leema5

This is my own experience from my medical today.

I wasn't sure whether to tick 'yes' or 'no' for the mental health question, so I will add some background.

I was prescribed a low dosage of beta-blockers in 2014 due to having some anxiety and stress that was causing me to have palpitations. I grew up in foster care but my biological mother suffered from some severe mental health issues throughout her life and I worried that I was going to experience the same/was experiencing the same. This made my anxiety worse of course.

I asked my previous doctor what I should put for that particular question and she advised that although she didn't think I had a mental illness, the anxiety was a 'gray area' and that I should err on the side of caution. I therefore ticked yes on the form.

I also had 2 appointments with my current doctor. He hasn't been my doctor long enough to write me the sought after 'is not a danger to herself' letter but he was willing to write one that stated he had given me a consult and believed that my mental state was fine.

The doctor today did not question any of this and asked me only if I had had any issues since 2014 to which I was able to answer no. She didn't mention the letter at all. She said that there was nothing that was any cause for concern and carried on to the next part of the medical.

When I was there, as others have explained, I was given a more in-depth form to complete. On this form the question was worded differently and asked about 'severe mental illness' and gave examples of such. I ticked 'no' for this one because I felt that was the correct answer. The doctor had no issue with this after looking at my medical summary.

I know that mental health issues are completely different for each person but perhaps some of this will be informative to anyone who is in a similar situation to me. It was such a worry to me wondering if it would be viewed as lying on the form whether I ticked one or the other.

The most stressful part for me today turned out to be the nurse almost not giving me my outstanding vaccinations due to having quite a bad head cold, which would've held everything up. The doctor over-ruled her given that my temperature was fine. The nurse was really nice and chatty when I was with her.

Overall, I was there for 90 minutes. The waiting room only had 2 people in it when I arrived and there was nobody there by the time I left.

Lynn

Rete

Thank you, Lynn, for an excellent write-up and explaining the issues you were having.

StuBear65

Thanks for this Lynn, as someone who has had minor mental health issues in the past, it would be interesting to know what examples they gave of 'severe mental illness'?

leema5

Some of those listed were: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

I can't quite remember others on the list, if there were any.

StuBear65

That's great thanks.