Pat’s story – Moray.
Pat is a young woman who is experiencing eating disorders, body dysmorphia, anxiety, and emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD). Pat finds it challenging to have in-depth discussions about her needs and desires with her psychiatrist and other professionals due to her high levels of anxiety.
When she contacted Circles Network her primary worries were that she had asked for, and never received, a face-to-face meeting with her psychiatrist to go over her prescription regimen.
She was dissatisfied with the assistance she was receiving from her support worker and community psychiatric nurse (CPN).
The advocate got involved to help arrange the meeting. However, it quickly came to light that a face-to-face meeting with the psychiatrist would not be achievable for at least two months. Therefore, alternative arrangements had to be made, whereby the advocate assisted Pat during a phone consultation.
Before the phone consultation, Pat worked with the advocate to prepare and send the psychiatrist a written statement outlining her opinions regarding her medication. This encouraged a thorough discussion of every drug, the potential modifications, and the best times and methods for implementing those changes.
During the meeting, with the advocate in attendance, detailed notes were taken in order to document all of the changes. At the time, Pat shared that she has been taking her medication “randomly” because she found it difficult to recall the specifics of conversations – because her anxiety would consume her and affect her.
The following appointment, which was a face-to-face meeting, was scheduled to go over the modifications.
“I was worried that my CPN and support worker would hate me if I voiced my concerns” Pat told the advocate. Thoughts like this are a common emotional response among people who have EUPD.
Pat was only able to state the problems after receiving assurances from the advocate. Having consulted and spoken with the CPN and support worker, the advocate recommended that the support Pat was receiving should be reviewed. Pat was pleased with this.
Pat discussed her desired outcomes with the advocate prior to the meeting, and the advocate wrote them down and sent them out beforehand. As a result, Pat didn’t have to voice all of her concerns at the beginning of the review because everyone had a clear picture of her thoughts and feelings. This extra layer of support for Pat resulted in the decision that a new support plan would be created for her.
Throughout the process, Pat stated “I felt well supported by my advocate. I could not have done it without their help, guidance, and support.”
