# Mental healthcare in Valladolid



## laurainspain (Oct 21, 2014)

Hi everybody,

I moved to Valladolid from London around seven weeks ago now. 
I was under the care of the NHS mental health teams there and I'm desperately looking for some help here. 
Diagnosed with BDP among other things and things are taking a turn for the worst again. 
Currently waiting on my work contract so I can register with a doctor. 
Can someone point me in a direction, please? Not so easy when you're in another country.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

laurainspain said:


> Hi everybody,
> 
> I moved to Valladolid from London around seven weeks ago now.
> I was under the care of the NHS mental health teams there and I'm desperately looking for some help here.
> ...


:welcome:

start with your doctor - they will refer you to the relevant specialists


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## laurainspain (Oct 21, 2014)

To register, is my contract necessary to take along with me?

For the time being, am I able to walk into a doctors surgery and get an appointment with my EHIC card?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

laurainspain said:


> To register, is my contract necessary to take along with me?
> 
> For the time being, am I able to walk into a doctors surgery and get an appointment with my EHIC card?


no, you shouldn't be using the EHIC because you are living & working here

have you registered as resident yet? 

if you have a work contract do you have your Social Security number yet?

have you registered on the padrón yet?

take a look at our http://www.expatforum.com/expats/sp...-living-spain/2725-faqs-lots-useful-info.html

there are documents there which explain how to register as resident etc., and how to access healthcare


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## laurainspain (Oct 21, 2014)

Yes, I'm registered. I have my NIE and social security. Just waiting on my copy of the contract now with my social security number on it.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

laurainspain said:


> Yes, I'm registered. I have my NIE and social security. Just waiting on my copy of the contract now with my social security number on it.


when you have your SS number take that, your passport, your green resident registration cert/card & a copy of your padrón to the centro de salud & ask for a health card


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

laurainspain said:


> Yes, I'm registered. I have my NIE and social security. Just waiting on my copy of the contract now with my social security number on it.


When you say registered do you actually have your GREEN 'certificate of registration' or just an NIE?


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## laurainspain (Oct 21, 2014)

I have my certificate of registration also.


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## goingtobcn (Sep 9, 2012)

Hi laurainspain,

Sorry to hear things are difficult. I know it's hard enough having mental health problems without being in another country! I have found my GP here very helpful and efficient in managing my medication.

Hope you manage to get registered and see someone quickly xxx


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## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

Hello Laura! If you want to talk to someone quickly, I'd find a private mental healthcare professional. I don't know of anyone in Valladolid, but I had been working with a psychiatrist in Santander. His rate was 80€/visit (v. expensive compared to others) but we were able to get an appointment within days, instead of with a month's delay as it was with the public system.

If you're not feeling well, it might be worth searching for someone in the city. 

I just found: Valladolid. Consulta del Psiquiatra Dr. Franch Valverde. Psiquiatra Valladolid
Psiquiatría General
Psiquiatra Valladolid - Morán Canseco, José Manuel - Psiquiatra
Psicologos Valladolid - Psicologia Valladolid

Please note that I don't know any of these doctors. I just listed them from a search I did on google. Also, are you looking for someone to do therapy in English or are you ok doing it in Spanish? I know a in Santander has treated people in English. You might be able to talk with him via skype. Let me know.

Take care, I know how tough it can be to try to find mental healthcare here. Big hugs to you!


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## Helenameva (Aug 15, 2014)

Hello Laura. If I were you I would fast track and go private. Getting paperwork sorted here is painfully slow as you no doubt know. I hope one of the links Elentxu provided for you will work. I know a psychologist in Barcelona who speaks very good English, which probably doesn't help, but if you would like her details let me know.

Good luck.


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## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

One more thing: going private now does not mean that you will always have to go private. I only suggested going to a private doctor now because I know how long the paperwork and the wait before the initial appointment can be. I also know BPD can be a tough ride!! Best of luck, I'll be thinking about you. Let us know what you find!


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

Hi Laura. I hope you found people's replies helpful so far. I too am new to Spain, coming from Canada just 7 weeks ago today, and I also have mental health problems. I have Complex PTSD disorder with the symptoms of anxiety, dissociation and psychosis. These symptoms are a daily struggle for me, even without the move, and they're made worse in unfamiliar environments. So moving to a new country is really hard on my disorder. But there are good things about Spain that are healthy for my disorder.

