Hi all, looking for a bit of advice
I went to see my doctor almost a year now to talk about my mental health (i suspected I was suffering from anxiety), and at the time he said he didn't want to diagnose me with anything or give me medication (I'm under 18 and he said he had to be careful giving meds to anyone under 18) but he referred me to CAMHS
It's now almost a year later, my mental health has been getting worse, I now suspect I'm suffering with depression as well, and I'm on a 6 week talking therapy programme (with an independent counselling company). The counsellor has also expressed she thinks I might have depression and an anxiety disorder, however is not able to give me a diagnosis.
I'm on week 4 of the talking therapy and I don't feel much different. I know recovery is a long process but I'm still in a terrible place (I feel empty a lot of the time, everything scares me, I get panic attacks, going to school is hard because I get anxiety attacks lots. This is all not really in my character- 4 years ago I was happy and bubbly and confident and got good grades and loved performing on stage. Now, I still do performances (I'm playing the lead role in the school show) but it gives me awful anxiety and I dissociate a lot and basically I feel terrible.
I have an appointment with CAMHS in 3 weeks FINALLY to discuss what's going to happen. I reckon they'll put me on CBT.
The issue is, I can't see it helping. I talk a lot about my feeling with people and it never helps and I've tried mindfulness and all sorts and I just feel the same.
So, I want to consider medication. However, I don't know how to go about this. I feel terrible going to my doctor again because I've seen him so often this year about my mental health.
I know medication really is a last resort, but I feel like I'm at a dead end now. I'm 17 in a few weeks and I've wasted most of my teenage years feeling like this and I want something that helps, and I obviously understand that there can be serious side effects and stuff, which is why I'm not saying "I want medication", rather I want to discuss what may be the positives and negatives about it in my case with a professional.
My issue is, how do I do this? Who do I talk to and what do I say? I basically need a little advice on where to go from here!
Thank you all in advance x