Why did it take 12 years?

It seems sad that the message isnt getting though to MH services. It is a shame that there seems to be little awareness. Yep, wish I'd been diagnosed as a child instead of put in a school for maladjusted children. That was 40 years ago. Things dont seem to have moved on.

It’s really sad how many people share my experience.  I was diagnosed this month aged 31 after mental health struggles since teenage years. The assessor said she had never been more certain I was on the spectrum.  I honestly feel so sad for myself who has always compared myself negatively, wondering how they manage and I can’t seem to grasp life.  

At least we know now... onwards and upwards!

I think this is unfortunately all too common.

I've had diagnosed "mental health" issues since my early twenties including a very long inpatient admission.

My ASD diagnosis came aged 30 and they said there was no doubt and were disappointed that it was picked up so much earlier like when I was 4 years old and wasn't "mixing" with others at nursery, etc!!! 

I choose not to be annoyed about it though because it can't be changed. I just hope that as the years pass services will get better at recognising ASD and less people will need to suffer and be mistreated for many years before receiving a diagnosis.

Psychiatrists seem to be a bunch of charlatans.  I'll never trust one again

Yes, there certainly seems to be an over-reliance on medication and not so much in the way of detailed case-taking or psychological support.  

They don't seem to consider that the presenting issues may well be secondary to undiagnosed autism either, which frankly astonishes me.  Looking back over my own history I seem to have spent an awful lot of time knocking on the wrong doors and just one autism aware professional might have made a huge difference.  

Absolutely! That's been my experience too. I'm also very cynical. I have no patience with so called experts who dont seem to know basic stuff it took me 5 minutes to research.

My experience with MH services is that all they want to do is medicate you until you go away.   I'm a bit cynical and sceptical of what positive treatment they can actually offer.  

The service manager at CMHT told me 'you should think about the way you talk to people.'

Ignorance abounds in mental health services.

It does seem I've wasted too many years waiting to get the right diagnosis. You would think that a psychiatrist's training would include spotting potential ASD.

You grossly over-estimate the competence of people working in MH.

It is shocking but I would have thought psychiatrist would be trained to spot the difference from day one.

That doesn't surprise me.  I've not encountered any overt abuse but ignorance abounds.  Along with other failings.  Plus I have a couple of complaints lodged with our local CCG, not that I'm expecting any further response form them as it's now been a couple of months.   :(

Overall I'm quite shocked to find that autism training for all staff is really only just beginning. 

I've read very bad things about that trust by service users on Twitter, especially Autistic people. Abusive and ignorant staff, from what I've read. Just thought I'd warn you.

I think many NHS services are still in the early stages of building autism awareness across all of their services, including mental health services.  To me it seems obvious that knowledge, experience and awareness should have been built in from the start, and astounding that it wasn't, but it seems this is only now getting off the ground.

I personally went through various rounds of counselling and psychotherapy at several points in my life plus my adult son was with the early intervention service for 3 1/2 years and it was only towards the end of that process that autism was even mentioned.  Even then it took another couple of years with a different team to get a diagnosis.  So i feel angry that so many opportunities were missed. 

My local trust are only just going through the process of training their staff in autism awareness (for about 2017 from the looks of it).

www.tewv.nhs.uk/.../

I think you're right but as I said, they were aware that I'd been sent to a school for Maladjusted children as a teen. Surely this should have raised some questions. I genuinely believe that the mental health teams need more training to recognise Autistic traits.

There seems to be a genuine disconnect between mental health services and Neuropsychology.  Why refuse to continue treating depression if you join the Neuropsychology waiting list? I spent 2 years on the waiting list without any support from CMHT, resulting in having the crisis team attend several times. I went to see CHMT and asked for help and the psychiatrist told me she would only treat me if I came off the waiting list. 

I suspect that the MH teams expect all the autistics and Aspies to have been picked up in school years earlier so they're simply not looking for it.  Most of us will present as depression or inability to cope with the world - so that's what they treat.

Hi, it's good to hear I'm not the only one. Cant agree enough on how poor mental health care is. No resources and throwing pills at a problem seems to be all they can offer.

My experience was the same as yours. Told me the diagnosis, shook my hand and wished me luck. Although he also said I should research the condition online and gave me a leaflet.  

I'm sure there is support out there. It just seems we're left to find it ourselves. Good luck to you.

Hi, i too was under the mental health care team for many years. I have had mental health problems my whole life, i was previously diagnosed with schizophrenia, schizoid personality disorder and idiopathic hypersomnia. After many years i decided i no longer wanted to be under the mental health team. both due to their lack of resources which i didnt want to waste on me but also because apart from medication i wasnt offered much else that i deemed constructive.
when i was 24, i had a son, he was diagnosed with autism aged 3. He's 7 now and i am still blown away with how amazing he is. 
Then recently i was having a difficult time and ended up back under the mental health team, lots of appointments, lots of questions and it all came to a head a week ago, i was diagnosed with autism myself, a day after my 32nd birthday.
Its accepted i still have mental health issues, namely dysthymia and schizoid personality disorder.
At first i was confused, how could it have been missed for so long, but most of my schizophrenia symptoms are what are typically classed as "negative symptoms" which means shutting down, isolation, socially awkward etc. Im still looking into it, but it appears that they can be confused more commonly than you would believe. I suppose its understandable as shrinks cant see our thought processes, all they can do is ask questions, which often dont delve into the right areas.
As for what happens after a diagnosis in adults, i havent a clue. When my son was diagnosed it seemed that the services available were good, but the psychiatrist just talked to me for an hour, gave his diagnosis then shook my hand and said goodbye. I dont know who i need to tell, or what local services, groups etc there is for me now.

It is good to finally know though isn't it.  Things just seem to be making sense now though. Looking back at the difficulties,  it just seems I would have coped better if I'd understood myself better.

Good luck. Hope you can now get the support you need