"Lack of empathy and understanding"

It has taken me a while to write this as I was unsure what I wanted to say.

A few months ago, I attended an appointment with my adult child at the mental health unit in Geraldton. They had been so ill for many weeks and I felt it important to give them more support, to show how much we cared.

My child was seen by a psychiatrist and a nurse at the mental unit. Prior to the appointment they had been unable to leave their flat for weeks through anxiety and depression. My child was unable to get out of bed for days on end. I shop for them, answer their letters, make appointments for doctors, attend all appointments with them and anything else which may be needed during this time. My child did not answer their door and would not answer their phone if the number was unknown to them.

During the appointment at the mental unit, I was shocked to see how my child was treated by the psychiatrist. I felt there was no empathy and they continually told my child that they felt that my child had been misdiagnosed with bipolar. They believe my child has a personality disorder and not bipolar. My child was diagnosed many years ago with bipolar by a private psychiatrist. This has been confirmed by numerous other psychiatrists including a psychiatrist in another country.

I was shocked at the way my child was treated as I believe all my child was asking for was help to somehow alleviate their anxieties. The psychiatrist kept asking my child what help do they wanted. My child would reply that they did not know what help they needed just that they wanted to start doing normal things again. I believe the psychiatrist must have repeated the same question more than 6 times when the nurse interjected and said that perhaps Neami National (next to Joondalup Mental Hospital) might be the place where my child could get help to start coping with normal everyday occurrences. There was no response from the psychiatrist about Neami National, so I asked the nurse for the details as I thought this could be helpful for my child. This nurse went and looked up Neami National for my child and we took immediate action. A referral from my child’s doctor lead them to have a placement at Neami for almost 30 days and they are at present in the support unit now.

I thank the nurse for their help as if it was not for their interjecting at the time my child perhaps would not be getting the help they so needed. I felt not once did the psychiatrist help even when Neami was mentioned, it was the nurse who explained it to us.

I feel it is important to let you know that my child really needs help and I believe they are at a loss at times to find that help. I felt that the psychiatrist was aggressive and lacked empathy and understanding. They gave me a feeling it was my child’s fault they had a mental illness.

Since entering Neami I believe my child has found that after the appointment with the psychiatrist in Geraldton they were taken off their books at the mental health unit, although it was through the nurse’s care they are now getting the treatment at Neami. My child has now been given another referral to the mental health unit in Geraldton from Neami National.