Why is so many aspies wind up in mental wards?

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Why is so many aspies wind up in mental wards? with bogus diagnoses

For many years I naively thought that people were on average very good and that if someone legitimately needed help they would do what it takes to truly help them because if you're doing well in life you try to help those that aren't at times and vice versa right? I just thought it was human nature to help others (because I always tried to help people when I saw they need something)

Because of these naive beliefs as a child, I have been extremely disappointed by people as an adult. Looking at your post I see a bit of naivete. The truth is, many of these psychologists spend most of their time trying to rationalize how these people deserve to be in the position they're in because of their own personal weaknesses and mistakes, instead of admitting there's a genetic component to why someone is not functioning well in this society. This has a lot to do with their own selfishness in terms of resources and money, etc (it's a so-called human nature darwinistic thing). For example, most small-minded people will not rightly give up access to their resources or support government causes that do not directly benefit themselves. Also, I think because many of us aspies and auties don't know how to explain our feelings very well, most psychologists and psychiatrists have no way to interpret what is going on with us to help us (ie I think they are assuming we are like them and can chatter on about ourselves easily even though many of us cannot do even if we tried). I think that might partially explain why there are poor diagnoses and poor treatment. Nobody wants to take the time to think about how somebody else is feeling....especially somebody who is not taking the time to give them something in return. Does that make sense?

The real reason is most mental health proffesionals are not trained to recognize pdds. that combined with the fact most are not diagnosed so they cant prove it. or worse they think its a pathlogical condition that needs treating.

statschica made some good points. They psychological profession also wants to hold onto their pet theories, even if said theories have no basis in reality.

Because many of us grew up before the diagnosis of AS, other diagnoses have been stuck on the high functioning auties and probably can't be undone.

I think that if a person does end up in a mental ward, usually it's for their benefit, no matter what the specific mental illness is. If the idea is that a person who has AS shouldn't be committed because it has gone unrecognized, I think that's missing the point.

It never for their benefiets its for societies benefiets. i have unfortunaly been in a few they serve no valid purpose. they dope you up in illegal dosages, in combos that should not be done, with classes of drugs for another than their intedended purposes. then they force you to go to their groups wich they call therapy but really arent, at best they are lame, at worst oppenly try to brainwash you into their way of thinking. they play mind games games with you while your brain is chemically disabled. if you dont seem to respond to thier brainbusting malpractice they will send you to a more hardccore place.

if start developing major complications they wont take away what they are giving youwich they call "side effects", they will give you another drug to counter them or not admit its even going on. basic tests are not ordered to check for conditions wich you might have, or complications resulting from "medications".
if the drug causes you to do things like flip or fall down they blame you. if you fall down and black out no will help you and they will let you die. they will even say you tried to hurt yourself and give you another drug

Also, the definition of what qualifies as a disorder, and the treatments for it, often changes and is based more on who can win an argument rather than objective science. Mental illnesses are real, but psychiatrists often place more importance on differences of trivial nature. (Being gay qualified you for medical attention at one time, and was only recently removed from the DSM books).

Technically, this would qualify as medical quackery, but the general public usually is either unaware, or worse, are convinced that quacks know what they are doing.

Real mental illnesses, such as clinical depression, have a direct correlation to physical events in the brain (the brain literally behaves as if it was in some extreme physical pain if one is depressed).

I think Aspies and HFA's end up in mental wards because society tries to convince they could be like everyone else if they just tried. See ABA and all the other garbage out there. Just try harder and you'll be fine. This deliberate act of denial will not allow them to accept the fact that the brain works differently. So despite no evidence (except for the occasional annectdotal and instance where it worked in few AS/AUs), they cling to it like crazy because it makes these Pyschs and Educators money. They objectify us all the time. Just read what they write about us. That's what people do when they want to distance themselves from you and allow themselves to do what they please.

