About me

I Approached my gp/chmt when I was feeling well, for the simple reason that I could discuss my past treatment and concerns for my future. When I am ill, I am unable to tell them what is wrong. I had obtained a copy of my medical records after I had come off medication. I could understand more how I felt and was having flash backs to the time I was very ill. I could see clearly from the records that I had been unable to communicate how I had been feeling, and that the medication had suppressed my problems rather than treating them.

I also wrote to them , after my first meeting, to add all the things I had been unable to say at the first meeting. They had brought another person with them, and I was put off by that unexpected change. They invited my husband to the second meeting and he surprised me by his clear explanation to them, of what it had been like for both of us, for me to stop taking the antipsychotic after 20 years and have emotional ups and downs again. I could clearly see a change in their demeanor at the second meeting. Their faces showed concern, but they only offered a statement of wishes form and said that I needed no help at present because I was well.

I let them fob me off with that. The process had been exhausting for me. They told me that I could contact them any time if I felt there was something they could help with. The statement of wishes form upset me when it arrived. It included questions about what clothing I like to wear and how I could be calmed down if I became distressed. It also asked what I liked to do during the day. I became quite fearful that they were thinking that I would have to be put in some sort of institution if I would not take the medication. I did not fill it in.

I have been left feeling, that once again we have had a breakdown in communication and I am afraid to go to them if I need help because they do not understand and they may now just have marked me down as refusing medication. They never tell me what they are really thinking. It is as though I am excluded from having a say in my own health care.

I Approached my gp/chmt when I was feeling well, for the simple reason that I could discuss my past treatment and concerns for my future. When I am ill, I am unable to tell them what is wrong. I had obtained a copy of my medical records after I had come off medication. I could understand more how I felt and was having flash backs to the time I was very ill. I could see clearly from the records that I had been unable to communicate how I had been feeling, and that the medication had suppressed my problems rather than treating them.

I also wrote to them , after my first meeting, to add all the things I had been unable to say at the first meeting. They had brought another person with them, and I was put off by that unexpected change. They invited my husband to the second meeting and he surprised me by his clear explanation to them, of what it had been like for both of us, for me to stop taking the antipsychotic after 20 years and have emotional ups and downs again. I could clearly see a change in their demeanor at the second meeting. Their faces showed concern, but they only offered a statement of wishes form and said that I needed no help at present because I was well.

I let them fob me off with that. The process had been exhausting for me. They told me that I could contact them any time if I felt there was something they could help with. The statement of wishes form upset me when it arrived. It included questions about what clothing I like to wear and how I could be calmed down if I became distressed. It also asked what I liked to do during the day. I became quite fearful that they were thinking that I would have to be put in some sort of institution if I would not take the medication. I did not fill it in.

I have been left feeling, that once again we have had a breakdown in communication and I am afraid to go to them if I need help because they do not understand and they may now just have marked me down as refusing medication. They never tell me what they are really thinking. It is as though I am excluded from having a say in my own health care.