How do you find a good psychiatrist?

[CaraVann]

I’ve struggled with my mental health for the majority of my life.

It has controlled most aspects of my life and after years of seeking help via the NHS (and getting nowhere), at 50 I am still none the wiser in knowing what I have actually been suffering from since early childhood.

After years of trying various therapies I would really like to see a psychiatrist to know which avenue to take in order to start feeling well and start to feel like life is worth living.

But how do I find a decent psychiatrist in my area?

My GP is of no help as being an NHS employee she says she can’t recommend anyone privately (and tbh she doesn’t take my mental health seriously so I’d rather avoid asking her).
Do I just Google away? Opt for someone at my local private hospital? Where do I start?

If you are under a private psychiatrist, how did you find them?

I found my therapist through google. I read through her personal profile and her level of experience is exactly what I was looking for, so I emailed her and she was lovely, so decided to go ahead with it.

My GP emailed me a list of private psychiatrists after we asked because he was getting as frustrated as us with the NHS mental health wait lists.
As it happens, circumstances at the time meant he also pushed and pushed and pushed and got me to the top of the list sooner and has advocated for me for the last 6 years when it comes to mh services.
My GP is a rockstar!

@ScoobyDoNot Your GP sounds amazing!!

Are you in London? I just googled to see where the best consultant I ever worked with is working now, and he’s in private practice there

When my child needed help we were on Bupa so I looked on their website. My child saw the psychiatrist once (I think) and got prescribed antidepressants, then she was referred to a therapist.

When I decided to have therapy for myself I was advised to look for a chartered clinical psychologist.

There seems to be a myriad of terms which to the layman doesn’t tell you much. I think you need to spend a bit of time on Google working out what the differences are and what qualifications each one needs.

Sorry I can’t help more, I found it all very confusing myself.

Are you sure you're looking for a psychiatrist and not a counsellor/ psychotherapist?

Psychiatrists are medically qualified professionals whose main role is usually prescribing and reviewing medications to treat serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia, psychosis, BPD etc.

Do you think something like this might be affecting you? - Why do you think the GP is being so dismissive? - If you are worried about this, I wonder if it's worth seeing another GP for a second opinion?

If it's more about depression/ anxiety that you have been struggling with as so many of us do, then you probably want a really good, qualified counsellor or psychotherapist.

For that I would recommend looking for a BACP accredited therapist. This directory is a good place to start:

www.bacp.co.uk/about-therapy/using-our-therapist-directory/

I really wish I had a GP like yours ScoobyDoNot, I recently plucked up the courage to tell my GP I have been having some very dark thoughts about walking in front of a lorry, I was sobbing when I told her this as I genuinely experience waves of feeling this way. She told me to ring 111 and ask for option 2 then changed the subject! That has really knocked my confidence in confiding with anyone about my struggles.
Howmanysleepsnow I am in Essex which is not far away, I know but travelling causes me panic atm, especially going into cities and towns. Do you know if they offer video consultations?
It is very confusing Isheabastard, the more I Google the more my head turns to mush over the whole thing. Maybe I have to start with my local private hospital?
rexythedinosaur I am wondering about the possibility of seeing a psychiatrist simply because I just don’t quite know what I have going on with my mental health. I have suffered for 40+ years. I have had years of CBT, counselling, sessions with a psychologist, had EMDR, hypnotherapy etc (most self paid) little has helped long term and I am getting worse. I was hoping a psychiatrist may be able to actually help to pinpoint what it is that I have always had, why I have had so many mental health issues (not just anxiety) since childhood and then I can work from there. I feel like it has always been a case of throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks but nothing has! I have tried various antidepressants but am still struggling (well actually getting much worse). My GP is not at all helpful (see above). She just pushes me to take antidepressants which up to date (Amitriptyline, Sertraline, Citalopram etc) make me worse (I have some physical issues to which are exacerbated by anti-d’s) and the last time I saw her she advised me to contact our local IAPT service, they can only offer typed CBT, which I have had before and made me feel worse. I feel that my issues have (and always have) gone beyond ‘just’ anxiety?

I’m not sure, but I’d fully expect it to be an option. Shall I PM you his name? He’s very easy to google, and you can ask

That would be great Howmanysleepsnow, thank you.

This is really hard because psychiatrists will specialise in different things and you probably need an inkling of what you need to choose the best.

You say the problems have been since childhood- is there a chance of some neurodiversity? In which case look for specialists in that. If it's trauma related, then a specialist in that. I'm sorry I know that's probably not that helpful.

There are websites like doctify and topdoctors which list different types of doctors ie psychiatrists, their specific areas of interest if any, say addiction or depression ( although they will be able to cover all in their field) and reviews and rankings based on those reviews, as well as the area they are based in. Id use that if I were you and you have nothing else to go on.

You could also post anonymously in a local area Facebook group. That is an extremely popular way of finding good consultant recommendations in my area.

I’m sorry your gp let you down. Like someone else above, I’m thinking you need to change your doctor.

I only got diagnosed with a condition when my gp was on holiday and they’d brought in a locum. Another viewpoint made all the difference. You just don’t know when one will be there as nobody tells you in advance your gp is going on holiday. Well they don’t where I am anyways!

If you’ve gotten to the stage you don’t trust your doctor is there another local practice that might be better for you? You could phone around and ask if the practices are taking on new patients and if so is there is a gp at that specialises on mental health issues?

And if you’re really low, phone the number they gave you. Perhaps that would result in a consultation with someone else instead of your gp? I’m not sure how that works.

rainbpwcupboards I do score highly with online inattentive ADHD tests but obviously they are just guidelines, so I am a little bit worried about spending a lot of money for an assessment only to be told I am just a neuro typically highly sensitive, anxious person. I know I could go via the NHS but the waiting list is 4 years where I live. There is definitely something about my mental health which has been there since very early childhood, or as long as I can remember. I don’t believe there was any trauma that I know of. I was hoping a consultation with a psychiatrist would give me a deeper insight as to what has always been going on with my mental health and which, if any avenues to go down to help treat it but maybe a psychiatrist isn’t the right health professional? I just don’t know.
Thank you GlamGiraffe I will try that.
Elieza I think I will need to try a different surgery as my one will not change your allocated GP unless there are exceptional circumstances.

I hope you don't mind me asking. Have you also done the online quizzes for autism? Just that a lot of females get missed in terms of diagnosis and it sounds like you suspect something in the neurodiversity realm?

I have rainbpwcupboards and do score highly for those also.

I had a very similar experience to you regarding the NHS.

Although your GP might not be able to recommend a psychiatrist, they will be able to put together a private referral letter based on what you tell them. When you then approach private mental health clinics, you can email them and attach the referral and they will match you to someone suitable.

Alternatively, get in touch with local psychiatrists using an online directory. In my case, when I got in touch with a local psychiatrist, I gave him a very brief overview of what was going on in my initial email and he actually pointed me in the direction of my psychiatrist who he thought would be more helpful.

Good luck! I know how hard it is to do this but it’s so completely worth it. It changed my life. I got a diagnosis. I could then be medicated and best of all when I need to speak to a doctor I’m speaking to the same psychiatrist each time.

Might be worth looking at the Lorna Wing centre who specialise in neuro diverse women

shrinkingcakes I will definitely do that, thank you. It’s very encouraging to see you had a diagnosis and help you on your road to recovery. I feel I have spent decades being bounced from one therapist to another and nothing has helped me via this route, in fact it has often left me feeling worse.
I have not heard of that centre, thank you rainbpwcupboards