Hi, I saw the 'Mental Health Facilitator' yesterday and she said that most therapies are geared towards those with a 'mental health' issue due to the funding crisis
and austerity cuts, therefore those who are struggling with a new diagnosis of 'autism' can't access it unless they harm themselves which I did or suffer from anxiety like I do
at the moment. This is not satisfactory as we also need support in finding and keeping a job, we also have mental health issues and the lack of support and care leads
to a mental health decline. We are people too with the right to services on offer as 'neuro-typyical' people who are in crisis. The fact that I self harmed gave me access
to the mental health facilitator but it should not reach that point in the first place. I was discharged with a whole lot of information from the psychiatrist and CMHT and told to
get on with it, come off anti-depressants and I sank. Only when it reached crisis point, when I lost my job, have work related stress and anxiety was I offered support. I felt completely alone abandoned. Social services were useless and I could not access them, she said that they thought my strength would get me through and didn't realise how vulnerable I was, well I live
alone, am getting older, in my fifties, going through the change of life, the peri-menopause and have to cope with everything, what did they expect me to do. Yes I am happy with the diagnosis but I need some support in adjusting and changing my lifestyle to adapt to it, She said I was still angry, I am, even the 'ESA' people put down I have a 'mental disorder', no I have
autism, a completely different concept. At least I am back on 'anti-depressants' am now being supported, it's worse than being given a diagnosis of 'Coeliac disease, I was told that I had
that condition and the same thing happened, now we know what it is, get on with it, without free prescriptions etc, It took me a year to cope with that diagnosis, so this will take some time to get used too and I will..
