Mental Health Assessments

A mental health assessment is a conversation between you and mental health professionals to help decide what kind of support you need.

You'll need to have a mental health assessment when you go to any mental health service for help.

A mental health assessment is not a test or an exam. It is about helping you. You only have to talk about what you want to talk about. The more open and honest you are, the easier it will be to get you the right help.

What happens during a mental health assessment?

When you have a mental health assessment, you might talk to a nurse, social worker, psychologist, specialist pharmacist, psychiatrist, or a combination of these and other healthcare professionals.

Bringing someone to support you

You may be able to bring a friend or relative to support you.

Some people prefer to bring an advocate who can represent their views and interests. They can be volunteers, like mental health charity workers, or professionals, like lawyers.

If you want to know what advocacy services are available in your area, check with your local council.

What you'll talk about in your assessment

During the assessment, you and healthcare professionals will talk about your needs.

The conversation might cover:

• mental health symptoms and experiences
• feelings, thoughts and actions
• physical health and wellbeing
• housing and financial circumstances
• employment and training needs
• social and family relationships
• culture and ethnic background
• gender and sexuality
• use of drugs or alcohol
• past experiences, especially of similar problems
• your safety and other people's
• whether anyone depends on you, such as a child or elderly relative
• strengths and skills, and what helps you best
• hopes and aspirations for the future

You only have to talk about what you want to talk about but the more you're able to share, the easier it will be to find out what will work best for you.

At the end of the assessment

When the professionals you're talking to have all the information they need, they'll make their assessment and explain it to you in clear language.

You should get the chance to ask questions about your condition, the diagnosis, possible causes, the treatments on offer, and how those might affect your life.

You should also be involved in making decisions about what treatments are best for you.

You can also expect to be given information to take home, so you can think about it in your own time, as well as advice on where you can find out more.

What you can do before and during the assessment

Find more advice on what to ask your doctor

Reviewing how it's going

Your needs can change over time so it's important your treatment is reviewed regularly.

You'll always have a named person as your care co-ordinator. They should make sure you have regular reviews and you should go to them first if you're worried about your treatment. They can also offer you support, including support for your family and friends if they need it.

Your review will be a face-to-face meeting in a familiar place. That's often the clinic, community mental health centre or GP surgery where you usually meet your care co-ordinator.

If you prefer, it may be possible for the meeting to take place at your house. Or it could be at another place where you feel comfortable, like a community centre.

You might want to arrange to bring someone with you, like a friend, family member or advocate. You can find out about advocacy services from your care co-ordinator or local council. You can also get advice about finding an advocate from the mental health charity Rethink.

If a treatment or service is not working for you

If a treatment or mental health service is not working for you, you should say something. It's important for the mental health professional you're seeing to know about this.

It might be that another approach or a new assessment is needed to find a service that's better for you.

If you do not feel that your concerns are being taken seriously, ask the manager of your mental health service if you can see someone different, like another psychiatrist or care co-ordinator.

Your GP might also be able to help you, if you talk to them.

If you want to find out more about this particular topic you can visit the Original article on the NHS website. If you are worried by any aspect of your health make sure you go and see your doctor or book an appointment at your local clinic.