Turning Point Reviews

Fantastic organisation especially for recovery, staff are very helpful & guide you through managing addiction/recovery even when I was at my lowest ebb. Thanks great service.

I went to Turning Point seeking a diagnosis for suspected Attention Deficit Disorder and being mildly obsessive (I have trouble keeping attention and can’t let small things ‘go’). My first meeting was with a woman who’s speciality is clearly housing and she basically insisted that I join the council housing list despite me being in a stable private rented home. After lecturing me about the virtues of joining a two year waiting list she then left me alone in an empty room. I left after 20 minutes of being abandoned. I went back and spoke to other members of staff and eventually got an appointment with their psychiatrist. Two weeks after speaking to them I had my second appointment where I was told that i’m not hyperactive (I presented with possible ADD, not ADHD) and that I don’t have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (I presented as mildly obsessive). I was then told that all of my problems are caused by me drinking more than the government’s suggested 14 units per week and that I should reduce to this level. Due to my mental health situation this is not possible as I use alcohol as a coping distraction strategy and sober me is prone to violent episodes involving damage to property and my self. I was told that they had to see that I had reduced my alcohol consumption. In the past few years I have, by myself stopped drinking; whiskey, gin, strong lagers and strong beers. In the past I felt physical effects of drinking too much , loss of appetite, nausea etc so reduced my alcohol intake to manageable levels. I’m now physically healthy. Turning Point, being primarily a substance abuse service understandably focused on this despite it not being the root of my problems. I’ve had the same problems since I was at school, long before I started drinking but they turned a deaf ear and un helpfully decreed that my only coping strategy was the problem. In short, they told me to throw away my crutch to treat a broken leg. If you have substance abuse or housing problems, go to turning point. If you have unrelated mental health problems, go elsewhere. Eventually I was abandoned by Turning Point. I literally said I was not hyperactive or compulsive at the first opportunity.