My story and why i wont go to 24 hour ED again.

Thought i would share my story of the first and last time which was last night why i wont go to the 24/H after hour clinic again for any of my health and mental health concerns.

I wish i would just complain to the health board but my Anxiety is making it hard to do that.


First time i went because my Anxiety was just at its worst and i needed to get into the Mental Health System as my GP is not properly capable of dealing with me on such a level other then trying to help with medication.

I had to fight for months and harm myself just to get into the anxiety clinic at hillmorten and i finally got a weekly session with my psychologist for 45 mins , NZ is pretty cold towards offering any mental health care and it gets shoved to the side. So back to the E.D i got seen by a crazy doctor who would go on to misdiagnose me Schizo Effective when it was not that , I explained how i get repetitive thoughts , not voices and he went on a tirade with me , It was getting so bad i needed help , It was to do with my anxiety and i think OCD is a factor ,


He laid out some weird diagram of people put into 4 boxes and said he had cracked the key to mental health. He went on to say you fall into the box here and you will have a job no better than a plumber , you have learning difficulties , Don't ever try to achieve anything to do with your dreams or anything like a career , You will always be bossed around by alpha males and you just need to accept it and you will never have a job and will be poor the rest of your life and you need to accept this and just continue to live at the bottom of society , My dad was witness to this whole thing. I left feeling like my dignity was destroyed my intelligence mocked and my self worth stripped from me.

My GP was appalled and saw red flags with this as did the mental health team when i got into the Anxiety clinic. This man said the most destructive things you could to someone with Depression and Severe Anxiety going back most of my life.Reaching out for help at this 24 hour ED clinic felt like one of the biggest mistakes i made.

Now my second experience unrelated to mental illness , I went in because of side effects from propranolol a beta blocker , I started getting vivid nightmares and a feeling of being touched when dozing off and waking up as my dreams were starting or finishing so i was experiencing weird things when going to sleep or waking , Widely known side effects of the medication , also a brain zap feeling constantly.

I went in prepared with all my meds and all the info i had gathered on this beta blocker , I thought i was doing all this right. I relayed all my symptoms i was getting and was sat in a room for 45 mins by myself finally a doctor comes looks at my meds sees Quitiepine and Venlefaxine, her attitude changes and she shows no interest in what i came for and did not even let me give her all the side effect info i had printed out to back myself up she starts saying you're very anxious right ?


Leaves comes back and says go see your psych early here is the suicide hotline , go home and this is the end stop taking it if you want , I go to leave and are charged 100 dollars for about 5 dollars worth of low grade advice. Does not tell me if it is okay to stop this med cold turkey or how to ween of it. I go home and do their job for them to see how to stop taking the med.


I felt i had made a huge mistake bringing all my meds in and acknowledging my background and coming prepared , All it got me was the you're loopy and have mental illness treatment you cant possible have unrelated health problems regarding anything else. What i was having was the side effects from the beta blocker. I left feeling ripped off for a lot of money that is a huge chunk out of my welfare budget and a feeling that i was profiled on my mental illness and in future should hide it if i need help with regular health issues. I also left vowing never to go to an E.D ever again and that is so wrong to have to feel like that.

Im not the best at explaining stuff but i hope you got the picture. Also she was so wrong just writing me off as having a mental illness moment and not the real problem which was medication side effects with propranolol. The next day i had the best and most happy day out with my father for lunch and have been the happiest the past months ever in my life for a decade , Yet hours before i was treated as just another mentally ill person and given the number for the suicide emergency team for seeking help related to medication side effects and told to see my psych doctor asap. Also i do not have learning problems lol , I am very smart and also taught my self how to compose and make music on the computer this year and im called a smart guy and intelligent by my pears.My grammar is bad though , but i love learning especially about other cultures and geography.

I'm sorry that happened to you. It feels so horrible when the person who is supposed to be helping you makes it worse. So many doctors don't understand mental illness, and try to blame everything on it.

I’m sorry to hear this ....

My Psych said it was disgusting the way i was treated both times and my gp said it was bad the first time. She said i am well within my rights to complain and my dad was witness to the first and there for the end of the second one where they outright treated me like a nutty person. I worry so much that i don't think i can complain then again their doctors should have more respect for all patients mentally ill or not , we deserve equal treatment.I was and still are so upset i was treated like trash , instead had to go home and have another three days of head zaps and lucid dreams.

I have cut down to half a propranolol pill now and the zaps have gone and the nightmares gone but still get vivid dreams which is ok cus i love dreams. Just sad i had to work it all out on my own and basically be my own gp cus the people i counted on just didn't care. The cheeky note with the suicide number was what hurt most , I was in a great head space and doing very well mentally and i knew what was wrong and it was not mental illness.


The one thing im proud of is i handled it so well and didn't let my self get depressed and controlled my anxiety and still had a really good week regarding my depression and Anxiety. Just shows you what they don't know because they never took the time to listen to me and just made judgements based off of stereo types.

Sasquatch, you are not alone and we completely understand your experience! Seems this is the way the healthcare system is going.

I am so sorry that this was your experience. You deserved empathy and care and consideration for the genuine vulnerability you displayed in seeking help. Are you doing okay now?

Thanks,
HD7970ghz