished college and was struggling to find work due to confident issues, he had always been a bit of a day dreamer and had been referred to children's mental health services when he was younger ( but refused to speak at appointments ), we suspect a underlying problem, possible ASD. He went down hill over a few days until he had a breakdown, by this stage he was totally psychotic and scared to leave the house. He has been assessed so many times over the past 2 years and schizophrenia has been mentioned several times, he has tried various medication and is now on Valium and another anti psychotic drug. At the moment he seems to be doing ok, when he's doing well he is such a caring young man, he worries about everyone and will do anything to help anyone, when he is poorly he only cares about himself and will self medicate . We are hoping he has now turned a corner after being sectioned and is now on the right medication.

DSS was not sleeping at all the days before we got help, would just sit awake all night looking anxious ( I think he was scared to go to sleep ) . Speak to the gp in the morning, ask for a referral to the mental health team ASAP, the gp maybe able to give him something to make him less anxious until he can be assessed.

How did it go?