Your advice taken

Most strange he telephoned me himself, if as you claim they have an immense work load Jane, it certaintly threw me .

It was not true to suggest I wanted a location of my own choice, if I had a choice it would have been in my home as would any agoraphobic or a telephone consultation which I did suggest , all I needed was to be referred to a CPN to give support to leave the house .

So what should happen? If every distressed patient was seen in the location of their choice the NHS would break down.
Ab if as you say legal proceedings were mentioned then the health board legal dept and the Doctors Defence insurance would have been alerted and that doctor would have been strongly advised not to see you. It's a much bigger picture than you might think. Ramifications and implications galore!
Meanwhile, kind GNers seem to have set you on the way to recovery...

Um, at the risk of seeming stupid (as I’m quite used to appearing so), the psychiatrist offered to see you at the hospital where he would be on that day anyway, and expected you, agrophobic to the extent of not being able to get out of your front door, to go, on your own, over the bridge which holds such terror, to a hospital with locked doors? How?

If someone who is not mentally robust, at the moment, says that a particular thing is too much for them, it is very unfair for someone else to tell them it should be fine.

And all doctors ask permission from the health board before they see a patient ? I am not surprised he offered! To see me , he offered! to see me in a place any one would know was impossible for me. Our past was more than unfortunate by the way.

"Cancel some to see one ? Not so." - you can't know that.

It sounds like you and this psychiatrist have an unfortunate past. Not the best person to see you and I'm very surprised that he offered to accommodate you at all. In a larger Health Board area I doubt he'd be allowed to under the circumstances you describe.

Cancel some to see one ? Not so.

As for what I was afraid of, I explained in full. As in all fields of medicine there are good and not so good.

I am quite aware of x x ward, have visited patients there, have ex neighbours and friends there .

You Jane have put forward the psychiatrist ‘s side I have put forward the patients side.

This is the same psychiatrist who lied at my daughters inquest and when I lodged a complaint to the health board my daughters files had been mislaid! I couldn’t afford to continue fighting the hospital for the truth.

Finally been able to respond to this thread. I've been completely stymied by problems with mobile version. I'm now on my desktop.
What I wanted to say (although Anniebach sounds like she's on the way to sorting things herself) was the other side of the story. ie the Psychiatrist's perspective. I suspect that there are 2 different teams: one being 'General Adult Psychiatry' and the other being 'Older adults Psychiatry'. You're not quite the right age to fit yet!
Although AB's story is undoubtedly tragic and painful, sadly life being what it is, many if not most of the psychiatrist's caseload will also be in emotional pain or at the very least suffering mental ill health too. By offering a special appointment to accommodate Ab's issues he is most likely going to have to reduce appointment times for other patients or, worse, cancel some. Psychiatrist's caseloads are groaning. Several of my acquaintances who are very good psychiatrists are now suffering mentally themselves due to just plain overwork and having to work day and daily with stressed and mentally unwell people. They have massive responsibility. If some unfortunate person's level of mental illness is not assessed and judged correctly the buck stops with them if there is one of these hellish incidents where a person suffering from delusions stabs a passer by or even staff member. Its rare but, as I said, the consultants bear the ultimate responsibility. Living with responsibility for each person on a large caseload is very hard indeed but they do it.
That's it. I just wanted to offer another perspective on the situation.
Ab my question 'what are you afraid of' was in relation to your mention of 'the locked ward'. I was concerned that people may have the wrong impression of such secure wards which are usually locked for the security of the inpatients and are not generally places for visitors to be afraid of.

Try to keep taking little steps Annie, Gransnetters are here for you ???? sending love and hugs.

Well done, Annie.
Your plan sounds very sensible and most likely better than the 'professional' help you would have got.

(The appointment & waiting arrangements you were offered sound absolutely horrendous for anyone.)

Wishing you slow and gradual success.

Good morning Annie. Just remember little steps, we are all with you. x

Thank you Baggs.

A good start yesterday, put milk bottles out early evening, was so anxious about doing it before dark I forgot - milkman doesn’t deliver on Wednesday

I like your plan, annie. It sounds like a very good one to me. Sending supportive vibes ?

No point in seeing a therapist, if I had suddenly been hit with anxiety and didn’t know why then yes, but I chose at first not to leave the house so no reason to look for a cause , I know why I didn’t want to leave and it was not being phobic , thank you though x

therapy by skype?

I would have thought so, he does sound rather intransigent which is surely not a good trait in a psychiatrist?

Could you see a therapist or psychologist as another poster suggested?

Surely he is too professional to be annoyed with the disagreement I had with him in January, yes?

He's not fit for purpose.

Good luck Annie. Hope to hear you’re tending that rose by Friday, then you have the weekend to consolidate. The big hat idea apparently helps as its like having your own roof with you with invisible defence walls. This was from an agrophobic I knew from work. I never met her but we had long phone talks.

Flooding can work but when it fails it causes even more problems. I feel a bit thick having supported several through the same problem not taking the advice I dished out!

Sue, your young friend is right, I use to advise phobics, it does at times seem like swimming against the tide but the tide always turns.

Thank you all so much, I am so grateful . X

Yes NanaK, you are so right, I don’t like swearing and he is a total arse ?

Imagine a phobia of spiders, flooding would mean putting you in direct contact with them , gradual exposure would start with photographs and working from there
I've not heard of that approach to dealing with a phobia - the man is an idiot.

I think your own approach sounds much more sensible Anniebach

Annie, a young friend of mine is going through a not dissimilar situation to yours, with the added complication that she has a young family to care for single-handed. She is also battling agoraphobia although she has to go out to work, as the only breadwinner.

She has spoken of 'pushing back the walls' that threaten to close in on her with a plan to gradually reintegrate herself back into life. Your plan sounds similar, you've got a clear view of what you need to do to remedy the situation and maybe we can hand-hold you through cyberspace to overcome this obstacle.

Annie I think that's a really good plan
Now, I know you dislike swearing, so I will have to ask you to forgive me, but I have to say that psychiatrist is a total arse

Annie good luck and please keep posted so we support you all the way.

It's good to have a plan Annie