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Awaiting aspergers assessment and struggling with anxiety and depression

Broken Saint

Hi everyone, I have been waiting for an assessment to see if I have aspergers and it's dragging on a bit. C.L.A.S.S. Who are dealing with it are undermanned and only agreed to see me, as I confessed to my GP that I was having suicidal thoughts. It could take up to two years to be seen!

All of this, coupled with being a keyworker in the pandemic and with no real support network (my Wife doesn't care and have no Dad or Mum, grandparents or close family) my anxiety and depression has skyrocketed.

I'm 42 this year and have known I have been 'different' for a long time. I can't cope anymore. I'm angry all the time. I snap at my 3 year old and Wife all the and can't cope with day to day things. I wake up in tears and with heartburn. I'm addicted to OTC and drink. Is there anything that helps with this if you're on the spectrum? Anti depressants don't help - I've tried them all!

Many thanks in advance Wink

Parents

  • To be fair, my GP surgery has been worse than useless. Their responses have ranged from 'Don't worry, things will get better' to 'So, do you want more meds?' And on the last visit, I was given a link to the doc's Mindfulness blog (even though he'd never heard of Jon Kabat Zinn) and sent on my way. Oh, this was after he 'assessed' me and said that I'm not on the spectrum - even though he seemed like he was!

    I've also been given links to NHS websites that seem to be very 'hack of all trades' and fobbed off.

    What are grounding techniques? I've tried Mindfulness, but it's so hard to switch off......

Reply

  • To be fair, my GP surgery has been worse than useless. Their responses have ranged from 'Don't worry, things will get better' to 'So, do you want more meds?' And on the last visit, I was given a link to the doc's Mindfulness blog (even though he'd never heard of Jon Kabat Zinn) and sent on my way. Oh, this was after he 'assessed' me and said that I'm not on the spectrum - even though he seemed like he was!

    I've also been given links to NHS websites that seem to be very 'hack of all trades' and fobbed off.

    What are grounding techniques? I've tried Mindfulness, but it's so hard to switch off......

Children
  • in reply to Broken Saint

    I'm sorry you've had this experience. My GP was really unhelpful too - he didn't take my autism or my mental health seriously (I don't think he believed me when I said I think I'm autistic). Your GP's unqualified to 'assess' you anyway, so it was really wrong of him to send you away without a proper referral. 

    Are you on the assessment waiting list now? I got my autism referral and mental health support by self-referring to my local NHS mental health service. It was the mental health assessor who took me seriously and got me on the autism assessment waiting list, along with helping me access therapy. He was incredibly helpful.

  • in reply to Broken Saint

    Yes I feel much the same I think. Worth finding your local autism group and speaking to others.

    Reading books about it, but trying to find a way is very difficult.

    routines, exercise, try and identify any positives?

  • in reply to Broken Saint

    I'm surprised you haven't been referred by your GP to secondary services for persistent depression. To be fair, one psychotherapist told me that mindfulness is a skill that you improve over time, so switching off will get easier for you with time. I'm going to try mindfulness more to try and curb my anxiety. Grounding techniques are a form of mindfulness. There are more grounding techniques on google, but they involve, for example:

    • breathing in and out deeply and being aware of your breath, and repeating a pleasant word to yourself on every in breath
    • touching what's around you and noticing its texture
    • noticing your body, the weight of your body and how it feels
    • running cold water on your skin and noticing how that feels
    • eating something and describing the flavours to yourself
    • coming up with a grounding phrase, which is positive and reminds you you are surviving in the present, i.e. 'I am safe'
    • getting a grounding object which you can hold and observe when you are feeling distressed