0:14 hello Alice and Wells do you want to come and have a seat hi I'm Dr Taylor one of the GPS at this surgery what would you like me to call you Al will be fine okay okay so what's brought you here today Allison um my sister's noticed I'm just a bit fed up really right okay my sister said um I should come right okay has this been going on for some time yeah a few months right okay do you want to tell me a bit more about what's been going on um I just things things seem to be piling up right just I just don't seem to be coping with
1:00 things home okay the kids and things right okay would it be okay Alison for for me to ask you a few more detailed questions about how you've been feeling okay well if we start with asking you a bit about your mood how have you been feeling in yourself um I say a bit Fed Up m c in the morning it just everything just seems very black right it's like it's just like swimming in in treal really and I just don't just I think by tea time time the kids get home been having a fairly decent conversation with them but right and and
1:46 can I just check Alison when you say things feel very black do you feel do you mean you feel very miserable Fed Up miserable okay and what about sort of feeling tearful has that been happening I dropped some sugar the other day and I just burst into tears right okay so is it the slightest thing that would make you make you feel tearful things that perhaps wouldn't ordinarily bother you yeah right my sister's noticed as well right okay so you've been feeling very low and with episodes of tearfulness yeah what about other things what about your energy levels are you managing to keep up with things I used to do a lot with the kids we used
2:32 to go swiming playing but now I just just spend the day on the sofa really I I have to go to work right and just remind me what is it you do for your job I work in the supermarket right so how have you been managing at work I'm not I'm not been going in as much cuz I just feel so exhausted but I mean we're just not the the supermarket's been taking over and they've cut the wages right and I'm having problems with the bills right and it's like cataloges just writing me letters mhm you know the kids they they want all these new games and stuff it's just you
3:19 know I think things are really difficult all around okay with all this going on how are you sleeping Allison um it's just it takes me ages to go to sleep MH used to read a book right and um just drop off but now I just spend my time looking at the clock goes round and around so from actually getting off to bed and getting off to sleep how how long is that taking couple of hours proba okay once you're actually asleep are you waking up much during the night I wake up about last night I think it was about 4:00 I woke up and can you get back to sleep from that time no no and then when when you're actually getting out of bed in the morning are are you still feeling
4:05 tired at that point just exhausted feel like my brain's not been switched off right and just exhausted the next day okay what about eating what's your appetite been like while you've been feeling like this I used to have quite a weight problem but the last couple of months I'm in this just a bit looser right um I just you know how much you've lost no no the kids come in from school and they make their own stuff and I just don't bother really okay okay so your appetite has gone down as well what about things like concentrating in your memory both when you I don't know watching TV at home or or out when you're out doing your job how have those things been I'm been pretty useless with the kids they've um I've got the swimming money
4:52 last week and right PE it and parents even even right okay I just start one job and like I'm not explaining myself very well it's like the television I used to like watching the soapes mhm e Enders or something and no 10 minutes later just you know thinking of something else okay okay and what about things Allison that you used to enjoy are there things in life that you still enjoy at the moment um nothing really as I say bit useless with the kids used to enjoy going out right um I used to go out with my friends pictures and things
5:40 right but of course now I just can't be bothered is it is it you can't bother you don't feel like it as well what's the point really okay you know and I was going to ask how old are your children now I had a bit later in life mhm took a long long time for me to have them um got a girl and a boy one's 11 one's nine and I'm I'm looking after children takes a lot of time and energy how are you managing to keep up with that feeling as low as you do well a bit self-sufficient really the kids they coming from school get their own tea right I should be doing more for them really but no I'm just bit useless at that at the moment okay and what about
6:26 looking after yourself well you can see I'm just a mess Dave used to say that's my boyfriend right I used to you know not have much money but I just take a bit of pride in in what I was doing you know right okay and my hair and stuff but I can't can't be bothered with that now there's no point really okay okay and you mentioned Dave that's your your current partner how long have you and Dave been together about a year I met him at work right and how are things because often when people feel really down it has a real impact on everything including their relationships how are things between you and Dave at the moment but he's not ringing as much he used to text but he's he's going you know he's
7:14 getting fed up with with me not wanting to go out right okay and things that's a slightly embarrassing thing to ask about but I guess it's important often when people are really feeling very low it affects everything in their relationship including things like the sex life have you noted no any changes there for you he's always trying to pressure me a little bit stuff but really not into that at the moment okay you just don't feel like that at the moment okay so can I just recap Allison and check I've got this right for the last few months you've been feeling really down no energy problems with your sleeping and eating problems with concentrating not really enjoying things and actually struggling a bit with the kids and perhaps some difficulties in your relationship with Dave have I got that
