Psychologists.

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Ok so, having been reffered to the local psychology dept a few weeks ago, to cut a long story short, when I had my first appointment they told me I would have to go on the waiting list for a year. This is dispite the fact I have it on my medical records that I've been asking for support for my obsessions & addiction for a long time, over two years.

I told them I didn't want to go for the second assessment appointment until I had discussed my disatisfaction over the year's wait with my GP (who is pretty good). Anyway a few days later they sent me a letter saying they were discharging me, and I could always go back at a later date! Can anyone make sense of that? They tell me I must wait a year, then have the cheek to discharge me & say I can go back at anytime!

This is the second time this useless department has wasted my time, every time I ask for a refferal for psychology services suited to someone with Aspergers, I land up at that place.

This has lead me to give up asking for these sorts of services, because every road leads back there. My GP even reffered me out of the area to the Aspergers team in the city, who in turn passed me back to the local (useless) department.

I now beleive anyone who has dealings with me will see that place as the closest to my postcode, and automaticaly reffer me back there. They simply have zero expertese or understanding of ASD's, hence why they only latch on to particular things about me such as one obsession & fail to see it as part of a bigger picture.

It is probably going to be stalemate, as I am refusing to go back there again, just to start the vicious cycle all over again.

Why should I have to put up with second best simply because it is within my postcode area? I thought postcodes helped the postman to deliver your mail, not determine wether or not you're worthy of decent healthcare in a department that understands your individual needs.

They made it clear to me they could not help me in a crisis, and I would have to contact the emergency mental health team, which they gave me no further infomation on. They were only concerned about making sure I knew that wasn't their problem.

The National Autistic Society are saying every week that there is a new strategy for making sure adults with an ASD receive appropriate support, but most people are not.
There is a culture of professionals saying they know what ASDs are because they've read a textbook or two, just so they can tick the right boxes for their paychecks, no mention of wether or not they are capable of working individualy with people or actualy solving problems encountered by people with an ASD in daily life.

Agreed. I am going into developmental psychology primarily to help people in this situation, I promise I will never behave so egregiously.

I do not think this is quite correct. My understanding is that such a strategy is "in the process" of coming into being. NAS has the view that the strategy should require each area has a dedicated ASD team with oversight over services. I agree with NAS. Unfortunately it appears your government does not.

So far as I know this is not something that has yet been finalized, it would be a good idea to find out more information about this, and to make a submission to your local MP about the proposed strategy (you could point out the problems you are having accessing services and the complete unsuitability of mental health and learning disability services for the delivery of ASD appropriate services). You could also pass this information to your GP and request they make a submission (as a health care practitioner) to their local MP, and encourage any interested family or friends to do the same.



With respect to your current problem, know anyone who's address you can borrow? A family member perhaps who can be relied on to inform you promptly and send on any mail when the services send to correspondance to you? People change addresses all the time, so you could just claim a change of address that places you in some other service's area if you are able to rely on someone living in the right area to help you out.

Did you consider going to an Accident and Emergency department and presenting yourself as a psychiatric emergency? If you explain all the problems that you are having right now, in the moment, especially anything that can be perceived as a risk to yourself or to others, then you might get a psychiatric evaluation. Obviously this is geared up to help people with suicidal intent and people who are having difficulty coping with negative thoughts and delusions, but I am sure that if they can help then they will help. It seems entirely appropriate if you are currently distressed and in some kind of personal crisis, even if that crisis is anger at the idiotic handling so far.

You need to choose a large A&E and a quiet time of day - perhaps a city-centre department at 9 in the morning on a weekday.

This exact situation has happened to me.