Psychiatric hospital just for the diagnosis?

Post Reply New Topic

I have a question to those members who are diagnosed, or have diagnosed children. How is it common to be put in a psychiatric hospital just for the purpose of obtaining a diagnosis of AS? Imagine a child or a teen displaying a typical aspie behavior and being sent to the hospital for a month or longer, just for observation. Aspies from Poland tell me that it is a standard practice.

I have no idea. I've only ever been hospitalized or put in metnal health care because I couldn't be at home.

thats the stupidest thing i have ever heard. its obviously true, but maybe poland hates aspies even more than the USA and norway, if thats even possible.

Oh my.

I think a hosital stay for typical aspie behavior would be very, very unusual here. As you may know, my 13 year old son is in a special classroom part of the day for individuals with ASDs. He or some of his classmates exhibit very "aspie" behavor on any given day. To the best of my knowlegde, none have been to hospitals because of it. David was threatened with a 72 hour stay the day the police officer tried to get him to class and he resisted, bruising the officer. It would have been because he "presented a threat to others" but since he calmed down almost immediately, the authorities dropped the idea almost immediately.

I post an another board and some of the parents there have had their children in the hosital but never for things I think of as aspie behaviors. These are children with co-morbid things and sevre breaks with reality or harmful behavors.

I'm shocked to hear this. You are talking about nonharmful quirks, right? Or did I misunderstand the question.

BeeBee

The only instances where I've heard of peope getting diagnosed with AS/HFA/PDD in a mental hospital is when they were admitted for tantums that posed a danger to themself and others, cutting that required medical attention, or a suicude attampt.

Given insurance companies in the US and their greediness, I've never heard of a person needing to go into the hospital these days for anything regarding a diagnosis without the person needing in-patient intervention.

It doesn't surprise me too much with regards to Europe though perhaps. It might be a good way to observe a person longer than just a couple hours.

The person in question was an 8-9 year old boy. As I understand, he had quite a number of quirks, including AD/HD-type behavior at school. However, his hospital stay did not result from any deep depression episode, suicide attempt, or any such grave emergency. His mother showed surprise when I asked about the reason for her son's hospitalization, and explained that he was committed to get a diagnosis, and that was a routine practice. The experience was not a good one, however (they are "still trying to forget about it").

it does happen.
i know of a person coerced into an admission for the purpose of diagnosis of autism.

How long ago was this? If it was more recent, they must've had a damn good insurance policy.

Sophist,

It is possible that in Poland, that is the only way to get a diagnosis. Poland was an east-bloc communist country until the early 90s and as such, may not have an out-patient system similar to the US.

it's what happened to me but i don't feel comfortable talking about it here

That's what outpatient is for. The doctors get their observations and can administer treatment if necessary, the patient gets to sleep in their own bed, eat their own food, and have some real privacy, and it's cheaper for whoever pays the bill than inpatient care. Not only is Poland using a government healthcare system, as if that wasn't bad enough, and not only is psychiatric care even worse than general practice medicine under such a system, but that system was designed under Soviet controlled which used "hospitals" as warehouses for the mentally ill as well as the physically and mentally disabled.

Sophist, their system is still bass akwards from the old communist system and that's why they don't have a means of providing any psychiatric care outside of a hospital.

That Poland is very much still in the 1950's in their thinking ? That in the USSR and Poland as a client state would use mental hospitals to control ppl they thougt were a threat to the commist order. But now poland is free of the commist but maybe not that type of thinking ? If anyone reading this knows please inform me if i am wrong.