Advice - Psychiatrist?

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The Headmaster and the Medical Director of my school want me evaluated by a psychiatrist.
I turn to your greater experience: Should I bother? What are the benefits? What are the disadvantages?

Experience - learned that it's all a bunch of quackery - but your own mileage may vary depending on how much you want to put your life in someone else's hands.

Should you bother? Why are they suggesting that you see one in the first place? Are you angry, depressed, anxious or cutting classes? Then you might benefit from some kind of intervention but a shrink is a tad medieval in my own view - they will give you drugs and want to see you for another follow up in 10 days or so. Ad adfintum - until you're cured. Does your school not have peer group therapy of any sort? You could possibly find a book on whatever it is that ails you and gain great insight from that. But nothing will take the place of just someone hearing you and offering you compassion and an open heart without judging you.

A diagnosis on your record could cause problems later in life, finding work, insurance or emmigrating. Think carefully, what's in it for you?

jjstar, you need to stop speaking with authority about your generalizations. Not all psychiatrists prescribe meds for their patients. Some are there for diagnostic or evaluation purposes.
PLA, if you want thorough advice, can you explain why they want you to see a psychiatrist? Or are they just referring you to one and not explaining why? I have to say, that can be very jarring. My family doctor did that to my son when I took him in for a skin rash. He didn't say anything about his suspicions and referred us to a neurologist. Thankfully, the neurologist was much nicer and explained what he saw.

With the information given, I couldn't say yea or nay on the psychiatrist. I would think a psychologist would be a better first step for helping you at school. They don't necessarily diagnose, they don't prescribe meds and they have good techniques for helping.

I would go to a psychologist instead.

Merle

I am speaking from the only authority I know - my own experience. And that is - psychiatrists are doctors who can prescribe and they do once they arrive at a conclusion - based on whatever it is they base it on - aka a *a diagnosis*. Usually they will refer to a book called a DSM. Treatment? Electro-shock, talk therapy or referral to group talk or specialized *therapists*.

IMHO - it's all a bunch of quakery bar none. No cures have ever come from this pseudo-science and THAT's a fact. And anyone who pushes to further the agenda of modern psychiatry lauding its benefits and wondrous gifts to humanity need be regarded with caution and discernment.

And anyone quoting that the only authority they know is based on a sample of one (their own experience) and hence forms a singular view of the validity of 'modern psychiatry' should be equally treated with 'caution and discernment [sic]'.

Quote a few valid (peer reviewed) research papers and your views may at least have some validity.

Peer review? Psh. I'd do better than that and hold a poll right here on WP (and 10 other mental health sites around the web to make it nice and objective) and ask flat out - Have you been cured of your mental illness/disorder/syndrome by psychiatry and the modalities it employs?

And for heaven's sake? You have to be quite dense not to realize the sorry state of affairs in the world and its inhabitants (mostly in the West) that have suffered so horribly and needlessly by so-called *experts* of the psyche, by forced hospitalizations, stigmatization via labels (and yes, those charts are circulated and yes, the data does stay with you for life), physical and mental harm caused by pharmaceuticals and how in the end, after years and thousands of dollars invested in the belief that a shrink could help *treat* let alone *cure* some one from what ailed them, found themselves bankrupt financialy and emotionally, finding final relief only in death. Statistics can be provided. Just ask. And why has psychiatry failed so utterly miserably? And why are those that laud it such a joke? Because it was doomed from the start; as the root of illness can never be found without acknowledgment of a Creator- nucleus of all life, it can never be science. A science is a measurable and quantifiable branch of wisdom that is based on laws of the universe under and through which ALL life operates. When the psychiatrists removed Creator and the Laws from their dictum, they essentially removed the Truth from it. operating from a place of arrogance, fumbling along all these years, cutting out brains, freezing people, dunking them into boiling water, injecting them, drugging them, hypnotizing them, all to find *answers* where answers can never be found. Because the Truth doesn't lie in separation. It never did. But this is their mode of operation. Separation. Creator from man, mind from body and spirit from Truth. And it's THAT lie that you and others here are endorsing. Pitiful and pathetic after all these years. You're still in the dark.

I agree. The main job of a psychiatrist is to prescribe medication- that's why they have a medical degree. See a psychologist first to determine if you have a disorder which might benefit from medication. Then, if you want to pursue medication, see a psychiatrist. Counseling might be a better first step (rather than medication).

Ask them why. Are you having problems, or are they?

