Anti-medication psychiatrist. For aspergers

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Does anyone know of an aspergers
Psychiatrist. Who is anti medication
I need one for a second opinion
To deal with my local shrink

I cannot do my Job on meds
Uk or us

Which med(s) have you tried? A lot of people have trouble with sedation and other on certain meds. I personally could NOT do much of any job without meds because of my very high anxiety levels.

If you have other diagnoses besides Asperger's, such as schizoaffective disorder, it can be dangerous to go without meds. (<schizoaffective.org> suggestes this, but I very much disagree with the people at that site; I know someone personally [not a friend, but at an AFC home] with schizoaffective who killed someone after I lived with him)

You don't want a doctor who's anti-medication... you want one who's open to alternative approaches, and willing to respect your preferences.

Also, if your desire to avoid medication is based upon having been involuntarily subjected to antipsychotics (possibly as a child or teen), and you have ADD overlaid on top of AS, you should really consider giving stimulant meds a try. Not all Aspies benefit from them... but a large plurality *do*, and if you're one of them, they can profoundly improve your net quality of life.

Really, if you're determined to not take meds at all, why do you even need a new psychiatrist? Just quit going to the one you're seeing now, and put the meds you got from him in the back of a cabinet & forget they exist. The only real reason you need a new doctor is to try better meds that your current one won't allow you to have. Nobody (in the US or Britain, at least) is going to show up, drag you (an adult presumably not deemed to present immediate risk to the safety of others) to a doctor, and force you to take meds you don't want to take against your will. If you're not going to the doctor for meds, what valuable service are you getting from him in return for your money?

I agree with dr01dguy, you need a psychiatrist who is willing to use other approaches. I personally wouldn't go to a psychiatrist who wanted to throw meds at every symptom. There are meds out there that are not sedating and allow a person to be fully functional without feeling like they are chemically doped up. I do think that non-medication approach should be used whenever possible. You may benefit from a psychologist/therapist to help teach you coping skills.

Why not just find a psychologist who is familiar with ASD?

I agree. I received my diagnoses from a psychologist. All the psychiatrists out there nowadays only know how to reach for the prescription pad. A psychologist works with you on coping skills and things. They aren't allowed to write prescriptions.

Well certain illnesses can respond well to "talk-therapy", like anxiety, ASD for learning social skills, etc. But others, such as ADHD, respond better to medication, which has been shown to be more effective than psycological therapy. You can't correct your diabetes just by talking about it, after all.

Anyway, psychiatrists are medical doctors, so of course they're going to want to prescribe you meds.

Not necessarily true for either paragraph. I had talk therapy for years.... and was VERY screwed up with the extreme levels of anxiety despite the therapy.

Not every psychiatrist wants to reach for the prescription scrip. My third cousin, after her father died, ended up in a psychiatric hospital but was never prescribed anything by a psychiatrist as far as I know. Some psychiatrists do specialize in talk therapy... but this was more common in the 1970s I think.