Writing things down for psychiatrist

[RiveterRosie]

I have an appointment with my psychiatrist on Monday. I find it very difficult to talk to doctors and say anodyne things such as "I've been fine", "coping well", "no thoughts of harm" etc. None of that is true.

I recently had a review with a CPN, which was a very different experience: I ended up sobbing and telling him that I have very frequent thoughts about suicide, making plans & writing notes, will go for days without showering, changing my clothes etc., rarely leave the house, have such anxious dreams & clench my teach so hard I have to wear a mouth guard in bed, have no support at all from my partner or family and feel that the anti-depressants that I take have made no difference to me at all.

The CPN suggested that I write all these things down for the psychiatrist. Now I'm feeling very anxious because I don't know whether I should write the things down and just hand him a piece of paper, or whether I should use the list as an aide memoir. Stupid really that such a small thing can get blown up into something which has been dominating my thoughts all day.

Will it would be ok for me to print out what I have written here and give it to him to read, saying something along the lines of "I wanted you to know how I really am so I've written it down for you"?

You do whatever makes it ok for you.
Decide whether to hand the psych the note or use as an aid once you are there depending how you feel.
I always write notes when I see my doctor because I get tongue tied or forget things.
I ask the doctor if I may just read it out and she agrees. I can then answer her questions.
It's what you are comfortable with that matters.

Do it. In whatever way works, it’s your appointment you need to make it helpful. The CPN should have made notes and hopefully the psychiatrist will have spoken to them or read them (not always)

I write things down and put the paper on the table, so the psychiatrist reads it as I ramble through it.

I also leave the note so she can refer to it for notes, and a copy is scanned and put in my notes too.

Most will appreciate it because they're so short on time and it means they can get the most information from you in a short time.

I've done this with different conditions.

I often kinda shut down with professionals and just say what I think is expected/will make happy. Even when I do speak up, I also worry before/during/after whether I'm overstating it, is it really that bad especially if that day was fine even if things have been horrible for months.

One thing I found helpful is either looking online for symptom checklists - some include spaces to write notes or be able to mark the symptom on a scale - or making up my own so it's a record that doesn't entirely rely on me writing it out when I'm at my worst - just need to tick and rate it - and it feels quanitifed. There are some apps that do this that some really like, but I haven't tried them yet beyond general health tracking apps.

So, one of my issues is brain fog, sometimes when recording things for upcoming appointments I'll tick when I've had it that day or make a tally of episodes that affected me for a day and then give a rating.

I had really bad anxiety a few years ago. I wrote it down for my GP as I felt it would be easier for him to read than me try and explain it!
If you feel that will help you, then yes, write it down.
Sending you kind thoughts.