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How do I ask my GP for psychological help.

Jordy

Well-Known Member
Suicidal ideation has been getting progressively worse, at this point i am seriously considering suicide more so than I ever have before. As a last resort I want to at least try getting psychological help and perhaps get an actual diagnosis for autism and whatever else i could have.

I can call my general practitioners office but I have no idea what to actually say.
 
Write a list of key points and refer to it when you call them. Stress to the receptionist you need an urgent appointment. You can't predict how the conversation or the appointment will play out. You need to highlight to them that your mental health is declining, and you feel you're running out of options. They will listen and advise. It's a step in the right direction, and it shows that you're not ready to give up.

Ed
 
Suicidal ideation has been getting progressively worse, at this point i am seriously considering suicide more so than I ever have before. As a last resort I want to at least try getting psychological help and perhaps get an actual diagnosis for autism and whatever else i could have.

I can call my general practitioners office but I have no idea what to actually say.
The first two sentences of your post look like a good starting point, to me.

Particularly the first sentence.
 
Be careful about signing yourself in to an institution, just ask for a psychologist or psychiatrist reference or both.
 
In the US, you don't need to contact your GP for an emergent mental health appointment. You can contact a mental health facility at any time. They take these things seriously and will make time for you.

Yes, it is helpful for your GP to be aware of these things, and if it is not an emergency situation and you feel that you can hold out a bit, then talking with your GP can be helpful and can prescribe medications while waiting for your mental health provider appointment.
 
If things are getting to you- go straight to ER and tell them you feel really depressed about yourself and you need a prescription until you schedule with a provider. Exercise really helps me in this area.

If you call, tell the office you need emergency referral to a mental health specialist since you are having frequent feelings of self-harm. Then call all day, until they schedule immediately or give you a referral.

Sorry to hear of you going through this right now. Continue to post here if possible, and let us know how you are doing. Sometimes you need those mental health specialists, and this is that time for you.
 
Be careful about signing yourself in to an institution, just ask for a psychologist or psychiatrist reference or both.
I had some courage and called and just asked for a psychologist, I didn't tell the lady on the phone any specifics. I have an appointment with the GP later this week where I will have to talk with him.
 
I had some courage and called and just asked for a psychologist, I didn't tell the lady on the phone any specifics. I have an appointment with the GP later this week where I will have to talk with him.
Great news. Sometimes you are so far into your "slump of feeling bad" that by the time it finally dawns on you, you are too miserable to do anything about it. But you took decisive action, and come back and post if you need any support. We all wobble on our path, all support helps. :)
 
Any time I start feeling remotely hopeless, or like "I don't want to be here/there is no point" I make a doctor's appointment. I just did the other day.

I have said this to many others on here, and probably to you before, but what happens after a failed suicide attempt (and they often fail) is WAY worse than what will happen to you if you are proactive beforehand and are honest with a doctor or psychiatrist about how you're feeling. And I know this has been said on here to many people, many times, but suicide is a permanent and irreversible solution to an often solvable (or at least improvable) problem.
After my suicide attempt, I was institutionalized for months and experienced and witnessed things that left a permanent mental scar. It was enough to scare me out of trying to commit suicide again. I have had those feelings again from time to time but I am way too terrified to act on them ever again.
I don't know what psychiatric hospitals are like in the Netherlands but they're pretty miserable here. You don't want it to get to that point. But if you are in serious danger and have exhausted all other options, then they are a last resort for at least preventing you from making a life-altering decision in the heat of the moment.

I think the fact that you're on here talking about this and expressing that you want/need help is great. I hope your appointment goes well and that you can get the help you're looking for. I'm confident that your situation will improve if you're open and honest with your doctors/therapist. Therapy and medication are not a cure-all and you still need to do some of the work yourself though. But from what you've said it sounds like you recognize that doing that work is important.
 
Is there anyone whom you can trust, who would be willing to go with you, to see your gp? Because, sadly, most are blindsided by what they consider an emergancy and thus, the person sitting in front of them, who says they are suicidal, makes the dr think: but if you were, you would not be sitting in front of me, so you are not being genuine.

Whereas, if you have a spokesperson, who can do all that for you and even ask for a referral for aspergers, then, the dr would listen.

Happened like this for me. Thankfully, my husband acted as that spokesperson, which got me referred for evaluation for asd.

I went through similar, from moving to France, from the uk. I did not want to be in France and thus, suffered for several months, of deep depression and wanting to just fade away and die. I did not know about aspergers back then.

What got me through, was hating waking up with that terrible dreadness going through my body and thus, I got my clothes ready the night before and as usual, on waking up, felt sick to the heart, and whilst getting dressed, was crying my heart out and going downstairs, was a nightmare. But, I did and then, decided to write out a list of activities and crossed off each one, as I did them. Did, this for several weeks and one day, realised I did not need to anymore and that was the end of my dark period.
 
I had some courage and called and just asked for a psychologist, I didn't tell the lady on the phone any specifics. I have an appointment with the GP later this week where I will have to talk with him.
You did the hard part in making the appointment, and be as strong as you can to make sure you actually go to it. Even if you are feeling slightly better by the time you get there, don’t miss this appointment. I say this because I have had that momentary courage to make the call, but if the courage is not there when it is time to actually go to the appointment, maybe we can help.

Lists are really helpful for me. I definitely go into any appointment with a list and a pen.
 
I was at the doctors office today, he asked me to give a short description of what was bothering me then he said he could refer me to a psychologist. He was very direct, the entire interaction was no longer than 5 minutes.
 
I was at the doctors office today, he asked me to give a short description of what was bothering me then he said he could refer me to a psychologist. He was very direct, the entire interaction was no longer than 5 minutes.
That’s awesome. It sounds like the buildup was much worse than the actual appointment. That is almost exactly how it usually goes for me - I think about things a lot beforehand and it’s really difficult, but then when it happens it’s pretty quick and sometimes right to the point. I hope you feel good about things.
 

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