Would seeing a psychiatrist be money well spent?

[ImaHogg]

I am 48 and have had a life long battle with various controlling anxieties and low self esteem which has controlled and shaped the way I live.
Over the years I have developed various obsessions and habits and I have restricted my potential with these issues.
I have been to the GP countless times and in all honesty feel I have gotten nowhere fast with them. It is so very hard to explain a lifetime of mental health issues in a rushed 10 min appointment.
I have tried to help myself without professional help and again have had little success. I have had 5 different lots of CBT over the last 10 years and endless counselling sessions.
Most of these have been via the NHS as I haven’t been in a position to afford anything privately but with the NHS obviously comes restrictions in timescales and the sessions have never been long enough to have an impact.
Before I am 50 my heartfelt wish is to tackle this head on in the hope of living out the rest of my live freed from some of these mental health shackles. I would like to see someone a bit more long term.
I have been given some money which I initially wanted to put into savings but seeing that my life has been blighted by my poor mental health and the physical issues which have come with it I am thinking that maybe seeing a psychiatrist maybe money well spent?
Could it be? Has anyone seen a private psychiatrist and felt it was worth it?

A bit off the wall but would you consider studying CBT? There's an excellent Udemy course run by Kain Ramsay which you could do in your own time;

www.udemy.com/course/cognitive-behavioural-therapy-online-course-cbt-practitioner-course/

Although it's aimed at people interested in practicing CBT, it's a great way of understanding why you think the way you do and the techniques you need to change the way you think and behave.

@GoWalkabout

You need a psychodynamic psychotherapist ideally. Or a consultant clinical psychologist maybe who can formulate the treatment approach with you. A psychiatrist may use a psychodynamic (long term therapy) approach but will be much more expensive and won't necessarily have the skills you need (but they might have picked them up).

That's the exact type I am lucky enough to have and I completely agree. Psychodynamic is the best for deep issues. Not everyone knows that there issues are very deep

A good psychiatrist is well worth the investment. They can guide you through medication options, look at different diagnoses, and recommend an appropriate therapist. I've seen both good and bad, it's definitely worth taking the time to get a recommendation, your GP may even know someone.

Psychodynamic psychotherapy does help many people, but getting an NHS referral is challenging (in my area you have to be under a psychiatrist and secondary care) and in some areas it is not available at all. Also it's not appropriate for some people, hence why I'd recommend a full assessment with a psychiatrist first.

I'd also suggest you look into how autism presents in women. I'm not going to suggest that you might have it, as you need a proper assessment for that, but if you did, the treatment paths change, and it would stop you pursuing something unhelpful.

Have you also looked at the nutrition side? Getting the basics right - omega 3 balance, vitamin D, b vitamins and iron can be life changing. Also low zinc. There are basic tests you can do cheaply via Thriva. I would get this right first if you can.

Thanks all
Roonerspismed thank you, I will check those things out.

Another vote for psychologist. Many of these are PHD doctors, so highly qualified. But yes, maybe worth a one off or so with a psychiatrist to sort meds out. And the nutrition, I am much better if I have a good diet, and eat eggs, oily fish etc, recommended for depression. Hard to motivate yourself when you are depressed, but worth it.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow (like the name btw). I've just been recommended a therapist who charges £250 an hour (highly qualified psychologist). She is meant to be the best in her field locally for trauma related issues. Private insurance covered psychiatrist (who I didn't rate very much but nonetheless got a sensible diagnosis at last!) Insurance covers other therapists but not this one (and by the time I get to see this one after joining waiting list health insurance would have expired).

I have applied for PIP but I understand it can take weeks for a claim to be approved. I don't currently work. Might go ahead with other therapist in the interim with private health insurance and try to save up! My head is whirling as to the best way to proceed.

The best sort of help doesn't seem to be available on the NHS.

No, l agree it’s not on the NHS, although it’s appalling that it’s not.

The psychiatrist l saw charged the same amount as your psychologist. I hope it goes well for you.

Good luck with PIP. I decided to go for ill health retirement rather than fight for PIp.

Not currently employed ArseInThe otherwise yes agreed an easier option as I understand it isn't easy to be granted PIP. It's horrible that you are diagnosed and then you have to faff around (with complex trauma) to sort all this out including PIP claim that might go a small way in paying to sort all the crap out. Not to mention waiting lists which leave you in limbo. In an ideal world there would be a smooth pathway via the NHS where you could access the treatment you actually need.

I'm also trying to work out whether to see a male or female therapist (both parents were abusive/neglectful - one physically the other just completely emotionally neglectful) - does anyone else have a preference for this?

Can you tell I'm tired and frustrated with it all!?! Not much emotional support in R.L. which exacerbates stuff.

Good luck op, hope you're getting things sorted.

I mmmm would struggle with a male therapist. I’m ok with male doctors, but prefer females for the talking stuff.

From my long and weary experience, years of anxiety, depression and avoidant behaviour I would say the thing that has become centrally important to me has been to build up a long term relationship with a therapist and then basically work through everything that comes up in that relationship and in my own life. It has been hideous, uncomfortable, revealing and I have learnt a truckload about myself. It has not been fast, exciting, interesting or in any way neat and tidy. There are no quick fixes. I have come to realisation that the only way we heal is by an ongoing confrontation with our wounded child and by accessing a place of love and acceptance we never felt as children that we must learn to access and maintain for ourselves. No one can do this work for us. If we don't confront this within ourselves we are doomed to repeating behaviour rooted in our childhood and we are probably unconscious that we are even doing it. We will perpetuate the pain we lived with, pass it on to our kids and those around us. We will not move on. I believe medication can help us to get to a place where we can begin to open up and also keep us safe where necessary but I urge you to make the financial commitment to yourself, find a therapist and stick with therapy all the way through whatever you need to work through. If you want to give up, take that to therapy, if you hate your therapist, take that to therapy, try and take as much of yourself as you can, each week, for as long as it takes until you finally connect with the parts of yourself that are frozen in the past. It's messy and for those of us who are intent on controlling their reality as a learnt response to the environment we grew up in it can definitely take a while to learn to let go but you are worth it and I get the impression from your message that you are ready to heal. If anything I have said resonates I would recommend you read any of the work by Alice Miller or Gabor Mate as they very succinctly talk about the role of childhood trauma to which non of us are exempt and that we all develop ways to survive and which in later life turn into neurosis and pathology. There is a way through, it's a lonely path but it can lead to liberation. Good luck OP.