| Topic: |
Sociology > Depression |
| User: |
"Sawal_7432" |
| Date: |
25 Sep 2004 04:31:50 AM |
| Object: |
UK GP help needed. |
Hi all.I find myself in somewhat of a difficult situation, most of
which is my own making,or more so the making of my overly-paranoid
imagination.My problem is this:I have been suffering from various
psycholigical/emotional probelms for a few years.This illness mostly
manifests itself through symptoms of depression,but i don't actually
feel the sadness normally associated with depression.However the other
depressive symptoms,such as lack of emotions,low concentration,lack of
motivation,intense anxiety,inablity to feel pleasure and lack of sex
drive are present very strongly.This illness governs every aspect of
my life.I have few friends,and wheras most of the ppl around me are
moving on,with their lifes and careers,i'm stuck in a dead-end,either
working in menial jobs or not working at all.
After suffering in silence for a couple of years,i finally managed to
summon up the courage to see my GP,who refered me to a psychiatrist
(at the time i was living in a different city to my current city of
residence).Unfortunately not much came out of this consultation.
Now i have moved to a different city,and still suffering the same
symptoms.Once again i am at the point of referring myself to a
doctor,but here's where the problem arises.During my first
consultation with a doctor,i literally told him everything that was on
my mind at the time,even stuff not directly related to my mental
illness.I am pretty sure the doctor put this on my medical record,(i
saw him writing whilst i was speaking).The problem is,in my current
city i am not even yet registered with a GP.The reason is I live in
the kind of place where everyone knows everyone else.Think of those
notorious american small towns,but even worse.For example at most of
my local surgeries,at least one of the receptionists went to my
secondary school,and many of the ppl working at the doctors surgeries
know memebers of my family.
My paranoid faer is that if i register with a GP,one of them will
'accidentally' read my medical files and tell someone in my family the
exceedingly private facts i told my previous doctor.At this point, i
know that most of you reading this will find my fears over-blown and
maybe a subconcious excuse on my part to avoid seeing a doctor.And
what you're thinking might well be true,but it's the nature of such
fears that they appear very real to the person thinking them.
I know, you will say that there is a strict code of confidentialy
amongst the medical profession,so the chances of my details slipping
out are slim.But such facts are for normal,rational ppl.But for a
person like me who suffers from intense anxiety over everyday stuff
most of you don't even give a second thought to,these fears take on a
life of their own.
So my question is,is their any way i can register with a
doctor,without having to present my old records? And i mean ANY
way.I've thought about ways,such as registering with a NHS drop in
centre,but the trouble is they only have nurses,and not doctors.I've
thought about going to see a private doctor,but my finances are
limited,due to not being able to work full time because of my
illness.I'm so deperate,I've even considered moving to different
city,where no one knows me and registering with a doctor there.
I'm at a real dead-end,so i would welcome any tips as to what I can do
to register with a doctor.And please don't tell me I'm being silly for
fearing my confidential records will be revealed.I already know i'm
being irrational,but there's not much i can do about it.
Thanks a lot for reading my post,and bye.
.
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| User: "Whiskers" |
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| Title: Re: UK GP help needed. |
25 Sep 2004 11:13:34 AM |
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On Sat, 25 Sep 2004 02:31:50 -0700, Sawal_7432 wrote:
snip
So my question is,is their any way i can register with a doctor,without
having to present my old records?
snip
Let me give this some thought. I'll be back later.
--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^
-- Whiskers
-- ~~~~~~~~~~
.
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| User: "Whiskers" |
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| Title: Re: UK GP help needed. |
25 Sep 2004 06:43:16 PM |
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On Sat, 25 Sep 2004 17:13:34 +0100, Whiskers wrote:
On Sat, 25 Sep 2004 02:31:50 -0700, Sawal_7432 wrote:
snip
So my question is,is their any way i can register with a doctor,without
having to present my old records?
snip
Let me give this some thought. I'll be back later.
