Supporting our patients with mental health issues
At least one in four of us has mental health symptoms at any one time. These symptoms generally relate to problems like anxiety and depression. Many people feel that they are going "mad" but can be reassured that they are not.
Topics on this page...
Measuring anxiety & depression
Peri & post-natal depression
Alcohol problems
Self-referral to Talking Together
Consulting your doctor about your mental health problems
Measuring Anxiety and Depression
If you present with a cough, we can check your termperature and get a number from that. Or we can listen to your chest and get an objective finding of a 'clear chest' or hear fluid noises suggesting an infection. Measuring mental health is more challenging. Responding to this, specialists devised various questionnaires that provide a way of measuring the patient's distress.For depression, you can use the PHQ-9 questionnaire.
For anxiety, you can use the GAD-7 tool.
Using these tools will help you know the extent of your difficuilties and, if you bring your results along to a consultation with your doctor, make that consultation more informed and more productive.
You can also use these questionnaires to monitor your symptoms. If you are thinking of stopping antidepressant medication, we encourage you not to simply stop taking it, but to reduce your dose in a stepped manner, and use the PHQ-9 questionnaire to monitor your progress and consider whether it is safe for you to continue reducing the dose further.
Peri & Post-natal Depression
Are you pregnant or have you had a baby recently? About half of all patients with peri-natal or post-natal depression are never diagnosed. There are both clinician and patient reasons for this. Some clinicians don't ask about symptoms and some patients do not disclose their symptoms. Some women are afraid that their baby will be taken off them - that is not going to happen. Others feel that they have failed in some way, that they should be so happy, but they're not. Please do not feel this way. Tell us your symptoms. Prompt action can help to get you back on an even keel. You can use the Edinburgh Post-Natal Depression Scale to assess your symptoms.
Alcohol Problems
Alcohol is often related to mental health difficulties. Alcohol abuse can co-exist with other mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. When the patient has a dual mental health diagnosis, e.g. alcohol abuse and depression, it does not matter which problem came first - they both need treating in their own right. You can use the World Health Organisation's AUDIT tool on this web site to measure your alcohol habit. Remember too the major physical health problems that come from alcoholism - discuss this with your doctor.Talking Together
You do not need a doctor's referral to get free & confidential support for your mental health issues. Click HERE to get further information about their services.Consulting your doctor about your mental health problems
To make your consultation more informative for the doctor and more productive for you, we ask you to complete the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 questionnaires.
Click here for the PHQ-9 questionnaire and here for the GAD-7.
Neither of these web sites stores your scores. Make a note of your scores and then include them in your Patchs© e-consultation.