getting the inst of psychs etc to get their acts toegther?

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bettybarton
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09 May 2008, 7:15 am

i was wondering (actually ive been planning letters of complaint to my mp, health minister, inst of psyc etc ad nauseum) what is being done to better train health 'preofessionals' to recognize AS..
i asked my last shrink whether she thought i had a form of autism -in 2000 (if only id googled it instead of taking her stupid word!! !) and she said no, since i was empathic and was very articulate.
since i have a load of physical symps on my med records im LIVID, to say the very least, this was ignored- induced birth, refusal to eat most foods until i was 25, IBD, problems with noise, light touch etc- as well as more qualitative symps- probs with other people, etc..

WHY are shrinks not better trained??? im forever reading that schitz pd's are commonly diagnosed for people with as- i dont get it!! !! !! !! ! why are they not improving??? are they morons???

ive spent more than 30 years being told im naughty, not trying, just being dificult- doctors ahve told me -
'its a waste of time and money treating you as nothing seems to work and the money can be better spent elsewhere' 'you're not trying to help yourself'
and best of all- that i should get treatment (nurse at new syrgery told me this on meeting me for ooooh 4 minutes-)from her mate in harley street- TREATMENT- not a diagnosis. said i should find some way to afford it (im on benifits)- which she really tried to push me into (COMPLETLY unethical, poss unlawful).
my life has been completly RUINED by this illness or whatever one wants to call it, because ive spent my life being told off in some way!! !! -and the signal lack of help/care ive had for it- it was only by chance i even heard about it!! !! !! !! !! !
clearly this is still going on- so what do the inst of psyc say about the fact that their members are constantly overlooking this??
it cant be anywhere as rare as it's currently rated, since so many people are being undiagnosed.

sorry to be so rant-ey baout this, but im - well- really angry.
all those dinner ladies force feeding me mashed potato, making me sit there 'till its all gone etc'
why is it still going on???



bookwormde
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11 May 2008, 7:30 pm

Here is my take on it.

First they have been trained and all the theoretical models are based on neuroptypical societal structure and neurotypical assumptions and the neurotypical mind.

If they really understood spectrum individuals and were able top properly diagnose us then they would have to recommend the proper supports to avoid the co morbidities, which keeps them busy. What would they do without their alphabet soup business?

Yes I know this is a little harsh but it is the practical effect of their failing to have an understanding that spectrum individuals have a profoundly different neurovariation from NTs.

bookwormde



zeldapsychology
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16 May 2008, 11:52 am

I agree most people don't care! The first Psychiatrist I dealt with I cryed about my emotional issue (here prescription) the following month (here Prescription) 3rd month (here Prescription). After that experience I've kept quite with the therapist I dealt with and Psychiatrist I am dealing with now. IMO there was a window of oppurtunity to get help but sadly the first 3 months was all about pills. So now I say everythings fine he gives me my prescription and I leave. IMO MY LIFE IS NO ONE'S BUISNESS I TRIED GETTING HELP BUT THEY DIDN'T WANT TO SO OH WELL!! ! :-)



cybershooter
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17 May 2008, 7:49 pm

I think part of the problem lies in their training - they've mostly been trained to spot mental illness, not neurological/ developmental disorders *ducks for cover* So, when they come across an adult claiming to be on the spectrum, their immediate suspicion is that their patient is obviously mentally ill, for who in their right mind would want to be diagnosed with an illness no one else thought they had?

I went to see a psychiatrist from the Institute of Psychiatry two years ago, seeking a diagnosis. His attitude was hostile from the start. At the end, he didn't think I had HFA or AS...no surprises there! What annoyed me the most about my time with him was not that he did not see what was obvious to me - fair enough, I might not be 'clinically' autistic in his eyes - but that he refused to offer any alternative explanation.

I'm now coming to the end of a 21-week course in psychotherapy. The only real progress I've made is that the therapist now thinks I'm alexithymic, a characteristic found in 85% of people with an ASD (Source: Wikipedia). The time and money spent on trying to invent childhood trauma to explain my problems has been a complete waste. My therapist refuses/ fails to see beyond her training, bringing every discussion back to repressed memories or childhood traumas. I know she means well, but I don't see how this kind of therapy can work for me *sighs*



Anemone
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17 May 2008, 9:32 pm

cybershooter wrote:
I think part of the problem lies in their training - they've mostly been trained to spot mental illness, not neurological/ developmental disorders *ducks for cover* So, when they come across an adult claiming to be on the spectrum, their immediate suspicion is that their patient is obviously mentally ill, for who in their right mind would want to be diagnosed with an illness no one else thought they had?


:lol:

Of course, we must be out of our minds. We're hallucinating our problems, that's it.

I'm grateful no one ever suggested psychosis, and also that I've never had problems of that sort either. You basically have to hunt around to find a diagnostician who knows enough about autism to be able to help.



ToadOfSteel
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17 May 2008, 10:18 pm

Anemone wrote:
You basically have to hunt around to find a diagnostician who knows enough about autism to be able to help.


That's basically the case right there... My mother hunted around for a general physician (well actually a pediatrician since I was basically a kid at the time) that knew about AS (there were far fewer that knew of it 20 years ago than do now) and that doctor was able to get a diagnosis of AS for me from whoever she needed to. Moreover, this doctor (who also got a diagnosis of classic autism in my brother) was able to recommend certain therapies that were able to help me as opposed to whatever happened to be popular at the time. In addition, my mother, herself later historically diagnosed aspie, did alot of research on her own about therapies involved, and didn't buy into prevailing fear-mongering, which was better for both me and my brother in the long run...



PunkyKat
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21 May 2008, 2:29 pm

There was one shrink I went to who kept asking me what it was like to have AS. Isn't she supposed to know?