I was referred to CAHMS and the referral went through fast because of the severity how much my OCD affects my life. With my GCSEs coming up I need to get some help. We were supposed to see a doctor but they were called out to an emergency. Instead I saw a practitioner. I was mostly open about my OCD in the first appointment but we then we had some issues where she told my mum somethings about my OCD which were not required or that she was unaware of. This made me feel uncomfortable. I have had x4 1hr30 sessions with her. So far I have talked about some of my obsessions and intrusive thoughts to which she said that I just need to think less about. I often do things in 4s or 16s so she recommended I do them in 4s. I asked her what the structure was to be and she said that she’d do 3/4 more mindfulness sessions and see if it had helped. I need more than that but don’t know how to tell her that. Part of my OCD (like for most sufferers) is to think overly about other people’s thoughts and feelings. How would this make her feel? Etc When I explain my obsessions she takes notes and when I ask her to give me some coping mechanisms/ strategies she seems lost. She writes notes and says that this is a lot for a brain to go through, that I must feel tired. It’s no fault of her own, just lack of expertise in the area. She has particular interest in mindfulness - not anxiety and related disorders. I feel like she maybe does not want to admit this and is just continuing. I went for help but I am not receiving it. I want to get better, feel better but that might be months before she realizes it’s not helping. I want to speak to somebody else but the only person I have seen at CAHMS is her and I feel uncomfortable expressing this with her. Sorry this is long but does anyone has any advise on how to deal with this situation? What to say, suggest. Like I said, it causes me great distress if I help myself at others’ expense.

I finally found the courage to seek a psychiatrist last week, when I got there I was nervous for obvious reasons and felt a bit guilty. I met the doctor and don’t get me wrong he was very nice and knowledgeable in the bigger scope of mental health. Asked me questions of depression, anxiety, if I see things others don’t etc.. However, while we went through the assessment I did not receive a formal “diagnosis” and seemed as though he came to the determination what I have is general anxiety disorder. I don’t disagree, I know I have anxiety! However, when it came to the point where we were wrapping it up I had a “BUT WAIT” moment. I explained I was a part of an OCD community where I had previously been doing therapy to manage OCD. He asked “well why OCD?” I replied, “I have constant thoughts very repetitive thoughts that follow a theme and they are extremely persistent.” It was then I knew I couldn’t let down the walls and go into depth, as I knew he wouldn’t understand. To validate what I already knew, I said “I have constant fears and worries about my children, myself, and religion. I think about these things all day long. In order to free myself from the feeling I have to say a specific phrase or word in my head.” He said “well yea that’s normal to have worries and fears about your family, your religion” and so forth. The feeling of disappointment is an under statement, this is more than just “anxiety” this is something that I struggle with daily and to have a professional discredit my daily fight was off putting. Not his fault, it demonstrates the lack of knowledge for OCD and treatment many of us have to face. Sorry for the rant, sometimes we just have to advocate for ourselves.. 🌸

Has anyone had horrific experiences with seeing a psychiatrist? This past week I had my initial appointment with a new psychiatrist. When we approached the topic of my prior OCD diagnosis, she asked me what it looks like. I told her all about my ROCD and harm OCD. At the end when we went over what she was diagnosing me with, she said that all of the OCD examples I gave her but one just sounded like generalized anxiety. The one she agreed on she said was “classic OCD behavior”. I talked the whole interaction over with my therapist and we approached the situation of if I should switch or if I could use this opportunity to push this psychiatrist to learn more about OCD and that compulsions aren’t just strictly external. After some deep thought I came to the conclusion that if I can help advocate for myself and potentially help someone not experience the same dismissal it would be worth it. Has anyone else had a situation where they felt dismissed or not seen by a psychiatrist? Did you stay with that provider and advocate for yourself? I would love to hear others experiences and any advice you may have when advocating for myself. PS I don’t believe her bc she didn’t do any sort of assessment on me and just made that assumption based off “what my OCD looks like”.

I’ve recently had my meds upped after a really bad spiral / episode and i’m doing a bit better. My mum wanted me to go to the GP, a doctor she really trusts to affirm the dosage is ok, what’s really going on etc. I went to the GP and it was an experience that honestly didn’t sit right with me. I just wanted some community to know if i’m over analysing. I feel like I cannot tell my mum because she trusts this doctor so much. My mum came with me and kind of brought up how I was thinking it could be OCD but the doctor immediately wrote me off and was like it’s definitely not it’s just anxiety and depression and then he brought up how OCD is more like I wouldn’t be able to go through the door without tapping and checking and how he knew a friend with OCD in school and he couldn’t even leave his locker for 30 minutes because he had to keep checking. I 100% know this is OCD and this is what it looks like for some people and how debilitating it is but from what I’ve learnt and researched it’s not JUST that and I don’t really like the way he turned me down without asking what symptoms I have. I also feel like he didn’t have a good grasp on what it really is at its core because yes I don’t physically check but I don’t think it’s crazy that I thought (think?) I might have it (i have obsessive intrusive thoughts, ruminate, mental compulsions and body check). Then he kind of went on to psycho analyse me and ended up asking about personal stuff and kind of blamed all my intrusive thoughts on my relationship with my dad who is estranged, which was awkward and a little insulting. I’m not saying that has no impact on my mental health but it just felt uncomfortable and weird to me. Anyways even if I don’t have OCD, I’m not sure I do, I’m no doctor but I relate to many of you and I know that OCD is not visible in that way for many so it’s sad to think many others will be ignored or brushed off. Does anyone else have any stories of GP’s treating OCD this way ? :((