You are here, so ask them if they understand AS. No treatment, no cure, only the education and understanding of those around you.

Professionals, a Headmaster, school Medical Director, should know about these things.

If they know nothing, and see putting it on you as the easy way out, they are failing at their job.

If all it is is you think different, then they should learn.

If it is just AS, that is like sending someone to a psychiatrist for being left handed.

So is it you, are are they just covering their own ignorance?

I would say no to a psychiatrist.

1. A Psychologist is the normal first step. So it is over kill, and legal evidence of their position, something they can use against you.

2. You have a legal right to be treated fairly, unless they can hide behind a psychiatrist.

3. I would ask a lot of questions, in writing. make them state their reasons, subject to review by their higher authorities. If AS explains their concerns, they should go to a psychiatrist and become educated at how there is nothing wrong with us, only with their narrow view of life.

4. The very idea that AS should be treated, cured, is insulting, a sign of ignorance.

5. It becomes a legal record that will follow you for life. The potential for harm is much greater than the potential for good.

6. If they do respond to your written requests for their position, and are trying to describe AS, there are books. They are trying for a legal record, give them one. Question the validity of their ignorance, in light of their job.

7. Reply to their concerns in writing, give them a bibliography on AS. It is not a disorder or disability. Like being left handed, or blue-green color blind, it is a normal state of being. Educators should be able to educate the left handed.

8. The most good will be served by educating them, and the educational and medical boards that license and regulate them.

10. Read WP, no one is saying how great their psychiatrist was, or how being put on pills helped them.
There is a lot about the general ignorance of the field in relation to AS. The only sure Clinic is Tony Attwood. I have not heard of anyone in Sweden who is qualified to deal with it.

11. Fifty years ago they would have said possessed by demons, and sent you to a priest. Burning you at the stake would make them feel better. They are doing the same now with the new Witch Doctor Priest.
Modern Psychiatrist are a Doctor/Priest modern invention. It does not seem to be working out. Most report being worse off after being treated.

You will get out of school, you will be you for the rest of your life. I would equate their actions with giving you a police record for thought crime. Question their ignorance. Give them a record.

As I've said before, don't get tested for AS unless you understand how your insurance company will discriminate against you if it turns out you have Asperger's.

There is no cure for Asperger's. What do you want a diagnosis for?

Insurance companies do not see Autism or Asperger's Syndrome as 'cureable' or even 'treatable' so they are not covered. At least they don't see it as a 'disease'.


Merle

Although I find this hard to believe myself (why discriminate against Aspies?), my parents (who are both psychologists) both believe this. I figure they are probably pretty knowledgeable in this area, so I agree with Mw99. Although this may not be the case in countries other than the US.

Did they tell you why they wanted you evaluated by a psychiatrist? I mean, that' the first question I'd ask.

Don't do it if it's just something they thought might be nice. If it's something that's really bothering you, or it's making it impossible to learn, then you might think about it. But I assume you're young. What do your parents say?

Also, if a psychiatrist says you have AS, you qualify for certain benefits, but it's a complicated process, and it's in the realm of special education, which, if you need it, can be a big help. But it also means you might be told to take certain drugs that you don't want. My son was. He refused, and that made the school angry. He got through it, but it could have been a lot easier.

Regards,
Btdt

My psychiatrists were great, my pills helped me. I didn't really like my psychologist because it was scary to hear such things about you that you never knew. And psychologists will do nothing directly to help you, only listen to you and evaluate you.

Don't be so prejudiced against medication, also. You must see it as an extra push in the back, not as a lifechange. I only have positive things to say about it (Prozac here). The thing is, medication (atleast mine) should be build up slowly so your body gets used to the serotonin in your brains. This also leads to minimal side-effects. For more information about it, read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSRI (SSRI's are the official term for prozac, an antidepressant).

Really, if you want a change keep an open mind for all offered help, especially psychiatrists. Oh, and wanting to cure or treat Aspergers is the last thing they will do.

I wonder how often a person goes to a psychiatrist (other than for a specific test, evaluation) and does NOT receive some type of prescription? I think that it is quite rare. They usually always prescribe something. I've personally never gone to one and had them NOT write a prescription.

I've had a psychiatrist tell me they "don't do talk therapy"... So, ALL they are mostly about doing is prescribing something. The psychologist on the other hand can't prescribe meds and has to help in other ways such as "talk therapy" group therapy, testing, etc... Alot of times, those methods can be more helpful than a psychiatrist too, depending on what the problem is.