Published on 12, July, 2020
So, had a long history of anxiety and depression. Lately become very exhausted....I'm prone to "walking" when I can't handle things.
Thought I'd had a breakdown and finally asked for help from my doctor. I was referred to the mental health crisis team. I was assessed on the phone and asked to come in for a face to face.....
I was just expecting to be offered more tablets (never worked) and diagnosed with a personality disorder or schizophrenia....
Halway through, I was asked if it was OK to do a ASD questionnaire.....never heard of it and when asked what it was.....I was abit taken back. Sure, anyway...I scored a high level and will be referred for I don't know what next or how long that takes. I was assured I wasn't mental at the end anyway but now feel in limbo abit.
I'm 41.....I've gone through life trying to convince myself I was normal, and since they've mentioned asd.....I've realised I'm really not.....but that's OK. It kind of makes sense, my life and how I think.
Anyone else in the same boat?
Hi there,
Welcome to the club. I'm always happy to hear that MH teams have picked up on one of us. Sadly, the other scenario is my experience; they try and force you in an NT box and when that doesn't work, blame you for being that patient who doesn't want to help themselves and put you in the metaphorical bin, where some of us have been left to work it out for ourselves. I am hearing more and more stories like yours, however, where some better trained and more open minded professional has spotted the signs, run the preliminary questionnaire and made the referral. That'll save you a lot of agony down the road, I'm sure.
And as others have pointed out - you're just not bonkers. All that exhaustion could well be autistic burnout; constantly screening out sensory interferences and constantly thinking our way through what others want from us, trying to keep up with conversational threads and all that is hard work, after all. Try and give yourself some time out away from external pressures with the things you like to do, that might slowly bring your energy level back up. You might also want to investigate the idea of "energy accounting". That might also help with the exhaustion.
The "what next" should be an extensive assessment by the diagnostic team. The process can vary depending on the team. There are a lot of You Tube Videos done by people who've been through it which might give you some insights. The "how long" can be a couple of years, unless you go private. But, in the meantime, you might want to check out if Mind Adult Autism services are running any courses near you. These are designed for the newly diagnosed or those awaiting assessment and will cover ways to manage some of the stressors.
And, of course, if you have any questions or odd musings that have wondering if... just throw them out here. Someone will have some experience of it or have some suggestions, I'm sure.
Good luck with the assessment.
That is a wonderful response Dawn. Thank you.
It has helped me with thinking more deeply about my exhaustion.
Thanks for the reply Dawn, I've been placed in many bins lol was told it was a chemical imbalance in my brain, that's when I stopped anti depressants and just got on with it....until I couldn't no more. Hopefully things will look up now. Some great info in your post, tha ks for taking the time to reply. Means alot