Very angry with GP

[Guest marky1982]

Hi

I'm not working at the moment and had applied for a job which I was offered. I told them about my OCD as I'm being referred for treatment and thought I might have to have time off to attend the sessions so thought it fair to tell them.

So the occupational health unit wrote to my GP for details. He called me on Friday to say not only had he told them I had OCD but had also told them about thoughts I'd been having which are mainly those about harm and depersonalisation due to the anxiety!

I know he was telling the truth but I was really shocked he went into such detail and I'm pretty sure they're going to look at that form now and think I'm some kind of unstable psychopath. The Occupational Health Unit had a quite a fixed view of OCD. When I told them I had OCD they said "oh you touch things and count" and I thought "er, not quite".

I'm not too worried about not getting the job as it's only something part-time to get me back working but I was so annoyed the doc did that!!

Mark

[Guest Craigy]

I empathise Marky. My GP has been very good over the years but I have had experience of a jobsworth Occi Health Doctor :doctor: deciding I could not be employed because of my (well-managed) obsessive worrying and recurrent depression. He was a complete But 99% of Occi Health Depts have been fine with me.

I suppose you can look at it from different angles. Maybe it is your OCD that is making you so worried and you will actually get the job OK, but just have regular check-ups with Occi Health.

Maybe your GP could have been briefer about the OCD ; but alternatively he could have tried more to educate the Occi Health Dept about your type of OCD. After all, what you and the rest of us struggle with is not to be ashamed of (even though our OCD tells us otherwise).

The best case scenario is that the Occi Health Dept will make the effort to read up on OCD and find out for themselves that you are not "some sort of unstable psychopath", just a guy struggling with obsessive type thoughts. The worst case scenario (which you don't seem to be too worried about) is that you don't get this job but can apply for others.

Whatever happens, I think you need to talk it through with your GP so that you can agree on what he says to the next potential employer.......

[Guest Pearl]

when i was first signed off work before i had to give it up, in my sick notes my gp put unable to go about daily routine. So that nothing would be picked up on.

Did occupational health have to be informed as you would need time off for treatment?

[Guest Logic]

I thought all discussion with a Doctor was confidential between you and Him/Her?.

And can only give details with your permission?, I hope my GP isn't going into stuff about me with people.

[Guest Pearl]

did you know occupational health were speaking to your gp? if so then it's no breach bu tif not then i think you maybe are onto something!

i had to put in a complaint about a gp a couple of weeks ago and before the person dealing with it could take it further i had to sign a document to give them permission to deal with my complaint as i would be gettin gdiscussed.

[Guest marky1982]

Thanks for your replies

What happened was I wrote on the form that Occupational Health sent me (the kind everyone gets when they take a new job) that I had OCD. It's not something I'd done before but instead of hiding it as I have done in the past I thought I would tell them and be upfront and it's not something I'm ashamed of anymore. Plus I thought if I needed time off to attend CBT then I will have told them I have OCD and so it would be for a good reason.

So they rang me and said they would need to write to my GP to get more details and I signed a form they sent me agreeing to it. I thought, maybe naively, my GP would simply say 1.) I have OCD 2.) I'm okay to work. After all I'd finished my previous job due to bullying which made my OCD worse so I'd been to see him about it and he knew I'd got this job and was pleased for me and thought getting back into work would be good for me. So when he rang to say he'd filled in this form and he told me what he'd written I was horrified as he'd told them the OCD thoughts I'd told him in the consultation. Although I don't consider the OCD confidential I did consider the info about the thoughts to be. He himself doesn't have a good understanding of OCD - like the Occupational Health Unit he thinks it's all about counting and checking and didn't seem to have heard of Pure O. He's referred me to a GP with a special interest in mental health who I'm seeing on Wednesday. I think if she's ok I may switch to her instead.