Why are Mental Health and Social Service Staff AHoles?

Post Reply New Topic

I have a very hard time with strangers, new situations, taking initiative, explaining myself to others and looking for help. I was able to put forth the time and effort to overcome all of these and go talk to a counselor with the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation in Vancouver, WA.

After explaining the social and executive difficulties I had had my entire life, she declared that as a child counselor and DVR rep she was qualified to order a further investigation into the condition or to deny it. She chose to deny it, based on our short discussion and her alleged expertise, and waved it off as 'normal' social problems and said she 'didn't want to believe I had Aspergers' [DIRECT QUOTE] and suggested I go to Worksource and take classes on preparing for interviews.

It was sickening, and I had to leave. I ran out of the office and refused to come back, I will not be insulted and ignored like that. I got to someone looking for help, to a place that's supposed to provide it, and I get INSULTED by some condescending bureaucratic twat based on twenty minutes. She didn't even care, her attitude was the same from start to finish: she'd decided I was 'able' and wasn't interested in anything that required her to put forth effort. I hate to think what this stupid c**t is doing to the kids she counsels; God preserve us from such 'help'.

Partly as a result of this I suffered a serious meltdown and was hospitalized because I told some police I was suicidal while wandering aimlessly ten miles from home to avoid the stress of social interaction at my house. Then I was sent to the Wellness Project (also here in Vancouver, WA) where I was confined some more, locked up/tied down for a meltdown at the fact that they were basically just locking me up and ignoring me)...I got out, got prescribed sugar pills and told to see a counselour who had no experience with Aspergers, no suggestions and nothing to offer. I've been getting jerked around by Oxford Housing [the lady that I am supposed to meet for it is never in the office, and she's 'not allowed' to email me!] and now I am going to be homeless in addition to being unemployed, depressed, suicidal and ignored.

Why does it seem like mental health and social services not only have NOTHING for adults with Aspergers but seem hell bent on denialism? Dealing with this people has not only failed to produce any actually useful assistance, but it's driven me into deeper and deeper dispair as it's proven to me that no one really gives a s**t and my real option is suicide.

You were insulted by her denial and disbelief, and judged her as an uncaring, disinterested, condescending, bureaucratic ... et cetera.

So why not seek a second opinion from a different person? Not all Mental Health and Social Service Staff are "AHoles".

Be advised that you are going to encounter a lot of well-educated professionals who will disagree with you, and who will suggest a course of action besides the one that you want. Calling them names for their 'improper' judgment is the same as asking for someone's opinion and receiving one that you don't want.

Good luck with your quest.

Edited by Fnord for typographical errors.

Last edited by Fnord on 05 Oct 2013, 3:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Find someone who specializes in diagnosing autism in adults. The woman you saw seems to only know about autism symptoms in children as they are described in the diagnostic manuals. They can look different in adults, though, and you need to see someone who has assessed and diagnosed a variety of adults on the spectrum.

Fnord and Aspendos both make excellent points.

I would add that as someone who has a medical license, we have to have a certain amount of assumed disbelief because there are so many fakers.

Some are looking for an excuse for their behavior (i.e., Anti-Social, arrogance, or just being 'jerks'), some are looking for special privileges (i.e., Handicapped Parking), and some are looking for prescription-only medicines.

The OP didn't strike me as a faker.

Me neither ... he seems to have some serious issues, but what they may be is not for me to say.

Getting another professional opinion is his best option, I think.

Hello RJ,

There are indeed a lot people who are completely out of their depths when it comes accurately recognizing Aspergers. You must bear in mind that mental health encompasses a vast and confusing array of very subtle 'syndromes'... and symptoms, so not all counselors possess a sound understanding of how to spot AS when it's put under their noses. Then, when you factor in ego (some tend to refuse to acknowledge their limitations), you can get the sort of situation you describe.

Realize also that some people try and scam the system to gain benefits by faking symptoms, and one of the jobs of a health care worker is to filter out these fraudsters so that the support and resources can go where they rightly belong.

