Hi,
I went to my GP around a month ago, as I am quite sure that I have high functioning ASD. I am female and in my mid-twenties, and have had depression on and off for about 10 years, as well as anorexia for 6 years (now recovered). I think these were secondary to ASD, which may have been overlooked due to differences in the female presentation of ASD. My GP was very receptive, and I wrote everything down to give to her as a kind of report explaining my symptoms. She put a referral in to an NHS Assessment & Liason team (London), and I received their response letter a few weeks ago.
The letter said that the team do not routinely screen for ASD in those who are higher functioning, and they would only consider assessment when functioning is significantly impaired or there are significant comorbidities or other risk factors. It says that from the referral, there is no suggestion of other comorbid mental health issues or acute risk. However, I would argue that, while my depression is OK at the moment, it is only a matter of time before I go through another bad period (for example, I presented to A&E last September as I was having suicidal thoughts). I feel the root cause of my mental health problems (social difficulties/depression potentially caused by ASD) will continue to go untreated if I do not get assessed for ASD, and I do not really understand the reasoning behind their decision.
I was wondering if anyone else had been in a similar position in the NHS system. I do have money that I could spend on a private ASD assessment, but I wonder if it would be worth making a case to this service that I do have significant comorbid mental health problems that will likely continue to cause me problems in the future. I have a phone appointment with my GP to discuss the letter next week.
Thanks
