Telephone assessment

Sev68

Hi All
I have my assessment tomorrow between 9-10am,What should I expect? I'm driving myself mad ,Are these people patient will they try to trick me ,I've heard so many horror stories ,I'm really scared,My daughter who cares for me will be with me incase they need to speak to her or If I fall apart which is what I'm doing already,

poppy123456

You will be asked questions about how your conditions affect you on a typical day. Try not to answer any questions with just a simple yes or no. Doing this can lead them to coming to their own conclusion. Try and give as much information as possble.

They may not need to know everything about your health conditions because if they have enough of information about something, they won't ask any further questions in that area.

The assessment can last anywhere from 20 to 120 minutes and they may not ring within that timescale. It depends on how long the assessment before you will last for.

It's also worth remembering that the majority of people are placed into the Support Group with more than 60% so that's a good thing.

Once the report is written and returned a decision will take up to 12 weeks.

Sev68

Thank you Poppy,My issue is the tables I take before bed are slow release so when I wake up my mind isn't functioning I feel groggy ,So I'm hoping whoever calls has patience as I really want to try and talk and answer myself even though I find it difficult to talk to strangers on the phone! What will be will be I suppose.Thanks again 

Albus_Scope

Hiya @Sev68 and welcome!

Make sure you let the assessor know about the issues with your medication and also your issues talking to strangers on the phone. I can totally empathise with both issues there, I had my sister with me to help when I couldn't answer anything, it's totally ok. 

 And most importantly good luck and please keep us updated, or if you have any other concerns or worries, let us know. We're all here to help each other.  

Sev68

Thank you, They have a letter from my consultant psychiatric which states my issues and conditions and what I find difficult so hopefully they will read before they call,Again thank you 

Rosie_Scope

Hi @Sev68, welcome to the community! Looks like poppy and Albus have given you some great advice so far. 

If you're able to, perhaps you could have some written or typed notes nearby on how your conditions affect you on a typical day. Then if you feel like you're struggling to answer the question with enough information, you can prompt yourself. 

Take some deep breaths and try not to worry about it too much before or afterwards, although that's much easier said than done! Treat yourself to something nice once it's over

I hope it goes well. Let us know how you get on!