How do I talk to my doctor and actually get help?

I have to say I can totally relate to the original post in regards to the anxiety over the news (IDS in particular) and the insomnia. I must say I've kinda given up on doctors though - there's only so much they can do and they can't change the way the world works which is the main source for many of my issues. There's no magic pill that will make everything ok and there's very little in the way of alternative treatments to drug therapy that I am aware of.

NAS18906 said:

Hi Eled,

How did you get on with the GP? i hope they could help? 

Best Wishes

This GP, took things much more seriously than the last, he sorta focussed on what I fekt wa sthe sghhallow end how the news and things sets me off, but he didnt actually laugh at me or leave me feeling worse off, and said if things got worse to see him again. all in all it went much better than last time, I'm not un-anxious, but I'm filtering things more ruthlessly and feeling sufficently less fragile I'm able to work on projects again.

Didnt get everything I wanted dealt with dealt with, and despite a full page of notse still not sure I put it across properly but I did to quite my thread title 'actually get help' so a big thanks to all who gave me advice.

Hi Eled,

How did you get on with the GP? i hope they could help? 

Best Wishes

Hi Eled,

good luck with your new GP and remember you aren't alone. Many of us have faced similar difficulties. Don't give up. 

Hi Eled,

I think you have described your problem very clearly. If you get stuck, when you talk to the doctor, you could give the doctor a printed copy of this thread.

I hope you can get your point across, let us know how you get on.

Well, apointment made with a fresh GP, next monday at 9 am.

I thought I'd use this thread to vent, and talk out my issues so I can put them across more clearly to the new GP, in hopes of actually getting help this time so here goes (Fair warning it lets long, berevity and your's nerdily here dont get along) :-

I'm stressed and panicy all the time. It takes very little to set me off. Its not just about benefits and the cuts and changes though for obvious reasons that is a large part of it. Its every time my new computer does something enexpected, or one of my parents gets ill, or I get an email about some new petition to sighn about TTIP or other internet causes... Last week I clicked the wrong link in a google search and ended up somewhere slightly dodgy and I had to run 2 very detailed virus scans before the image of loosing all my data to ransomeware andhaving my comuter confiscated by the police was all I could think of. I didnt sleep at all that night. It takes days to get back down to 'normal' for me... which is a register that a normal person would call 'very very anxious' and then all it takes to rip my heart out again is
so little as hearing an advert talking about the "Benefits"... of their new shampoo.

I'm not sleeping either, Ive never slept well or particularly deeply, but the last few years sleep isnt the restfull end to a well lived day. Its lying alone, in the dark in the silence, where my brain can rifle its files and recap 'things that could ruin your life andthe lives of everyine you care about tomorrow'. I only acomplish sleep by staying up untill I am litterally fighting to keep my eyes open in the dead of night, hitting a point of 'just resting my eyes' 2-3 times, and finally trying to sleep.

Its not 100% of the time, but, I get more and more frequent assults of hopelessness and negitivity too. I still feel joy talking to freinds on line or making a well recived forum post elsewhere... But it never lasts, its always fleeting as shapes pulled from the pattern matching part of the brain by the dance of an open fire. at the back of my brain, I'm always aware that I'm just amusing myself till something worse comes along.

Eerything just feels utterly hopeless. Its hard to plan for the future, even looking forwards to a game or moovie I like coming out seems, as absurd as hoping for a lottery win. I cant see a single way anything will get any better. I try to make art, or work on a game I'm desighning, or work on my writing but none of it feels like it matters. Either I'll get too stressed and loose the thread, or some new cut or bit of Tory hate will ruin it, or something else will go wrong... and even ifit dosent, nothing i can do can get me out of my situation nothing I am good at leads to any kind of life unless you are amazingly fortunate, and I know I am not that lucky.

Hi Eled, as a short term measure, could I suggest not watching, reading or listening to news broadcasts. You sound as though you are a very sensitive and caring person. These things are upsetting.  If you focus on local issues which may affect you personally and you may be able to influence, you will feel better. We cannot influence foreign wars or any events taking place abroad, therefore perhaps it is better to ignor them.

I watched 9/11 unfold live on my tv when off work. I was traumatised for weeks. Horror has some sort of fatal fascination. It is hard to look away, but I feel happier when I do. 

Best wishes

Eled,

You are right to try and get help from the GP because there are real ways to help. There are other people who can help you get hold of the help you need. See www.sane.org.uk/.../helpline offer an out of hours helpline for people in your position. They may be able to help you get hold of some proper support. 

Otherwise there are advocacy services that can help people make their case when they have difficulties communicating http://www.autism.org.uk/global/content/search%20results.aspx?q=advocacy

There is a section on the NAS website to which you could alert your GP - it comes up under "Living with autism" - "Understanding Behaviour" - "Mental Health and Autism".

It does explaion that such things develop at adolescence or into adulthood - which ought to be enough to convince your GP he needs to take your concerns seriously.

There is under "Working with People with Autism", in the "Health Section" a section on information for general practitioners. The link to understanding behaviour only comes right at the very end.

Also my prevailing concerns: too much is entirely triad of impairments base, and there is little on the website that contradicts the widespread GP perception that "you grow out of it" - so adults claiming symptoms are malingering. If NAS won't try to put things right I really don't see how we can change anything.

It isn't enough just to say Autism is for Life. NAS needs to make clear on GP information that autism affects all ages, but particularly needs to be taken seriously in early adulthood.

The section on "Mental Health and Autism" really isn't accessible in any obvious way for GPs and other health professionals (who are least likely to look under "Living with Autism" given there is a "Working with people with autism" section).

Moderators, please, please get the website team to improve access to this vital information.

Dear Eled,

I am sorry to hear you are finding life so difficult at the moment.

Please find a link to the NAS helpline I hope this will be some help to you,

www.autism.org.uk/.../contact-us.aspx

regards Coco (moderator)

Oh I was diagnosed as Aspergers when I ws 16, 35 now for context.

Its just the rest of the stuff that comes with it, the anxiety, the deprssion. Its getting harder and harder to preser the funtionality I have, mr world shrinks, my fears grow larger.

Not helped by the goverments constant cutts and increase of santions and medling. IDS smirking as two and a half thousand people like me get sent to our deaths.

Hi Eled. Please try to do as 'socks says. If you could do an online AQ test and take your result along, that could help too.

Perhaps if you talk here about things that affect you, we can help you to put it into words. Sometimes it helps people if they can print copies of their questions and our replies, but you can decide that for yourself. Remember, anything we say here is confidential and we are anonymous, and you are safe to talk about anything you want to, we'll do our best to help.

Having a list, an AQ test score, and maybe being able to say how you feel, will all help. I once had a Doctor tell me that all I needed was to 'pull yourself together'. I got the help I needed from another GP at the same practice.

Hi Eled,

We are not very good at explaining things orally so you might try writing it down and presenting a written statement to the doctor. You could even print out your original post above and hand that in to the doctor. 

I got to a bad state before diagnosis but wrote down why I thought I was on the spectrum and why I needed help and my GP took it seriously straight away. I would have not got the words out straight if I had relied on speaking to her in the first place.