Autism and self harm.... thoughts please

Hi

I have autism and I started self harming when I was a child. I continued self harming into adulthood. My self harm was diagnosed as a mental illness and for years I was pumped with medication which made me a zombie. The self harm got worse. About 3 years ago, I went to see a psychologist who worked closely with me regarding my self harm. She concluded that I do not have a mental illness (in fact she was baffled as to why I had been diagnosed with a mental illness) she said clearly I have autism and that my self harm is a sensory issue regarding my autism. Has anyone experienced this?

  • Here’s a previous thread I started when EUPD first started to be mentioned in my medical notes, which may interest you:

    community.autism.org.uk/.../any-experience-with-eupd

    As I understand it, many people with autism (mostly females) are misdiagnosed with this mental health condition, and it can lead to years of mistreatment and further damage. I would imagine that it is possible to have EUPD and autism, as with other mental health problems, but I would imagine that would be easy to ascertain if the person is assessed by a professional who fully understands autism.

    I’m pleased you finally got the diagnosis revoked. I’m still trying to get mine off my notes despite a consultant psychologist saying it should be removed. 

    I think the problem with mental health professionals is that they see autism as something which isn’t their business, which in some ways is true - it isn’t a mental illness in itself - but then it means that they can’t distinguish autism from conditions such as EUPD, and they aren’t able to accurately assess and treat people who have autism and a co-morbid mental health condition. Something about the system needs to change to address this.

  • Thank you for your post and the video link. I was also diagnosed with EUPD it took years of fighting for this diagnosis to revoked, how many other people have experienced this. Medically can people actually be diagnosed with autism and EUPD? Also why do mental health teams and psychiatrists only have a general understanding of autism and only see self harm as a mental health problem?

    I feel really strongly about this because I believe if autism and self harm training was given to mental health services and psychiatrists the misdiagnosis of mental illness in autistic adults would be reduced.

    I would like to hear from anyone who has experienced this and how this affected their lives. 

    Thanks

  • This report may interest you:

    journals.sagepub.com/.../1362361318818167

    Also, here’s a video talking about self-injurious stims:

    www.youtube.com/watch

    I have myself been misdiagnosed with a mental illness (EUPD) as a result of issues linked to my autism - difficulties with emotional regulation, experiencing emotions rapidly and intensely, having difficulties trusting others, sensory seeking behaviours (considered to be self-harm) etc. The thing is though, I already had a diagnosis of autism and I told the ‘professionals’ repeatedly that these things were due to my autism, but they just wouldn’t have it, and it’s not until I saw a specialist in EUPD (at my request, having questioned that diagnosis) that they confirmed I never had it. In the meantime though, the damage had been done...we need a much better understanding of autism amongst mental health professionals in order to prevent this kind of thing.

  • Hi NAS50499,

    Not personally - but you may find it useful to check out some of the 'Related' threads, listed on the right.

    Also, check this out if you haven't already:

    Self-injury

    Regards,

    Tom