8:00 right okay can I ask Allison in the past have there ever been episodes when you felt like this when when my husband left mhm um I was Al I was always crying then for no particular reason right um I haven't told anybody this before but I took some tablets right so how long ago are we talking about is this a few years ago about four years ago about four years ago okay so so you took some tablets yeah can you tell me is it all right tell me a little bit more about that you know what it's like the kids are in bed
8:46 MH and you're on your own and add a few glasses of wine right and I just just took these tablets right okay can you remember what you actually took at the time what sort of tablets there were they were just in the bathroom cabinet M paracet right okay so you took some paracetamol can you remember sort of roughly how many you took about two strips about 12 right okay and and you'd had a couple of glasses of wine did you take anything else any other tablets with it no okay and was this something Allison that you'd thought about for a while or was it something was quite an sort of of the moment decision that
9:31 evening um I've been crying a lot but I think just whine right okay but you know okay it's bit of burden to everybody really and and was there any other things that you did around the time sometimes when people take tabls they leave a note or do other kind of final acts get their Affairs in order did you do any of those things no just just so you I took the tablets and go to sleep right okay so did you have any thoughts about what taking the tablets would do did you I just thought I go to sleep and not wake up but I woke up a couple of hours later and I just sick everywhere but I
10:17 was sick okay so so you actually just want to check I get this right because it's important you actually thought they would kill you at the time I just didn't want to wake up I just say I'm just a useless just a useless mom now and I was then right okay so so you took the T you you were very sick in the night did did you seek any medical help at the time no no okay and then you okay the following day well yeah just just felt a bit of a twit really did you feel pleased that you were still alive yeah I think you know I realized it just been silly right okay okay so that that was a few years ago so if we just come back to how how you're feeling at the moment you talked about
11:03 feeling very low have there been times currently when you've thought about either taking a an overdose or doing something else to to harm yourself in any way you know at night when when you're watching the clock and you know you're on your own kids are in bed I just everything's so hard and yeah I suppose you know it's see just feels easy you know right and has that just been something you've thought about have you actually made any plans got any tablets in or done anything else no no like that okay and I guess that's a difficult question to ask but one we would ask everybody in your situation have things ever been so bad you felt so
11:49 low that you not only thought about harming yourself or or perhaps killing yourself you've also wondered whether the best thing might be to take the children with you no my kids my kids okay no would hurt them okay no and what about sort of the side of that things positive things sort of things to live for things that you feel good about not much at the moment I suppose kids sometimes you know they they do things that make you think you know what's good about life things but and there other things that help at the moment I'm thinking about people who can be supportive my sister as I say she she
12:38 said to get down here and she's always there she comes down Rings got a couple of friends they're quite good right but and Dave when he's in the mood of course sure but I don't think he's going to be around for much longer right and do you think or do you feel able to keep yourself safe at the moment from from in yourself I think so yeah I know I can come here now You' very good today okay do you think if that was to change so that you didn't feel you were able to keep yourself safe you'd be able to let anybody know well I know what happened last time that was nothing and I know I was silly then so I know to come here right
13:25 okay okay aome well thanks for going through all that I can appreciate it must be very painful it does sound to me like you are suffering from symptoms that strongly suggest that you're actually depressed at the moment now I'm not sure how much you know about depression not much really not much but I know I just don't feel don't feel right at the moment well I guess just briefly depression can cause a number of problems for people and traditionally we think about people feeling very low and very miserable and often you know thinking about hurting themselves but it can also affect all other areas of life in terms of problems with eating and sleep sing and the other problems you've noticed like concentration and perhaps not really managing as well as normal um I guess the positive side is that you've you've done something about it and you you've come to talk to me about it today
14:12 and I think there are almost certainly a range of things we can put in place to help you and treatments that are available so I guess what I'm thinking was it might be worth as just spending a few minutes just thinking about some of those options for you so that we can start to improve things for you would that be all right with you I need I need to do this yes and I think I think that's sensible yeah okay
