Antipsychiatry trolls
Has anyone ever dealt with this? When I made a post on another forum where I described the irony that my employer might be paying more money to keep me barely stable than to provide for what I need, sex reassignment surgery, this guy comes in and says all my actions were willful attempts to bring financial destruction to the company. He said the suicide attempt I made was willful and the fact I believed I could not get surgery was just an excuse; he went on to say that the subsequent hospitalizations and time spent on disability was willful. I explained to him that I have been very distraught and stressed out by not having surgery and the stress of it all has made me ill where I needed help, and talk of money was an afterthought where I realized the aforementioned irony (and also the huge medical debt I've gotten myself into). I did not go into any of these things with the intention to make my employer pay more money, but was in need of real help each time. I told him I have autism spectrum disorder and gender dysphoria, along with anxious, depressive, and obsessive symptoms which have been interfering with my ability to function and require medication and rest and recuperation to help.
He completely ignored it. He said that my mental illness was only an excuse and that I was being willful in costing my company money and deserved to be fired for it and my mental instability (the mental illness, duh). He said if he were my HR manager, he'd be looking at getting rid of me ASAP and he claimed that wouldn't be transphobic. He also said he would never take psychiatric medication because it would change who he is. He basically said I just needed to pull myself up by the bootstraps, just like him, as he claimed to have autism too, but said he learned to overcome it and would never use it as an excuse for any failing. He would put his whole self as a failure if he ever attempted suicide, ended up in the hospital, or ended up on disability, rather than recognizing the cause as being the unique difficulties his disability and impairments bring to the table, because doing so would just be making an excuse.
I found him to be utterly offensive, but he said I found it offensive because I knew it to be the truth. I told him off, saying I wasn't interested in his beliefs about psychiatry, the impact of mental illness, or its treatment. I am and have been ill and need help. I have not been willful. This guy was a clear antipsychiatrist, obviously dismissive toward the real impact of psychiatric illness and disability.
Has anyone else had to deal with someone like this?
_________________
"You have a responsibility to consider all sides of a problem and a responsibility to make a judgment and a responsibility to care for all involved." --Ian Danskin
little_blue_jay
Velociraptor

Joined: 31 Jul 2014
Age: 48
Gender: Female
Posts: 421
Location: Ontario, Canada
No, but does that forum not have rules like WP does, pertaining to not harassing/discriminating/diagnosing/putting down other users? (all of which he sounds like he's doing) Can you report him on that site to the moderators there?
_________________
Diagnosed "Asperger's to a moderate degree" April 7, 2015.
Aspie score 145 of 200
NT score 56 of 200
AQ score: 47
RAADS-R score: 196
Haven't we all? Even my own mother would often say, when I wasn't 'behaving myself' (i.e. acting the way a typical NT was expected to) that I was just 'being difficult' (i.e. attention-seeking). And people wonder why I have become such a bitter misanthrope in my old age. Such wonderful acceptance and understanding I have had to put up with.
LokiofSassgard
Veteran

Joined: 3 Sep 2014
Age: 36
Gender: Female
Posts: 719
Location: My own autistic wonderland!
If you ask me, that guy is nowhere near being autistic. People with autism don't always overcome it completely. He doesn't come across as someone who's autistic, especially if he's nothing but an a**hole. Anyway, I have dealt with people who couldn't believe I was autistic before though. A lot of them don't realize that someone like me is capable of typing so well. It made me feel really bad, but it wasn't like they were doing it to bully me. I did run into this one guy who started working with autistic kids. He started bullying me about my autism. It got to the point where I had to leave the forum because they made it seem as though autistic people weren't welcome.
Other than that, I've never had any problems like you.
_________________
Currently diagnosed with Autistic Disorder, ADHD, severe anxiety, learning delays and developmental delays.
little_blue_jay
Velociraptor

Joined: 31 Jul 2014
Age: 48
Gender: Female
Posts: 421
Location: Ontario, Canada
People who think like that should watch Carly Fleischmann on youtube - totally non-verbal and look how well she types!
_________________
Diagnosed "Asperger's to a moderate degree" April 7, 2015.
Aspie score 145 of 200
NT score 56 of 200
AQ score: 47
RAADS-R score: 196
It did, thankfully. His posts started getting removed. He actually attacked me for the posts getting removed saying I was trying to oppress his position. The moderator finally stepped in and removed all the posts except his first one and said the exchange should end.
_________________
"You have a responsibility to consider all sides of a problem and a responsibility to make a judgment and a responsibility to care for all involved." --Ian Danskin
little_blue_jay
Velociraptor

Joined: 31 Jul 2014
Age: 48
Gender: Female
Posts: 421
Location: Ontario, Canada
It did, thankfully. His posts started getting removed. He actually attacked me for the posts getting removed saying I was trying to oppress his position. The moderator finally stepped in and removed all the posts except his first one and said the exchange should end.
Good! I would hope that their rules would be similar to ours here - (paraphrasing) that you can attack an opinion but not the person themself? Where does he get off even 'diagnosing' someone? If he's claiming that you're using mental illness as an excuse, then he's basically saying that you don't have one, which is 'diagnosing' you as not having one.
_________________
Diagnosed "Asperger's to a moderate degree" April 7, 2015.
Aspie score 145 of 200
NT score 56 of 200
AQ score: 47
RAADS-R score: 196
It did, thankfully. His posts started getting removed. He actually attacked me for the posts getting removed saying I was trying to oppress his position. The moderator finally stepped in and removed all the posts except his first one and said the exchange should end.
Good! I would hope that their rules would be similar to ours here - (paraphrasing) that you can attack an opinion but not the person themself? Where does he get off even 'diagnosing' someone? If he's claiming that you're using mental illness as an excuse, then he's basically saying that you don't have one, which is 'diagnosing' you as not having one.
That was exactly my thought, too!
_________________
"You have a responsibility to consider all sides of a problem and a responsibility to make a judgment and a responsibility to care for all involved." --Ian Danskin