Ok, I'm back :))
I don't think you're asking quite the question. Presumably, you would
have to talk to your new GP, and start a new set of records, so the matter
of paranoia about your old records will simply become paranoia about the
new records, and you're back to square one.
I think a more useful approach, is to find a way to build your confidence
or ease the paranoia enough for you to cope with registering and then
talking openly to the GP. I think that means finding a counsellor who
will see you without reference from a GP (the usual route to get an NHS
counsellor), and without charging (as you're skint).
"Mind" do sometimes have volunteer counsellors locally, or contacts with
them, and I think that's your best bet. Their web-site is
<http://www.mind.org.uk/index.htm>, and they have a help line on 0845 766
0163.
Welcome to ASD :))
--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^
-- Whiskers
-- ~~~~~~~~~~
.
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| User: "Jernau Gurgeh" |
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| Title: Re: UK GP help needed. |
25 Sep 2004 04:57:11 PM |
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Sawal_7432 wrote in alt.support.depression:
<snip>
So my question is,is their any way i can register with a
doctor,without having to present my old records?
I am not in the UK, but over here you can just say that your records got
lost. This actually happened to me, because I have moved around a lot.
Jernau
--
The only failure in life
is the failure to try
.
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| User: "Sawal_7432" |
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| Title: Re: UK GP help needed. |
26 Sep 2004 04:34:04 AM |
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Hi again, thanks a lot to the 2 ppl who posted to my original
message.But the problems are: 1) If i register with a new doctor they
still have a copy of my old medical records, i mean if it was just a
case of a new doctor meaning a new set of medical records then i
wouldn't mind about seeing a doctor, but as far as i know this isn't
the case.The old records are simply transferred to the new doctor.
2)There is no way i can say my medical records have been lost,since i
don't have access to them. They are kept in the doctors office, and if
i go abroad, or don't need to use a doctor then they are transferred
to a central medical records holding place.
I suppose the moral of this whole mess is when you go to a doctor not
to tell them EVERYTHING, about your life, but only that which is
relevant to your particular illness.
I really don't know what i'm going to do now.Thanks and bye.
.
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| User: "Alan Harding" |
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| Title: Re: UK GP help needed. |
27 Sep 2004 01:50:22 AM |
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In message <5cd326f1.0409260134.eabfcdc@posting.google.com>, Sawal_7432
<sawal_7432@yahoo.co.uk> writes
Hi again, thanks a lot to the 2 ppl who posted to my original
message.But the problems are: 1) If i register with a new doctor they
still have a copy of my old medical records, i mean if it was just a
case of a new doctor meaning a new set of medical records then i
wouldn't mind about seeing a doctor, but as far as i know this isn't
the case.The old records are simply transferred to the new doctor.
They take time to do this, believe me - mine took six months to arrive
the last time I moved. You should be able to establish a relationship
beforehand.
If you are over 17, your GP should not tell anyone what's in your
records unless you give her evidence that you have committed a crime, or
the police arrive with a court order.
--
The opinions given above may be mine. They might also
just be what I feel like saying right now, okay?
.
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| User: "Whiskers" |
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| Title: Re: UK GP help needed. |
26 Sep 2004 07:44:56 PM |
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On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 02:34:04 -0700, Sawal_7432 wrote:
snip
I suppose the moral of this whole mess is when you go to a doctor
not to tell them EVERYTHING, about your life, but only that which is
relevant to your particular illness.
snip
I know reason isn't going to ease paranoia, but GPs are far too busy to
record anything that isn't strictly relevent to the present consultation,
no matter how much you might tell them.
If your last doctor was writing while you were talking, I think it's very
unlikely that your words were being recorded or summarised - more
probably, he was noting diagnostically significant points about your body
language, 'demeanor', history, symptoms, etc, to help him decide what to
do for you - and what actually got put into your file, would be a very
terse technically-worded note that would mean little or nothing except to
another doctor.
--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^
-- Whiskers
-- ~~~~~~~~~~
.
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