Psychiatry U.K. - is it worth it, and what does it involve?

Hello, all

So, as you may or may not have seen from previous posts made by me, I’m currently on the waiting list for ASD assessment, following a good 3 years of trying to determine if I actually am autistic, and so far, 1.5 years on the waiting list, with a projected 1.5 years minimum left to go until someone actually assesses me. 

Life has started to move on pretty quickly for me; I’ve just gotten a part-time job, and I’ll be moving to university in the near future too, and while some people and services are accommodating of the fact that I am not diagnosed yet, it’s becoming a severe roadblock. Reasonable adjustments, Disabled Students Allowance, being allowed to bring my car to university so I can go home if I need to so I can keep familiar surroundings, routines and people around me, I can access none of that without a diagnosis. And, quite frankly, my lack of diagnosis simply isn’t enough; me saying that ‘I’m on the waiting list’ just isn’t enough anymore. 

There’s the private diagnosis route, but there isn’t the money for that. There’s numbers we can ring to say ‘this is situation is getting worse’ to the local authority service that I’m currently with, but I’m currently being transitioned from child to adult services, and thus don’t have a contact point. Which leads me to Psychiatry U.K (which would also require an additional step of getting a GP to also see that I have ASD, as we went the self-referral route)

To those who have used Psychiatry UK, what was it like? How does it work, is it mainly online based or is it in person? How long was the wait, do you regret using them or would happily exalt their praises? 

I’m willing to try almost anything at this rate 

Parents
  • Hello (very cool name!) 

    I have just completed the process myself with Psychiatry UK and I think Andy has done a pretty excellent job of detailing how it all went. 

    For me the time scales were different. I went to my GP in July 2022 (1 year ago) and the GP provided me with a 1 page questionnaire to fill in. Which I did. He agreed to refer me and sent it off. I got a letter saying the waiting list was about 3-4 years so I didn't really pursue it until another GP told me to tell my doctors I want "right to choose". 

    This triggered my referral to be sent to PUK. I didn't hear back until March 2023 when they sent over those REALLY major forms Andy mentioned. I didn't look at them until about late May/early June. Finally returned them and then waited 6 weeks until they called to book my assessment. 

    The assessment slot they gave me was 2 weeks later. My video call was 1hr 20mins and I was given my diagnosis on the call. I also had sent a letter from my private psychiatrist giving an outline of his treatment, since I have a lot of mental health issues too. 

    I could have made the process a lot quicker but I am not that organised (also have ADHD) but getting everything dusted in a year I thought wasn't too bad, compared to the main waiting list.

    I think it's worth doing it - so good luck! Keep us posted.

  • Wow, only 20 minutes? What did they do in that time?

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