So I'm wondering if perhaps you're having problems connecting to your new environment, like I am? Did you bring familiar items with you here? Did your healthcare team teach you self-therapy tools? Are you still in touch with your healthcare team and friends back home? 

I did like others said here - I've set up a private family doctor who is taking care of me until I'm set up in the public system.

The hard thing about seeing a new professional anywhere (not just a new country) is that it's hard to start afresh when in crisis, since all the history has to be obtained and they have to get to know you before they know how to help you. So if you can contact friends, family or a healthcare person from back home now while in crisis as you set up private then public healthcare here, perhaps that would work best for you?


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

.....feeling a little awkward about having come out of the closet :shocked:...

...maybe I should have kept my mouth shut :tape2: ...

...I almost made it to my one-year anniversary on the forum as apparently sane  ...

...or perhaps some of you had already guessed something was amiss with me?:der: ...

...anyone else feeling a little awkward? :bolt:


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## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

AllHeart said:


> .....feeling a little awkward about having come out of the closet :shocked:...
> 
> ...maybe I should have kept my mouth shut :tape2: ...
> 
> ...


Don't. 


The sooner we get rid of the damn stigma, the better off we will be. In Spain, it is still very much a hush-hush topic. It makes it really hard when you are trying to get help for yourself or for someone else. I am struggling with some issues in my family right now and I have never felt so alone, simply due to the "don't tell anyone!" issue.

So, to all of us who are dealing with mental health issues, big big hugs.


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## goingtobcn (Sep 9, 2012)

Very well said, elenetxu.

Big hugs everyone xxx


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

Yes, well said Elenextu. 

I've been wanting to ask about the mental health system here from the day I joined, but was too embarrassed. Stigma can still be there even when we talk about it. Discussion can often increase the stigma, if the discussion is in the wrong direction. In my experience the worst discrimination comes from the very people who are supposed to help us - the healthcare workers. Well, that's a long story.

I did all I could to research mental healthcare in Spain before coming here, but found virtually nothing. One of my friends in Canada has a niece in Valencia who is a psychologist, and my friend offered to hook me up with her to talk to her, but she only speaks Spanish. So perhaps we can talk about it here on the forum, finally?

Here's all I know from research I did prior to coming to Spain, and perhaps we can discuss some of this?

I found a little blurb about deinstitutionalisation in Spain from an article by the WHO - here in the first para:
http://www.who.int/mental_health/policy/legislation/BestPractices3_HR&Legislation.pdf

I found this article by the European Commission about Spain regarding forcing treatment and forcing admission on psychiatric patients ('involuntary' is the candy version of the word 'forced'). Pages 131-134:
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_projects/2000/promotion/fp_promotion_2000_frep_08_en.pdf

I also found an article about community treatment orders in Spain, but I can't find it now.

I also found some EU advocacy groups, but I have not contacted them, because I don't speak Spanish enough to converse with them. 

My private family doctor says I'm in the catchment area for psychiatric crisis at the Hospital Civil and that they have a psychiatric unit there. I'm dreading what is there. When I get really sick, I need to be hospitalised, and that has been a nightmare in Canada. I go many, many years at a time without needing hospitalisation, but in between hospitalisations I leave in the fear of hospitalisation.

One of the biggest reasons I left Canada is because I had to, due to the psychiatric tortures I endured during hospitalisation. I'm just too old and too tired and too sick to take anymore 'treatment' like that. I just hope it's different in Spain - or, even better, that I don't need hospitalisation.

So does anyone have any thoughts on the psychiatric system in Spain?


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## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

Hi there allheart. Ask away! I understand how you feel. I remember how afraid I was to ask about care in my first thread about the topic. 

Here are two threads we've had in the past about mental healthcare in Spain: 
http://www.expatforum.com/expats/sp...ng-spain/162906-mental-health-care-spain.html
http://www.expatforum.com/expats/sp...2957-help-mental-health-care-near-murcia.html

I have no clue about the public mental healthcare system in Spain. When I went to our GP to ask about getting an appointment, she said there was going to be about a month's wait to see a public doc. That's why we went through the private route. Have you spoken with a public professional yet? It might be a good idea to have a first-time appointment with them to let them know your health history to catch them up should you need to see them again. 

