BritMP’s demand high Autistic suicide rate be dealt with
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ASPartOfMe
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30 Nov 2017, 12:12 am
'Horrific' Suicide Rate Among Autism Community Must Be Tackled, MPs Demand
Quote:
The “horrific” level of suicides in the autism community needs to be urgently confronted, MPs from across the political spectrum are urging the Government.
The SNP’s Dr Lisa Cameron will lead a debate in the Commons calling for the Government to do more to provide support to those on the autistic spectrum who also suffer from mental illness.
She will be backed up by Conservative MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who has described the suicide rate in the autism community as “truly shocking” and questioned whether the NHS was serious about tackling the issue
There needs to be more information and more clear pathways to help people who are on the autism spectrum and who have a mental health issues.
“It’s true to say that people on the autistic spectrum might not come forward to talk about it as well.”
Research carried out in 2007 shows that one in four people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year.
Yet according to the National Autistic Society, more than 70% of those with autism will suffer from mental health issues at some point in their lives.
She added: “There are significant differences...in the risk factors for suicide in autism compared with the general population, meaning the journey from suicidal thoughts to suicidal behaviours might be quite different.
Trevelyan, whose son is autistic, wrote: “Going to a GP can be really difficult for autistic people. It’s a strange environment, with unusual lighting, sounds and rules that cannot easily be escaped.
“You get a ten minute appointment with a stranger who asks you a disconcertingly unclear question like “how are you doing?”, and you either clam up or panic and talk about the first answer that springs to mind rather than the issue you really came for.
“If you’re suffering from anxiety or depression that already makes leaving the house a battle, seeking help from your GP becomes impossible.”
Trevelyan also claimed that while NHS England’s Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, recommends the development of autism-specific care pathways, “nothing has been heard since it was proposed last February.”
“This work is supposed to get underway in 2018,” said Trevelyan, adding: “Right now, it’s not clear whether the project is actually happening, let alone who’s going to lead it, what its scope will be, how autistic people will be involved and a myriad more questions. This is a crucial opportunity to begin transforming care for autistic people. It’s vital that we get it right.”
She added: “Parents and autistic adults tell us that, delays in getting diagnosed have led to the development of serious mental health problems, both for the individual and for the family.
The SNP’s Dr Lisa Cameron will lead a debate in the Commons calling for the Government to do more to provide support to those on the autistic spectrum who also suffer from mental illness.
She will be backed up by Conservative MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who has described the suicide rate in the autism community as “truly shocking” and questioned whether the NHS was serious about tackling the issue
There needs to be more information and more clear pathways to help people who are on the autism spectrum and who have a mental health issues.
“It’s true to say that people on the autistic spectrum might not come forward to talk about it as well.”
Research carried out in 2007 shows that one in four people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year.
Yet according to the National Autistic Society, more than 70% of those with autism will suffer from mental health issues at some point in their lives.
She added: “There are significant differences...in the risk factors for suicide in autism compared with the general population, meaning the journey from suicidal thoughts to suicidal behaviours might be quite different.
Trevelyan, whose son is autistic, wrote: “Going to a GP can be really difficult for autistic people. It’s a strange environment, with unusual lighting, sounds and rules that cannot easily be escaped.
“You get a ten minute appointment with a stranger who asks you a disconcertingly unclear question like “how are you doing?”, and you either clam up or panic and talk about the first answer that springs to mind rather than the issue you really came for.
“If you’re suffering from anxiety or depression that already makes leaving the house a battle, seeking help from your GP becomes impossible.”
Trevelyan also claimed that while NHS England’s Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, recommends the development of autism-specific care pathways, “nothing has been heard since it was proposed last February.”
“This work is supposed to get underway in 2018,” said Trevelyan, adding: “Right now, it’s not clear whether the project is actually happening, let alone who’s going to lead it, what its scope will be, how autistic people will be involved and a myriad more questions. This is a crucial opportunity to begin transforming care for autistic people. It’s vital that we get it right.”
She added: “Parents and autistic adults tell us that, delays in getting diagnosed have led to the development of serious mental health problems, both for the individual and for the family.
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Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity
It is Autism Acceptance Month
“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman
old_comedywriter
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09 Dec 2017, 3:37 pm
old_comedywriter wrote:
From what I've read, England has an attitude of institutionalizing/criminalizing autistics. Is that the case?
Where did you read that?!
People are very rarely institutionalised in the UK these days, ever since the government (I think under Thatcher in the 80s) brought in "care in the community". Psychiatric hospitals will only admit people who are in imminent danger to themselves or others, and it's rare that anyone will be sent to a care home as they are seldom free of charge for the client.
As for criminalised: not unless the autistic person has committed a crime.
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Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
- Epicurus
10 Dec 2017, 11:36 am
old_comedywriter wrote:
From what I've read, England has an attitude of institutionalizing/criminalizing autistics. Is that the case?
As Dataunit says, institutionalisation is relatively rare these days here in the UK - it's much cheaper to deny that we need help, stop funding the support we need, and just let us starve or kill ourselves...
Thousands die after dodgy fit-for-work assessments
Benefit cuts explicitly linked to mental health
Note that these reforms have been pushed through by the very same political party of which Anne-Marie Trevelyan is a member. I don't see anything in her parliamentary voting record to indicate that she has ever opposed any of these things (to be fair to her, she has only been an MP for two and half years, so entered Parliament too late to vote on many of them.)
Anne-Marie Trevelyan wrote:
Five Year Forward View for Mental Health...
Her comments on this follow a familiar pattern often used by the Conservative Party in relation to health and social care issues. A proposal is announced, legislating that the National Health Service or local authorities take on additional responsibilities and formulate plans for them, while at the same time telling them that they have to fund these new services from their existing budgets - i.e. to provide said services, the money will have to be taken away from other, already over-stretched services. When the healthcare organisations subsequently cannot provide the obligatory level of service, it is then blamed on said organisations, with central government denying any responsibility whatsoever for any failures.
For example, we've had a piece of legislation called the Autism Act since 2009, but getting a diagnosis can still take years (if you can even get referred to begin with), and accessing support services once diagnosed hasn't become any easier because such support services still barely exist or have even been cut back for lack of financing. It's also common for support services to be part funded from the citizen's disability benefits, which since the recent changes, are much harder to qualify for.
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When you are fighting an invisible monster, first throw a bucket of paint over it.
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