Awful story of female misdiagnosed and mistreated in MH
whirlingmind
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Joined: 25 Oct 2007
Age: 56
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,130
Location: 3rd rock from the sun
18 Mar 2013, 3:35 pm
http://www.sin-medicalmistakes.org/CaseStudies11.html
MIS-DIAGNOSIS
CORRECT DIAGNOSIS - REPEATEDLY IGNORED
WRONG DRUGS - LEADING TO PHYSICAL ILLNESS
DISRUPTION OF FAMILY LIFE & TRAUMA FOR DEBBIE & HER FAMILY
Asperger's Syndrome:
"Legal action is shortly to be taken against me to have me displaced as my daughter's nearest relative, simply because I am unwilling to agree to her being detained once again, indefinitely, under Section 3, in a psychiatric ward.
For the past 14 years my adult daughter, who prior to her involvement with the mental health service, was a useful and respected member of society, in full-time employment, has been subjected to misdiagnosis, inappropriately prescribed drugs, sexual harassment, bullying from both staff and patients and theft of clothing and money which was taken out of her handbag while she was asleep. She has suffered two broken arms, a broken nose and a detached retina for which she has recently undergone three extremely painful operations. All of this is offered as inpatient "treatment" under the mental health service. Patinets have no rights. Parents are powerless to protect their vulnerable adult children.
In 1993, after 5 years of misdiagnosis and inappropriately prescribed drugs, my daughter was diagnosed privately as suffering from Asperger's Syndrome ( the more able form of autism). Since that time, she has had three other independent diagnoses of Asperger's Syndrome but successive mental health teams have refused to acknowledged the diagnosis.
Due to 14 years of cocktails of neuroleptics, benzodiazepines and SSRIs my daughter has gradually become unrecognisable as the capable, relatively independent person her family and friends once knew. Three years ago, she was diagnosed as suffering from Tardive Dyskinesia by three independent professionals which successive mental health teams refuse to acknowledge and continue to prescribe these dangerous, addictive, life-threatening drugs. Psychiatrists dismiss TD flippantly as just one of the side effects of the drugs, wheras in fact this is a serious iatrogenic illness casued by psychiatric drugs.
While my daughter is prescribed these drugs she suffers severe side effects. When she tries to stop taking them, she suffers acute withdrawal symptoms. Again successive psychiatrists refuse to acknowledge withdrawal symptoms and misdiagnosis mental illness for which ever more drugs are prescribed.
This is the third time that legal action has been taken for my displacement. Twice before I have been advised, by a solicitor, to agree to my daughter's indefinite detention or risk being replaced as her nearest relative by a member of the mental health team, which for my daughter would have been a fate worse than death- like placing her under the "care" of a wicked stepmother.
My daughter is a prescribed drug addict. I have tried to get professional support to help her through withdrawal. None is available and her addiction is not acknowledged. She has lost all quality of life, her health and her reputation. She is currently being prescribed Risperidone which is known to increase the risk of Tardive Dyskinesia. In addition, for some unaccountable reason, the psychiatrist insists on treating her with an anticonvulsant, Lamotrigine. She is not epileptic. Both of these drugs are know to increase the risk of seizures and to adversely affect the eyes - just two of the many sid effects. My concerns to the mental health team continually fall on deaf ears.
I have spent yeas laboriously struggling through the various National Health Complaints Procedures, without success! Psychiatrists have immense power and are accountable to no one but each other. The legal system regards them as "experts" while in reality, they are inadequately qualified, ignorant, arrogant and complacent and are responsible for the destruction of thousands of families' lives.
"The relationship between a person with autism and us
can be compared to the myth of Procrustes. Procrustes
had a strange concept of hospitality: he adapted the length
of his visitors' legs to the size of his bed by cutting off
or stretching them out. We also seem to have such a
strange concept of hospitality: without training , we
adapt persons with autism to our non-specialised knowledge.
In such a relationship, a climate of violence seems to be
inherent, even if not always deliberate or visible".
(Extract from the " Code of Good Practice on Prevention of Violence against persons with Autism" Sept. 1998 by Theo Peeters.)
How long will it be before destructive psychiatry is recognised for the vile, evil tortuous medicine it truly is?
_________________
*Truth fears no trial*
DX AS & both daughters on the autistic spectrum
18 Mar 2013, 3:57 pm
This is horrible, not so much the misdiagnosis, as the unwillingness by psychiatrists to listen ot hte patient and her mother. Antipsychotics, benzos and SSRIs can in fact be useful for Asperger's-associated symptoms, but side effects must be monitored carefully. TD is more common in autisitcs than in NTs. Besides, even if this woman weren't an Aspie, the docs shoudl know that T is NOT "just a side effect" - it's been known since the 1970s that TD is only reversible if you stop the neuroleptic and else will become irreversible.
18 Mar 2013, 4:08 pm
I appears that the organization that posted this is no longer up-dating ? I wonder if they became a new organization or just gave up ?
Something similar happened to my sister after she attempted suicide . This was in US not NHS but she was put on about 10 different medications in the period of 2 weeks then convinced into doing shock therapy . Every attempt I made to meet with her Dr's was subverted as they continued her treatment plan . She was to drugged to make clear decisions on her own care and they refused to acknowledge that I had any rights to intervene since I was just her sister . I wanted to pursue legal actions but she just didn't want to deal with it and moved out of state soon after .
It frightens me that US government could move towards any kind of NHS because I think that the larger a system gets, the more likely it is to become defective and the harder it is to fix problems .
_________________
Just because one plane is flying out of formation, doesn't mean the formation is on course....R.D.Lang
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http://eyesoftime.blogspot.com/
19 Mar 2013, 5:46 am
Whilst my story is diferent to the above, I was repeatedly misdiagnosed and mistreated within the mental health system for the last 10 years. I was finally given an official ASD assessment and diagnosed with AS a few weeks ago....I've been in the system for 10 years, since I was 15. I won't go into what I have experienced in full, it's not something I really want to talk about, it's too painful but it was awful and hugely traumatic. The thing is, the mental health system is very powerful and has a habit of being able to absorb most complaints within itself, it's a master of being able to deflect and cover itself. If you are too problematic, just add another diagnosis on that is by definition a patient who lies, is manipulative and causes problems. It also has the ultimate out, any complaint can always be met with:
"She's a mental health patient and this is part of her diagnosis, therefore you can't believe anything she says because she's mentally unwell." What can you do with that?
_________________
'For your own good' is a persuasive argument that will eventually make a man agree to his own destruction- Janet Frame
19 Mar 2013, 8:19 am
The drugs she receives are not addictive like heroin. Also lamotrigine is also a mood stabiliser as well as an antiepileptic.
But a lot of sh*t does go on in psychiatric wards; I have seen it myself.
Tardive dyskinesia is terrible.
_________________
I am a partially verbal classic autistic. I am a pharmacology student with full time support.
Tyri0n
Veteran
Joined: 24 Nov 2012
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,879
Location: Douchebag Capital of the World (aka Washington D.C.)
19 Mar 2013, 8:25 am
"She's a mental health patient and this is part of her diagnosis, therefore you can't believe anything she says because she's mentally unwell." What can you do with that?
Not to mention, they will then prescribe you medications to make their false claims about people reality. They did this to my brother. He was hospitalized for bipolar disorder, and they pumped him with medications, and then he started having hallucinations based on the medications, so they then could discount everything he said as deluded and prescribe even more drugs. If you are not crazy at the outset, maybe just a little bit down and depressed, they will give you drugs that make you worse, so they can slap a psychotic diagnosis on you.
I think it's all a grand money-making conspiracy for Big Pharma.
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