Nadia is a young, athletic woman who enjoys running and working out at the gym. But when workplace stress triggered a deep feeling of malaise that persisted for two years, she stopped ‘getting pleasure from anything.’

Symptoms that included a low mood, difficulty sleeping, a lack of energy, and loss of appetite also caused her to miss a lot of work, and she regularly took days off.

Nadia saw her primary care doctor, who diagnosed her with possible chronic fatigue syndrome. Seeking confirmation of her diagnosis and the best treatment recommendations, Nadia realised she had access to Best Doctors through her MLC Life Insurance policy, so she reached out. A leading internal medicine specialist reviewed the chronic fatigue syndrome diagnosis and quickly identified that the cause of Nadia’s pain was not physical but likely psychological, so the case was passed to the Mental Health team to conduct a full review.

Nadia was assessed by a Best Doctors psychiatrist and clinical psychologist via a video call. They diagnosed her with major depressive disorder accompanied by generalized anxiety disorder and recommended eight to 10 cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) sessions.

Nadia’s Mental Health Nurse helped connect her with the right local psychologist and Nadia started weekly CBT sessions. Since beginning treatment, Nadia’s symptoms have all but vanished. She is working full-time in a new role that she enjoys and has not had to take any time off work. Her energy has returned and she has resumed running and engaging in her regular activities. She said she feels ‘positive’ and is able to socialise with her friends more often.

Nadia’s scores from a clinical assessment tool used to measure levels of depression, anxiety, and stress attest to her significant progress. When Best Doctors first assessed her, Nadia ranked nine for depression, 12 for anxiety, and 11 for stress. Three months after her case with Mental Health Navigator wrapped

up and after undergoing the recommended CBT sessions with her psychologist, Nadia’s scores dropped to one for depression, two for anxiety, and four for stress.

Due to the gains Nadia has made, she started seeing her psychologist every third week rather than weekly. Nadia has attributed the dramatic decrease in her symptoms over such a short period of time to the individually tailored therapy recommendations from Best Doctors Mental Health Navigator program.

“Best Doctors Mental Health Navigator has been efficient, easy to follow, and a great program that I am happy to have been a part of,” said Nadia, noting that the change in diagnosis from chronic fatigue syndrome to major depressive disorder with generalised anxiety disorder enabled her to better understand what she had been experiencing. “I’d encourage people to use it as it really made the process of finding the next steps to help better my health easier.”

She added: “The reports are easy to read and the services available were easy to use. The doctors who were recommended were also fantastic.”

	Best Doctors Mental Health Navigator has been efficient, easy to follow, and a great program that I am happy to have been a part of.”