NHS not taking me seriously

[BradleyJ97]

Hi Everyone,

For the last 6/12 months or so I've been coming to the realisation I might have OCD and OCPD.

I've been chatting with my Dad about it on the regular as he is diagnosed with both. He has been very careful not to tell me I have got it and let me come to my own conclusions, but he said our thought processes and how we approach situations and just what we do are very similar.

I've been getting CBT for low mood and anxiety (well I'm suppose to be but it is poor quality) and I told the woman that I fought I had OCD and she said words to the effect "we're dealing with low mood and depression go to you GP" even though I said in my triage for CBT my anxiety and the possible of having OCD was worse than my depressive tenancies. The triage did an OCI questionnaire with me which I was happy about, and I did score very highly in that so it will need to be followed up.

After a month or so of working myself up into a state I finally managed to call my GP and book an appointment to talk about me possibly having OCD. However when I had the appointment I said I had been told to go to her about OCD and OCPD. She asked me what OCPD was and her first question to me was "do you wash stuff and your hands a lot then?". So I had to explain, to a doctor that you don't necessarily do that with OCD. My GP also said she didn't know what to to and she was "scratching her head" and do I want medication, well not without knowing why, I want to look into the possibility I have OCD and OCPD.

Sorry for the long story, I just wanted to put the background to my questions.

My questions are, has anyone experienced anything like this? Does anyone have any tips on how I can get the NHS to take me seriously? And how do I progress looking into possibly getting diagnosed with OCD if that is what I have?

 

Many thanks,

Bradley 

 

[Gemma@OCDUK]

Dear Bradley,

I'm sorry to hear about your experiences, they sound incredibly frustrating. Unfortunately it's quite common for GPs not to have a good understanding of OCD and that can lead to them saying unhelpful things.

Are you still currently receiving CBT for low mood and anxiety and is that through local adult mental health services?

Gemma