If you're worried about the language issue (I totally understand. Even after 6 years here and a C2 level of Spanish, I still dread going to the doc or hairdresser!), why don't you find a medical interpreter? It'll cost you some cash, but I think it would be worth it. 

Take care, and best of luck!


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

elenetxu said:


> Hi there allheart. Ask away! I understand how you feel. I remember how afraid I was to ask about care in my first thread about the topic.
> 
> Here are two threads we've had in the past about mental healthcare in Spain:
> http://www.expatforum.com/expats/sp...ng-spain/162906-mental-health-care-spain.html
> ...


Elenentxu, thanks so much for all that info. You equate seeing a hair dresser with seeing a shrink? LOL!

I read the two threads and they are helpful to see that some of the same issues arise here as in Canada and the UK - stigma, lack of consistent healthcare givers, overmedicating and lack of access to therapy.

I'm very fortunate to have a rather F-you attitude with psychiatrists, so I fired a lot of them, and over the last 20 years ended up with good outpatient care from a social worker, a psychologist and a shrink. I've learned techniques from them that saved me and that I can use on my own now, like cognitive behavioural therapy, guided imagery and desensitsation therapy. I also learned from other sources techniques of meditation and yoga. On top of having those tools, I structure a very peaceful lifestyle. In the last 10 years, I've had a psychiatrist who got me from day one, and he worked miracles on my heart and brain in psychotherapy and got my meds just right. So I'm not in need of counselling at this point, as I manage my symptoms well with these tools and my meds. Also, my private family doctor and I talk about the psychiatric stuff.

However, I need to enrol in the psychiatric system for when I go into psychosis. That's when things still fall apart, because healthcare workers are typically full of fear of a psychotic person, and the treatment is invasive and violent, which as you can imagine makes the very condition I have even worse. But I'm completely harmless in that state. I just can't take care of myself because I don't know who I am, where I am, what day or even year it is, or even if I'm on Planet Earth. So I need to go to the hospital in that state. Typically I go many years without an episode, and then if under extreme stress I will go psychotic.

Given this possibility of psychosis and because I take psychiatric medications, yesterday my public family doctor enrolled me with the psychiatric team, and I'm awaiting their phone call for the first appointment. I'm petrified that the treatment will be the same as in Canada. But my private family doctor says they are not violent in Spain. But I don't know for sure if that's true, and I'd imagine it varies between hospitals. 

You can imagine being in a psychotic state which is already nonsensical, then add to that the lack of command of the Spanish language!

I'm seeing my private family doctor before this appointment with the public psychiatric team, so that he can write up a description in Spanish of what I'm like and what my medical needs are in psychosis. But I did that over and over again in Canada (these are called 'advance directives'), and they were completely ignored.

So that's my big question - does anyone out there have experience or any knowledge at all about psychiatric hospitalisation in Spain?


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

Well, I know psychiatry is a touchy subject, but I'll post anyway, in case this helps someone else out. eep:

On Monday, I met my psychiatrist. I brought in my friend as translator, which was incredibly helpful.

She says there is a shortage of psychiatrists in Malaga - like many of you said here about other cities in Spain. But that is much to my relief, because I don't want or need any more counselling, and she agrees. I've only had problems with psychosis four times in my life, and she agrees this isn't enough to warrant being followed by psychiatry. 

But in Spain, the psychiatric meds I'm on need a psychiatrist to dispense them. So I have a six-month prescription, with a follow-up in six months for a refill. Where I lived in Ontario, family doctors can prescribe these meds, so this is different in Spain. People moving to Spain on psychiatric meds may want to be aware of this.

There is a Mental Health Clinic here in Malaga (El Limonar), where I will see her for future appointments. I can call for an appointment sooner, if I am in need of support. :couch2:

Here's the contact info, in case anyone needs it:
Informaci?n por centros - Servicio Andaluz de Salud

Well, I hope that helps someone out. :tinfoil3:


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

And maybe this will help someone...
https://www.bigwhitewall.us/landing-pages/landingV3.aspx#.VHYqy4_tOPL


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

This song goes out to all those who struggle with holding onto hope in this world....


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