Bring a short note about what has changed in your mood, when it started and how it affects daily life, alongside your medicine list and two or three questions. Existing diary entries can help you find examples, but you do not need a diary, a score or a completed form to ask for help.
This guide is for adults preparing to discuss mood concerns with a GP or another primary care professional. Its main tool is a copyable appointment summary. It is a way to organise what you want to say, not a diagnostic questionnaire or a treatment plan.
If you have a personal mood score and a completed screening form, our guide to mood scores and screening questionnaires explains why their questions, timeframes and results should stay clearly labelled rather than being converted into one another.
Start with the change you want help with
The US National Institute of Mental Health recommends being specific about when symptoms began, how severe they feel and how often they occur. You can describe your experience without knowing its medical name.
For example, “I have felt flat most evenings and stopped joining my usual walks” gives you two things to discuss: the feeling and a concrete change in daily life. It does not establish depression or explain why the change happened.
If the start date is uncertain, write “roughly three weeks ago” or “I cannot remember exactly.” Include what matters most to you now. You might want to understand the change, hear about support, or discuss a concern about something you already take.
A one-page GP appointment summary
Copy the outline below into a private document or onto paper. Use short phrases and leave anything you cannot answer blank. This is an original editorial worksheet, not a validated assessment or an official NHS form. One page is an organising suggestion, not a limit on what you are allowed to tell your clinician.
My main concern:
What feels different from my usual:
When it began, approximately:
How often it happens and whether it is changing:
One or two examples of its effect on daily life:
Changes in sleep, energy, appetite or concentration to mention:
Relevant health history, previous support or recent life changes:
Medicines, nonprescription products and supplements I use:
Any concerns about them:
What I most want help with today:
My two or three questions:
Communication or support needs for the appointment:Daily impact might mean missing meals, finding work harder, withdrawing from a usual activity or needing more help with everyday tasks. Describe what actually happened. You do not need to turn every experience into a number or supply evidence that your difficulty is “serious enough.”
The outline cannot cover everything. Tell the clinician about urgent concerns directly, including thoughts of harming yourself; do not leave them buried in a long note or wait to finish the worksheet.
A fictional completed example
The following example is invented. It is not a person's health record, a diagnosis or a model of how an appointment should turn out.
Main concern: Feeling flat and less interested in my usual activities.
Different from usual: I usually enjoy evening walks and seeing friends.
Start: About three weeks ago; not sure of the exact date.
Pattern: Most evenings; a few days have felt easier.
Daily impact: Cancelled two walks and left routine work unfinished.
Other changes: Waking earlier than usual and struggling to concentrate.
Context: My work rota changed around the same time. I do not know
whether that explains it.
Medicines and supplements: Separate current list attached.
Priority: Understand what may be happening and what support is available.
Questions: What should we consider next? When should we review this?Notice that the example describes both difficult and easier days. It distinguishes an observation, a changed rota, from a conclusion about its cause. Your own summary can be shorter or longer and may describe a different concern entirely.
Use existing notes without bringing your whole history
If you already have a diary, choose a few entries that illustrate the change and its effect. Keep dates where available and label gaps or later recollections honestly. A rating can accompany your words, but it is not a diagnosis and cannot rule a problem out.
If you plan to send a file or screenshot ahead of the appointment, our mood diary privacy checklist helps you inspect the actual copy, its recipient and any details about other people. Label a selected summary clearly and keep it accurate.
Our mood diary guide provides a separate daily log. For this appointment, the aim is to condense existing observations, not start another tracking routine. If sleep is a major part of the concern, you can also bring an existing sleep diary. Do not delay the appointment to collect more entries.
You can prepare everything on paper. If you already use PsychPod, its check-ins and journal can provide observations to select from. Its combined score is not clinically validated. PsychPod does not diagnose, treat, predict crises or monitor safety; its methodology explains those limits. Your records also cannot establish what caused a change in mood.
Bring a current medicine list and your main questions
NIMH recommends listing all medicines, including nonprescription products, herbal remedies, vitamins and supplements. Include names and doses if known, and note any concerns you want to discuss. Record what you actually use rather than changing it for the appointment.
The NHS appointment checklist recommends preparing your most important questions, arranging communication support if needed, and checking the next steps before leaving. Three useful questions for this conversation are:
- What might we need to assess or discuss next?
- What support options can we consider, and what are their benefits and risks?
- When should we review things, and who should I contact if I feel worse?
Write down the agreed next action and timing. If tests or a referral are proposed, ask how you will hear about them and what to do if you do not hear back. If therapy becomes a next step, our first talking-therapy appointment guide covers that separate conversation.
If speaking feels difficult
You could open with: “I have written a short note because I find this hard to explain. Could we look at it together?” This is a suggested conversation starter, not a script you must follow.
Ask the practice beforehand about an interpreter or other communication support if you need it. You can also consider bringing someone you trust to support you or take notes. Choose what you feel comfortable sharing with that person.
When a routine appointment is not enough
Do not wait for a completed summary if you need urgent help. In England, NHS guidance advises contacting NHS 111 and selecting the mental health option, or asking for an urgent GP appointment, when urgent mental health help is needed. If someone's life is at risk, or you cannot keep yourself or someone else safe, call 999 or go to A&E now.
Outside England, use the urgent mental health service or emergency number for your location. A diary or app does not replace that help.
About this guide
Published by PsychPod, which operates the app mentioned in this guide. Educational guide for adults. Sources checked 12 October 2026. Prepared with AI-assisted writing and editorial source checking. No independent clinical review is claimed. The summary and fictional example are editorial tools, not validated assessments.