All Medicare-eligible consultations are bulk billed for patients with a valid Medicare card. Some items, including privately purchased vaccines and consumables, attract a fee.
The hardest part is almost always booking it. These four make what follows simpler. Tap each one.
Four things worth knowing
You do not have to explain anything to reception beyond "it's about my mental health". That is enough for them to book double the time, which costs you nothing and means you are not raising something difficult with one eye on the clock.
“I'd like a long appointment about my mental health.”People spend weeks trying to work out how to explain it and then say nothing. You do not need a diagnosis, a tidy narrative or a reason. Turning up and saying something is wrong is genuinely enough to start with.
“I'm not doing well and I don't really know how to explain it.”Specifics are more useful than adjectives. When it started, what has changed, what you have stopped doing, how you are sleeping. A few notes on your phone make the appointment considerably more productive.
“Here's what's been different lately.”People routinely leave this out because they are frightened of the consequences. Being honest about it means you get the right support. It is asked about routinely, and saying yes does not mean losing control of what happens next.
“I've been having some thoughts I should probably mention.”Open any of these for what it involves. None of it requires you to have worked out what is wrong first.
Anxiety
What happens Your GP asks what the worry attaches to, how long it has been going on and what it is stopping you doing — then works through what would help. Often that is psychology; sometimes it is medication; frequently it is both.
Constant worry, physical symptoms with no physical cause, panic attacks, avoiding things you used to do, a mind that will not settle at night.
Anxiety responds well to treatment, and psychological therapy has good evidence behind it. A Mental Health Treatment Plan gives you Medicare-subsidised sessions to access it.
Low mood
What happens Your GP asks how long, how bad, and what it has taken from you — sleep, appetite, energy, interest, concentration. Then what would help, and in what order.
Depression is not sadness and it does not always look like crying. Frequently it looks like flatness, exhaustion and not being able to make small decisions.
Treatment works. Therapy, medication, or both, along with the practical things — sleep, activity, alcohol, connection — that do more than people expect.
Sleep
What happens Your GP works out whether the sleep problem is driving the mood or the other way round, checks for causes like sleep apnoea, and works through what actually helps.
Sleeping tablets are rarely the answer beyond the short term, and your GP will be honest about that. Psychological approaches to insomnia have considerably better evidence and last longer.
Snoring, waking unrefreshed and daytime sleepiness may point to sleep apnoea, which is worth testing for and very treatable.
Alcohol and drugs
What happens An honest conversation about how much, how often and what it is doing. Your GP's job is to help, not to judge — and cutting down is a legitimate goal, not a failed version of stopping.
Drinking creeps up quietly, particularly alongside stress or poor sleep. Naming it out loud is the hard part, and it is the part that changes things.
Support ranges from a conversation and a plan through to medication, counselling and specialist services. What suits depends entirely on where you are.
Urgent
What happens If you are in crisis, ring us and say so — reception will get you seen. If you are in immediate danger, ring 000. Lifeline is on 13 11 14 at any hour of any day.
If you are in immediate danger, ring 000. If today is worse than you can manage, ring Lifeline on 13 11 14 — any hour, any day.
You do not need to be at the worst possible point to ask for urgent help. If today is worse than you can manage, that qualifies.
Telling reception it is urgent does not require explaining anything. "I need to be seen today about my mental health" is enough.
It sounds like paperwork. It is closer to a key that opens subsidised psychology. Tap a card.
A long appointment where your GP works out what is going on and what should happen.
Medicare-subsidised psychology sessions each calendar year.
The number of subsidised sessions and the eligibility rules are set by Medicare and have changed several times. Your GP works with the current ones — ask at your appointment rather than going by what a friend was told.
For anyone who has been putting this off because they do not know what happens. Tap any card.
Ring or book online and ask for a long appointment about your mental health. That is all reception needs to hear.
Flip backYou can bring someone with you. Tell reception if waiting in a full room is difficult — they will do what they can.
Flip backYour GP will ask what brought you in. Start anywhere. "I don't really know where to start" is a perfectly good opening.
Flip backHow long, how bad, what it has affected, and whether you have had thoughts of harming yourself. That last one is asked of everyone.
Flip backThyroid, iron, B12, sleep apnoea and some medicines can all mimic or worsen this. A blood test is sometimes part of it.
Flip backWhat would help and in what order. Psychology, medication, practical changes, or a combination. You decide what to take up.
Flip backA Mental Health Treatment Plan gives you subsidised sessions. Psychology is available here, or your GP can refer you elsewhere.
Flip backBook the review before you leave. One appointment is a start, not a treatment — and the first thing tried is not always the thing that works.
Flip backTap whatever applies and print it. Handing over a list is a legitimate way to start the conversation if saying it out loud is hard.
If there is a doctor you feel more comfortable with, ask for them. If you would rather see someone who does not know you, that is a completely reasonable choice too.
Our GPs hold general registration with AHPRA. Areas listed are special interests within general practice rather than recognised specialist registration. Every one of our doctors provides this. If the GP you usually see is booked, any of the others can help — your records are shared across the practice, so nobody is starting from scratch.
Pick your situation and what you're coming in for. We'll show you what to expect before you book.
What are you coming in for?
Figures shown are what you pay at the clinic for the appointment itself. Medicines, devices, imaging and specialist fees are set elsewhere. Reception will always confirm the cost with you before anything goes ahead.
Say it when you book — "I'd like a long appointment about my mental health" — and then say whatever comes out in the room. You do not need the right words, a diagnosis or a tidy explanation.
Yes, on weekdays, with a valid Medicare card, including the longer appointment to write a Mental Health Treatment Plan. A psychologist may still charge a gap on top of the Medicare rebate — ask them when you book.
A plan written by your GP in a longer appointment. It sets out what is happening and what the treatment is aiming at, and it gives you Medicare-subsidised psychology sessions each calendar year.
A set number each calendar year, with a review by your GP partway through. The figure is set by Medicare and has changed several times, so ask at your appointment rather than going by what someone was told previously.
No. Medication is one option among several, and for many people therapy alone is the right starting point. Your GP will explain what medication does and does not do, and the decision is yours.
Yes, psychology is available on site. Your GP can also refer you to a psychologist elsewhere if you would prefer.
Ring us and say it is urgent — you do not need to explain further. Lifeline is on 13 11 14 at any hour. If you are in immediate danger, ring 000 or go to your nearest emergency department.
Your consultation is recorded in your medical record, which is confidential. It is not shared with your employer, your insurer or anyone else without your consent, except in the rare circumstances where the law requires it. Ask your GP if you have specific concerns — it is a reasonable question.
Often, yes, and some people find it easier. Medicare has eligibility rules, so ask reception. Make sure you are somewhere private with the whole appointment free.
That is common, and it is why the review appointment exists. The first medication, the first psychologist or the first approach is not always the right one, and changing it is normal rather than a setback.
Everything after that is someone listening and working out what would help. If today is worse than you can manage, ring Lifeline on 13 11 14 rather than waiting.
A long appointment with a GP is often the first step, and a Mental Health Treatment Plan gives access to Medicare-subsidised sessions with a psychologist. Psychology is available in our rooms.
You will find us at Shop 5, 2 Town Centre Circuit, Salamander Bay, inside the shopping centre, a few minutes from Nelson Bay, Corlette and Soldiers Point and an easy drive from Anna Bay, Medowie and Lemon Tree Passage.
Book online with HotDoc at any hour, or call (02) 4008 4400.
From the health journal