It looks to me as if Fnord is possibly closing ranks around some of his/her more sanctimonious, know-it-all 'professional colleagues' like the ones you seem to have encountered. There's nothing these people hate more than having their haughty "expertise" called into question. I would love to hear Fnord's rationalization of the Rosenhan Experiment if he/she actually believes that modern psychiatry is infallible! In fact, the recent revisions to the DSM is proof that psychiatry cannot raise the water level (as regards AS diagnosis), so they simply lowered the bridge to make it look as if better understanding is flowing out.

Nevertheless, notwithstanding Fnord's unhelpful remarks (IMHO), you are in the right place (here) to receive the support and encouragement you need. You are among friends here, people from all walks of life who have crashed into the same unforgiving wall as you.

Just so you know, I ran into exactly the same "it's just you who is all fukced-up" attitude all my life, even from certain individual, self-important 'professionals' (I use this term loosely!) who are supposed to know better.

Our problem is that our trusting nature tends to put us in front of these wolfs because we are mislead into believing that they have our best interests at heart and are the ones to go to. You seem to have stepped into this pile of crap a couple of times, but don't get discouraged. (I know, easier said than done!)

Try and keep your tits up! It won't be easy, but you gotta try!

FYI, (and this is not a point of pride) I am a suicide survivor, so I know you can do!

Ni illegitimus carborundum - translation; don't let the bastards grind ya down!

No, I by no means think the OP is faking. I just wanted him to understand what medical people see all day long to give some perspective.

2nd opinions are worth their weight in gold.

Your profile says you are not diagnosed so you don't really have any medical documents to prove you have it. Thus the reason to get diagnosed if you want to get help. If you have been diagnosed with anything else, that may work if you still have the documents.

Heard that Oregon now has a computer system where docs can see who has been prescribed what, and easily weed out junkies. A doc can log in and see all prescriptions for the entire state. California was supposed to have this ages ago but it never happened. And we have a far worse doctor shopping problem than Oregon ever will, because of Hollywood and all the actor junkies. I suspect some very powerful Hollywood types stopped the system so that their gravy train would keep on chugging. Also, there are many people looking for cash (SSI) so they make up something weird and try to convince doctors to sign off on it so they can cash in. Anybody remember the 90s, when SSI was known as "crazy money" (because they gave it to crazy people) and kids and adults would be coached to act crazy by middlemen who then took a cut of the check each month? Suddenly, schools had boatloads of pseudo-neurotic students, coached by parent(s) to act nutty for cash. Immigrant communities had middlemen who signed up whole neighborhoods. This sort of s**t still goes on, although not as bad as in the old days because SSI hasn't kept up with inflation, leading to cynicism among docs and support workers.

Understood. And, I completely agree!

It can't be easy for well meaning and perfectly conscientious practitioners to have to deal with low-life posers and fraud artists. What a shameful waste of valuable time and precious resources!

Nevertheless, your point about obtaining a second opinion is wise advice if one feels the assessor is off-base or inattentive. Personal experience has taught me that there exists some medical people who have become jaded and prejudicial... hung more on their self-righteousness than they are on being prepared and willing to look beyond the forest through to the unique and individual trees.

That's why I sought three different opinions. The first and third did their jobs thoroughly and carefully, both reaching the same informed and duly considered conclusions, while the second one was preoccupied with looking at her cell phone during our appointment. Not surprisingly, she came to a completely ludicrous "diagnosis" (sic) which made it seem as if she had never even been in the same room with me! But hey, she got her nice fat pay cheque at the end of the week... so why should she care, right?

Thankfully, ones like her are the rare exception rather than the rule... but they do exist!

Perhaps that's what RJ (the OP) encountered. Then again, we have no way of knowing for certain that RJ isn't just a scammer, using this site to merely bellyache and seek affirmation.

Doesn't sound like it though! Not to me, anyways.