No psychiatrist worthy of the name would EVER label you as a looney even if you were.
Besides 99% of people attending a GIC have the same or a similar history, so the fact is they have heard it all a thousand times before.
Which GIC are you attending? - they do vary a bit in their approach.
As to whether they will be gentle with you, what they will do is listen, and as long as they don't get the impression that you are spinning them a yarn they will not put you under undue pressure.
You have to remember that part of the job of a psychiatric assessment is to make sure that you aren't deluding yourself, so it is their job to challenge you a little. Therefore, you must expect them to probe you a bit, and if you have areas which don't entirely hang together they will question you on those.
The bottom line however is that it isn't an inquisition, or at least is it is, it is a benign one, whose only purpose is to help you make good choices in relationship to your life.
Basically back in 1976 I was a private patient (yes I am that old!
) My observation is that the only shortcoming with the NHS lies in the fact that things happen comparatively slowly. That apart you will get just as good treatment as anything that a private patient can buy. If you don't have the money to fund private treatment at least in the UK at least they DO happen. So be thankful that the NHS, for all its slowness, exists because in places like the USA those who do not have the money for surgery often end up stuck in a terrible limbo.
You will be fine. So relax and enjoy the ride.
