No Support

It was 'sold' to me as being very safe and effective!

I had to come off Sertraline in the end due to rapid weight gain, and restless limbs that wouldn't let me have a momen't peace. I think I became resistant too to the one benefit (taking the edge off things) that they'd briefly had.

All to placate the trendy mums. 

Hello,

I agree with so much of what you have written as there is so little support. I have given up trying to look for support and struggle along as best as I can. Handing out pills is the easy and cheaper way as opposed to providing meaningful support, suitable housing and benefits that put you above the poverty line.  

I totally get it. The non autistic world just doesn't.

You won't get any recognition or understanding of autistic burnout from your GP or any other health service. Then when you cry through sheer frustration at their lack of understanding, they will say you're depressed and start trying to pressure you into taking anti-depressants. 

Services just don't know what to do with us and all they are interested in is passing the 'problem' to someone else. 

I would like to join a support group for autistic adults but they don't exist in my area. My nearest is over 50 miles away and the meetings take place in the evening. I can't drive in the dark (due to my hyper sensitivity to lights) and there is no public transport which could get me there and home again. It would mean staying in a hotel overnight which I can't afford.

I have found considerably more understanding and support on here than anywhere else. 

because the nhs is useless and all services are there primarily to support children under the age of 15 or something. adults they dont care about, even though we were missed as when we were kids they had no support for kids then lol so we are likely a missing unsupported generation that is forgotten and not cared about.

Since my diagnosis last year I have had sertraline for depression, which just triggered horrible migraines without altering my mood --except by making me miserable through daily migraines. Nothing else has been made available, nothing at all. In my area there is a social group for adult autistics with places for 30 people. As I live in a town of 100,000 and at least 1 in a 100 people is autistic ,that is a shortfall of 970 places!

That’s really interesting - I agree with this issue about how western society is at the moment and what you describe as the ‘chasm’ between what autistic people need to thrive and what’s expected of us in the current time. There’s a lot of pressure and noise and a lot of threat (in subtle and not so subtle forms) in modern western societies. It’s hard to find peace and space to be yourself as an autistic person. Years ago if you needed to ‘opt out’ for a while you could ‘sign on’ and be largely left alone if you didn’t mind being skint. But now it’s almost impossible to get away from society and be left alone, or find an alternative way of living more suited to your needs as an autistic person. It puts massive pressure on people who cannot thrive in mainstream capitalist societies. 

Yes, platonic connection is more important than therapy.

No need to be sorry. I only wish I could say something other than: 'you are right'.

Most GPs don't get it. The times they've tried giving me anti-depressants when I'm chronically exhausted with strange muscle aches (burn out I now know) not depressed.

Mental health are in total ignorance and pretty useless despite the requirement for their training since the 2009 Autusm Act.

And if you mostly look like you aren't non-verbal with intellectual impairment and an adult, the available support is nothing.

But, we're here. I wish I could offer more than that.

I sometimes find real friends to be a more effective support, although they are rare. Most people don't understand Autism :(

Happy to be a friend :)

I'm sorry. There doesn't seem to be much support for the moment. I was in the same situation once asking what was going on 5 years ago to a therapist in the GPs office and Autism didn't even come up as a possibility. I was dismissed as highly intelligent. It was in the US, so they gave me a bottle of Xanax and sent me to a occupational therapist who was supposed to help me Time Manage. I will say this: The Xanax works. But in the UK you can only get it from a private GP from what I understand. And while it will stop the out of control beach all in my head, they don’t problem solve. It became absolutely important to fix my environment and learn to resolve issues to any degree available which might be causing stress. 

Since then I've found out I'm just autistic and a load of research which explains everything and made it easier to cope. A new medical paper I stumbled across basically proves the Autistic brain, with it's higher percent of Gamma Waves (higher oscillations of brain waves is responsible for making connexions, a flow-state / eureka state) will induce physical anxiety far more often than non-autistic peers. A thought is these oscillations can accelerate out of control and physically induce anxiety. But it accounts for full-brain reasoning and flow-state (hyper focus). They're also responsible for intense impact. This, IMhO is why anti-depressants won't work. 

I also have a feeling from a large body of philosophy I've been reading for some time, that the chasm between autistic and non-autistic didn't always exist to the degree it does. Western society has changed in values and our innate sense of  reasoning around laws of nature don't fit the current model. 

Hi Stacia - I really relate to this. I feel the same. There’s so little help and if you do get referred by a gp the waiting times are far too long. They always just want to give you anti-depressants - and these aren’t always suitable. I can’t tolerate anti-depressants due to a previous very serious bad reaction to them but they still keep suggesting them if I or my son ever ask for help. It’s because they’re an easy, cheap  ‘answer’ that the GP can pack you off with - but they’re not right for everyone and they don’t deal with complex underlying issues or autistic related difficulties and burnout. 

im sorry you’re not getting the help you need. I don’t blame you for ‘ranting’ - it’s justified! 

solidarity - you’re not alone. Take care x