(1) I have some blood tests just to make sure I don't have an overactive thyroid, I find this extremely unlikely as I have had regular medical checkups through work and I would have thought this would have been picked up, however, I'm not a doctor so I went along to my local hospital and had the blood tests just to be sure.
(2) He also gave me a list of clinics that offer counselling services in Kent that are offered by the NHS and to look through them to see which one would suit me best.
My GP also told me to make an appointment to see him again in a month's time.
Meanwhile I picked Insight Healthcare who have offices in Ashford, they offer therapy specifically for those with anxiety. I was pleased to see they provide evening and weekend appointments. But unfortunately due to a recent shakeup with mental health services within the NHS they were only providing appointments in working hours Monday to Friday. However, I spoke to a very nice woman on the phone who asked me a few questions. She made an appointment for me on 3 December to have a mental health assessment with a counsellor which would be conducted on the telephone and sent me a questionnaire to fill in beforehand.
Daft I know but no surprise that I was anxious about talking about my anxiety! But the counsellor Matthew was easy to talk to once I got going I tried to be as frank and honest as I could the call lasted about 30 minutes. He asked me about specific events that trigger my anxiety, my general state of my mental health, and we went through the questionnaire which I had filled out prior to speaking to him. At the end he told me the clinic would be in touch when they had a counsellor free to treat me.
UPDATE: I saw my GP again just before Christmas and I gave him an update on my progress with contacting the clinic and he gave me the results of my blood tests which were all clear and said I was in excellent health which was good to hear.
As of today I am still waiting to hear but I knew it would be about 4-6 weeks before I was likely to hear from the clinic.
