Psych Eval For Anxiety??

Ok so here is the story. I have MVPS (Mitral Valve Prolapse Syndrome) from which causes me to be OCD and have panic attacks, anxiety, and other nervous habits. So I finally decided I had had enough of my anxiety issues and wanted to see if there was some help for me. I went to the EAN (Employee Assistance Network) group that my employer has to get some help for this problem. I am thinking therapy, meditation techniques, and or hypno therapy.

So I am talking to the intial therapist to tell them about my problems etc, and she cuts me short about 15 mins into the appt. Then she tells me that she is referring me for a Pysch Evaluation. At first I was like no biggie, but the more I think about it the more it bugs me. Why am I being sent for a Psych Eval for anxiety? Is this normal and me just being anxious again? Or am I right and this is abnormal. I think maybe I have been on this site a bit to long as I am seeing conspiracies in everything lol. I am thinking ok are they gonna try and say that I am a suicide threat even though I have never though of suicide? I don't know I think I am worrying to much about the whole thing and maybe showing why I need to be going in the first place lol.

Thought I would post this and get some input.

I had that happen to me and after just asking me my name the guy I saw asked me if I had heard of this long list of meds then told me he wanted me to start taking them all.....It was about 6 years ago....

reply to post by Phantom28804


As a Master's level therapist I would say that you are likely reading more into it than was intended. There are several criteria that need to be considered: frequency and intensity of symptoms as well as level of impairment that it creates in your life. Your perspective as I read it is that you don't think you have a psychological disorder but rather psychological symptoms as a result of a physical disorder. However, from a clinician's point of view any psychological symptom must be looked at psychologically. There is a diagnosis in the DSM-IV of Anxiety Disorder due to medical condition. A psych eval is just that, an evaluation from a clinician to determine the level of need. It sounds like the EAP person (who while likely a clinician themselves, may not be comfortable or qualified to do a full evaluation) just wanted to make sure you were getting the type of help you need. Rather than an immediate judgment of your mental state look at is as a General Physical for your psychological state. Be honest about the level and intensity of symptoms for the same reason. If you were having trouble breathing, it would be important to share that so that it didn't turn into something worse for example. Many people hear psych eval and immediately go into the thinking of "They must think I'm crazy," which is not the case, just that your anxiety symptoms are psychological in nature even though they stem from a physical issue and may or may not need to be addressed psychologically, even if it is just learning cognitive behavioral tools to take control of your own mental state.