As if that's not enough, after years of being told we are diseased, lazy, stubborn or whatever, many of us wander into some Psychs office because it seems to make NTs better. I see no evidence from anything on here that Psychs bother to recognize that our brains operate differently and they need to account for that. Instead they shove the same Freudian and Jungian crap down our throats that they do any NT who walks through their doors. Since it makes absolutely no sense to us, has nothing to do with our real issues and does nothing, we lose it.

Or, they say they recognize AS/AU and act like they can talk you out of all your problems. So, how do you feel about that?

I feel like they are full of crap and the best possible thing I ever did was to stay far, far away from them. I intend to keep right on doing it. If you want to feel better, go see a psychic. Their advice is worth just as much as any shrinks, based on the same level of science and they won't lock you up.

My apologies to all who actually like their shrinks. I don't care for the hacks and have no respect for them when it comes to Autism.

I don't know.

Some idiot tried to diagnose me with torrettes, despite me telling him over and OVER again, I was making myself do those things because of OCD.

halebopp, love your avatar

Glad you like it ^_^

If you ask me, I think that anyone who would see a psychaitrist ought to have their head examined.

ZanneMarie,

I agree with you. I think the main problem with any therapy done for adults is that it comes too late. After years of being labeled, objectified, etc. people won't tend to accept a "fix."

For children, however, I think the consequences of not helping at all are far greater. An appropriate therapy would respect the fact that a child has potential without treating them like they are "sick" or "broken" or in need of a cure.

I still don't see any difference. Therapy cannot cure their problems or actually even assist them. Neither can behavior modification. If anything, they both cause more damage because they're playing around in things they don't understand. All that does is make the child feel more disaffected and like a guinea pig. They don't have anything viable to offer a child or an adult. There is no "fix." You can't talk, shock, medicate or group therapy someone out of Autism. Actually, if a Neurologist knew enough about your brain to sit down and explain to you how it works, as an AU/AS that would go much further than some hack sitting there telling you that you need to feel a certain way and fit in because 80% of the world is like X. So what if they are? You only need to act well enough to do your job and go home. That's what they need to be told. They should be told that many jobs require you to act less than others because you rarely ever see another person or have to interact. That would actually make you feel better. Getting the facts would make you feel better. As a child it would have fascinated me.

I don't buy into this we need to act NT crap. I never did it and I have a career and a successful relationship. I'm 100% positive that's because I never saw a shrink about it and because I wasn't "helped." I accepted my brain was different, my teachers also accepted it and we molded my education accordingly. (And I don't mean special education, I was given extra classes to do and a quiet place to do it.) I later molded my life accordingly. I picked a job and a relationship that fit me because that's what makes me happy. I pick intellectual, eccentric friends because they make me happy. The NTs don't even bother me because I just see them as different but equal. They have just as much right to be who they are as I do.

No shrink will ever accept that because it won't earn them a dime. It's counterproductive for them to recognize it and accept it, so they won't. They will never do that for AS/AU children either and the only thing they have to offer them is made up problems so they have something to treat. I never thought I was normal, but I never thought I needed to be treated exactly because I was never treated as if it was a "problem" instead of a difference. That is what causes the issue in the first place and not at all what fixes it.

If I had been "helped" by shrinks and education experts, none of that would be true.

I believe the only kind of "therapy" that helps children is having someone explain why they are being bullied, teased, ostracized, alienated. They feel different because they are different and perhaps it helps to understand why. It helps to understand why others act and react they way they do.

It may help to plant a "seed" that would encourage a change in behavior in order to decrease painful interactions. The change has to come from the aspie and not be forced upon him. Behavior modification teaches passivity. Peck a lever and get a pellet! The world doesn't work that way.

We can figure out why we need to do things - or to stop dong certain things - if we have the information. Therapy should concentrate on information, not feelings. Exploring feelings is a load of crap. I don't even know why I have some of the feelings I do and exploring them wouldn't help, but would simply make me shut down or become angry.

The vast majority of conventional "therapy" offered would do more harm than good.