My Kafkaesque/Orwellian diagnosis nightmare

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OMG I stand corrected. NOT something just out of a movie

Sorry Felinelover. You sound stressed, understandably so... :/

Don't worry about being sectioned against your will. Divorcing your husband is absolutely not grounds for sectioning. But I think it would be best to not see that woman again, even if she arranges a follow-up appointment; she sounds crazier than her patients. Instead go back to your GP and ask him for a direct referral to an adult autism clinic this time: as far as I know, GPs can refer directly, there doesn't need to be a middle man.

I didn't get referred by my GP, I got referred by a CMHT (Community Mental Health Team). They were very good. The first woman I saw I had a very long chat with; I opened up more than normal and told her about how my mum had suspected I had Asperger's when I was a teenager. She asked me if I wanted to have an assessment and I said yes, I would. I also saw the consultant psychiatrist a couple of times and he was pretty nice as well.

I'm not with that service anymore, I'm with a different team now. Just to give you an example of how easy it is to acquire labels, I found out a few weeks ago that I had been given a diagnosis of Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder without being told about it. My ASD diagnosis had also turned into Atypical Autism. But at least nobody tried to force stabilisers on me, or sent a crack team with emergency antipsychotics round to my house! The team has also massively improved with a new guy who joined fairly recently. He's young, but very good. He took on board my doubts about the diagnoses and has already changed the autism one. Hopefully the EUPD one will be changed too.

If you can face it, I think it would be worth trying another mental health professional or maybe a marriage counsellor. An adult autism clinic just assesses you: there may be some follow-up if you get a diagnosis, but it's nothing that's likely to be permanent. It would be nice if you could get some support from a compassionate person in the meantime.

Getting divorced brings on a whole lot of unintended consequences. It takes years to recover, and it can leave a permanent scar on younger kids. I suggest a marriage counselor. Shop around too, and try to find one with lots of recommendations. Marriage counselors have the highest success rates of all mental health people... and can help people on the spectrum how to respond in productive ways in stressful conversations.

Okay guess who just gave me a call.

Another guy from the crisis team. He said they're coming round today to offer me support. I said thanks but no thanks, I'm busy and I thought I made it clear yesterday that all I wanted was an aspergers diagnosis referral, and I do not need any 'support' especially in the form of dangerous drugs.

The guy on the phone seemed to be understanding. He explained to me that the men of yesterday's home visit had reported back to the psychiatrist that I'm okay and want referral to AS diagnosis and need no further support. The psych had disagreed and commanded that the crisis team do another home visit today, hence the call I just received.

I explained to the guy on the phone that I feel harassed. He said he'll report my concerns and they won't contact me until monday or tuesday.

Should I be worried? Has the psych got it in for me for reals? I mean, as I said to the guy on the phone, out of my friends I could name at least 20 people who would at this point in time be more in need of support than myself. I'm very confused. Have had breakdowns in the past due to depression but have been getting better over the past years, so it's ironic that this 'support' is being shoved down my throat NOW when I seriously do not need it and am functioning well on antidepressants and meditation.

Is it possible to get a restraining order for a shrink that harasses me, or to take other legal action if this continues?

wow she is crazy.
If this continues, absolutely consult a lawyer

I wouldn't even think of legal action right now. It's far too soon to be thinking along those lines, especially as nobody has actually forced you to take anything against your will.

Yes, the psych woman is clearly heavy-handed and authoritarian. But if you try to take out a restraining order against her, that will just confirm every prejudice she already has against you and then some.

That shrink doesn't give up easily, does she? I know of quite a few examples of shrinks screwing up, but never one so extreme as this.

There's no law I know of that says you have to swallow meds, unless you're "a danger to self and/or others." So with a little luck, all you have to do is keep saying no and the shrink will eventually give up. If it were me, my position would be "Show me the evidence that I need these things." From what you've written here, that would stump her completely. I'd be very tempted to also file a formal complaint about the shrink pushing dangerous meds without such evidence, though I think trying to take out a restraining order would most likely fail and damage your own credibility as a sane person, because they'd say it was over the top. As long as they go away when you tell them to, they're not really breaking any laws.

I'd think very carefully before divorcing. It's not an insane idea, or necessarily wrong of course. Just that with children around, it could create more problems than it solves.

