Autism and psychiatrists: experience, knowledge and attitude

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https://www.nationalelfservice.net/lear ... ew-survey/

I guess I must have just been unlucky that it took 45 years to have a pdoc intelligent enough to entertain the possibility there was more going on than mental illness.

I was completely ignored by one psychologist who rolled his eyes (in that 'oh not another one' way) as I asked for his opinion on me scoring high enough on the AQ50 test to seek a referral for assessment back in 2007, and then with my second attempt in 2012 I reported my suspected Aspergian symptoms to another psychologist ~ they said it was all very interesting, but we really had to focus on why I was so "stuck" and "not fitting in" . . .

I have seen quite a few psychologists and psychiatrists over the years with my first diagnosis being quote "Schizoeffective and or psychopathic", back in 1983 when I was 12, and it was only my General Practitioner that took me seriously when I sent him an information pack on Asperger's Syndrome requesting a referral in 2012.

My GP in an excited revelatory way said "Why did we not spot this before!" ~ which for the sake of politeness and not wishing to 'bite the hand that feeds' sort of thing I actually managed to resist telling him!

I'm not at all convinced that pdocs are as good at spotting that their patients may be autistic as the survey suggests. The whiff of BS is quite strong.

Well social camouflaging is one factor of course along with ignorance over autistic or other presentations that prevents psyche therapists from spotting what is what. Then there is model blindness also, where one model of personality (or actually personae) behaviour is mistaken for that of another.

Institutional inertia is an additional factor as therapists get progressively overwhelmed by and desensitized to their patients troubling / unsettling difficulties, and work more and more by disassociative rote rather than so much remaining duly diligent ~ especially when funding is decreasing in practical terms and workloads are impractically increasing.

I mean there are hundreds of thousands of book read health practitioners ~ but competent specialists with also practical in depth requisite experience and support are much fewer in number.

Most of the psychotherapists I and others I know have been treated by used (or are using) systems of treatment through which the patient in each case was (or is) expected to conform with and too ~ with in general GPs being expected to send the appropriate candidates, who are expected to perform as and when required.

One friend on the spectrum for instance was informed recently that they are not achieving as much as they should be, and were asked to consider leaving therapy (halfway through) ~ performance league tables getting more consideration than the individual patient again session!

It's all about cherry picking to make CBT look good. Don't blame the therapy,blame the service user.

I know I've written this before, but I'm in a monitoring program for nurses. I'm clean almost 6 years from opiate addiction. These people and their hired minions were chomping at the bit to label me as Bipolar, because I would flip my wig when they would pull a stunt that was based on inaccuracy.

It's too easy to write down a few observations and call someone crazy. Autism requires expensive testing and willingness to listen to the patient and patient's family. Many practitioners don't want to do that. They think they know everything and just slap people on medications that ruin them.

I was fortunate only in that I had been suspecting ASD for a while, when I was forced to undergo Neuropsych/cognitive testing, I had two( one that my insurance paid for, one that I paid for). The first test I 'masked' in, showed defensiveness in answering the control questions. My memory showed no problems suggestive of mental illness. The second test I provided history that I had never revealed before, answered all questions truthfully. My IQ scores were consistent with Asperger's, etc....

Without that, these ignorant and lazy labelers, who call themselves doctors, would've signed me up for basket weaving as a permanent elective. Nothing against crazy, I'm a little crazy as I think we all are. But, it's not pathological. It's too easy for doctors to label crazy. All people who are threatened to be labeled as having a mental illness should have to undergo Neuropsych/cognitive testing if they are lucid.

We're forced to live in a very non-autistic-friendly society where people like anti-vaxxers judge, generalize and even hate us for something we can't help being. Why wouldn't we be messed up in the head as a result? In fact, nearly everyone, not just autistics, has or will have some form of mental illness at some point in their lives BECAUSE THE WHOLE WORLD STINKS.

Well actually CBT is rather good for some but unfortunately one size or style of therapy does not fit for or suit all.


I was always amazed by psyche therapists attempting incompatible methodologies with otherwise compatible patients ~ such as those who had developed beyond masking but were getting trained to re-mask. "You must fit your fragmented eggshell back together and get back inside it!" sort of thing!

The most insane people are those who think they are not ~ and all that.

Psychiatrists are trained to diagnose mental illness, and these days usually proscribe drugs. They are not the best specialists to treat a developmental condition such as autism. While many common conditions that co occur with Autism are mental illnesses psychiatrists are not trained to recognize how coping with autism, being autistic in an NT world can trigger co occurring conditions such as depression and anxiety.

https://hfsc.org/specialties/autism-center-at-hsc/

The Autism Center is a specialized interdisciplinary program for children and adolescents experiencing symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Our outpatient and inpatient programs work closely with your family to diagnose, assess and treat your child’s behavioral, medical and communication needs. As a family based program, we help you understand and better fit into the world that your child is living in to create stronger bonds within your family.

This center is located in Central Connecticut. The location is within reasonable driving distance of many wealthy communities. It may be worthwhile to go to a special hospital such as this one if you can afford it.