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'Awaiting funding'...but for how long?

Stormfront

Greetings. I'm Stormfront, and I'm trying desperately to get a diagnosis of what the heck is wrong with me.I've been at University for about eleven years now, so my guess is high-functioning AS; however, I've been faced with a set of problems even before I get to a diagnosis stage. The local health authority runs a 'gateway' system whereby they try and get people sorted out for mental health needs by seeing a single non-expert (general MH nurse). They ask a very basic battery of questions to try and evaluate you (Are you suicidal? Really, are you? Can you describe how suicidal you might be feeling on a scale of one to ten? Are you sure you're not suicidal?)

I eventually blew off steam by mentioning I wasn't suicidal, but the questions might well make me homicadal, and did they care to try and evaluate that one? (They don't like jokes, much, either).

The final outcome is that they promised to get back in touch, and that was nearly a year ago. The only contact has been that they have sent a letter saying that they are awaiting more funding in order to get me to be seen by anyone. I'm not sure if it's worth trying to save up for a private diagnosis, or to try and pester my GP. Without a diagnosis, it's almost impossible to access any services. Can anyone offer advice as to where I go from here? I just don't know who to write to or call in order to sort things out.

Parents

  • @Stormfront, as stranger says, you need to see a psychologist, not a psychiatrist. Go to your GP and insist that they refer you for a psychologoical assesment. Also, have you broached the subject with your parents at all? If they're 'on your side' it might be helpful to have one of them with you when you see the GP, and will definately be helpful when you see the psychologist (it's much easier to diagnose AS given information about early childhood).

    Aside from that, one 'heads up' - don't expect things to suddenly start happening once you've got a diagnosis - in many ways diagnosis is the easy part! Funding for support is also a postcode lottery, and we often fall between the gaps of 'mental health disorder' (which AS isn't) and 'learning disability' (which AS also isn't). I, for example, was diagnosed about 2 years ago, and I'm still fighting to get support from my local health and social services authorities!

Reply

  • @Stormfront, as stranger says, you need to see a psychologist, not a psychiatrist. Go to your GP and insist that they refer you for a psychologoical assesment. Also, have you broached the subject with your parents at all? If they're 'on your side' it might be helpful to have one of them with you when you see the GP, and will definately be helpful when you see the psychologist (it's much easier to diagnose AS given information about early childhood).

    Aside from that, one 'heads up' - don't expect things to suddenly start happening once you've got a diagnosis - in many ways diagnosis is the easy part! Funding for support is also a postcode lottery, and we often fall between the gaps of 'mental health disorder' (which AS isn't) and 'learning disability' (which AS also isn't). I, for example, was diagnosed about 2 years ago, and I'm still fighting to get support from my local health and social services authorities!

Children
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