Well, OP, she is clearly worried about you. I wish some doctor's that I have seen over the years had been more proactive. There are times when a crisis intervention team would have helped me, but no such luck (I still have the scars.) I am saying this not to discount your feelings of harassment, but to demonstrate a context in which your doctor's actions would be helpful. That is, I don't think she has it in for you, I think she is trying to help. When the team arrives, invite them in and be polite - offer them a hot beverage. They are worried that you may harm yourself. Make it clear to them that you are not a threat to yourself or anyone else.
As for anti-psychotics, I take Seroquel specifically for symptoms of autism. It helps me a lot.
As for the referral to the bi-polar specialist, there's no harm in going to see him/her. It would be easier for a specialist to rule out the diagnosis if it is incorrect.
Mental health services are in their infancy. Be patient with them.

Yes, what androbot01 said.

As cack-handed as this woman psych is being, it's just possible that maybe she really is genuinely alarmed at this point. Or maybe she's still pissy that you rejected her bipolar diagnosis. I don't know. One thing I do know about psychs and that is most of them love slapping labels on people, especially women: bipolar, borderline personality disorder, emotionally unstable personality disorder, etc. In some ways, it doesn't feel like we've advanced all that far from the days when Victorian doctors labelled women in their care as hysterics.

(Hopefully things are very slowly starting to change, but that is another issue. Meanwhile there's still plenty of the "old school" docs around, who don't like having their authority challenged, to deal with.)

Rhody, I am sorry all this happened to you, and I wished your parents had listened. And I'm glad you're on the path to figuring things out.

And you are quite right to give the warning about tardive dyskinesia, which I've read are shakes or muscle contortions often of the tongue and facial muscles, caused in delayed fashion by some antipsychotic medications. Sounds like no fun indeed, and definitively something patients should be informed of, and definitely something for which better alternatives should be diligently sought. This is a current failure of the mental health profession.

PS I like the Al Whitehead quote!

This is very worrying and a complaint to the mental health service would seem in order. I was seeing a counsellor who seemed to think I had a personality disorder, which I only found out after I had identified that I may have Asperger's. I was horrified but at least I wasn't offered medication. I have since become quite involved in the Aspie community and have observed so many people wrongly diagnosed and medicated. May I suggest that if you have the time, read 'Cracked' by James Davies if you need the strength to stand up to this ridiculous psych.
Please don't rush into a divorce. It isn't likely to solve anything.
If you need any specific information re getting a diagnosis in the UK please PM me.

Your story is scary. I agree with others who said that you shouldn't go to this crazy therapist anymore, not only, like the majority of psychologists, does she seem to have no clue about autism, but in addition she has taken some incredibly forceful actions. Thank God the other therapists knew better. You really need to find someone who is specialised in autism diagnosis, and preferably for adults females. There is a few links here, but I think you mentioned you are in the U.K., so I don't know, but maybe one of them would know of another specialist who is located in the U.K.

http://www.help4aspergers.com/pb/wp_05797c6f/wp_05797c6f.html

And I agree with Aardvark, a lot of people believe in ESP, its not a reason to put people on meds.

And here is a video of a woman who was waiting for her diagnosis, and she talks about another therapist she had seen before, who didn't respect her and completely ignored everything she said to him. It reminds me of what happened to you, eventho your story is even worse.

I think that's just the way to handle this so-called support team. Just continue to be very matter of fact.

Realistically, logically, there's no way in God's green Earth you should have any kind of involuntary hospitalization. I mean, not even close. But institutions do funny things, and it sounds like at the very least this psychiatrist is incompetent and maybe also had her fragile professional ego bruised.

So, maybe lining up a lawyer in advance. And I say this as not just one more task or chore, but if it feels like a real possibility.

And if the UK has something like NAMI, National Alliance on Mental Illness, they might be able to recommend a lawyer with experiencing fighting and winning cases of wrongful hospitalization. An organization like this might have more direct experience than an Autism Rights organization.

And the lawyer might also be able to make the complaint on your behalf. I mean, if you were a rock star, or pro athlete (work with me a little!), or rich business person, you wouldn't make the complaint yourself. You'd staff it out. Well, even if not rich, you still might be able to staff it out. Your regular doctor might also potentially be able to make the complaint on your behalf.

The NHS won't hospitalise her, jesus christ.

You would pretty much have to be a serial killer to get sectioned in the UK against your will nowadays. Even a voluntary sectioning is hard to achieve.

With all due respect, you're not doing yourself any favors here. Getting emotional, getting too hung up on the doctor's misunderstanding, and then leaving in a hurry all signal to the doctor that she may be on to something. You need to calm down and relax, else you're going to set off alarm bells...which you've already done.

And who knows, maybe she is on to something. Sorry, but someone has to play devil's advocate. Is it not possible for someone to have both Asperger's and Bipolar Disorder? I'm not saying you have the latter, just saying that you shouldn't have panicked like that at the doctor's.