Adult diagnosis with mental health problems Lincolnshire?

Hello,

This is my first post here and I'm jumping straight in. I'm nearly 40, living with my family and read a description about Asperger's in women and realised that explained me. My GP agrees, but it's not straightforward trying to access diagnosis services.

I 'present' quite normal, simply because I learned to make eye contact as a teenager and I can talk in a business context....but my social and communication skills aren't up to having friends (I last saw a friend in October....no problem for me, but yeah, that's not *normal*) and getting on at work. So I'm chronically underemployed and stressed out by the 'people' aspects of any job.

I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder a long time ago, but have worked overseas for years, not taken medication or received help for this and been relatively OK. I realise now that's because I find it easier to get on with people who are not my peers. Sadly I'm now in the NHS mental health system, at my request, to try to get that diagnosis reviewed. I have a psychiatrist's appointment coming up and want to get something positive out of that appointment.

My area does not have an adult ASD service. My GP advised me the the NHS mental health service will refuse a request for funding to allow me to access an ASD diagnosis service outside the area.

So I called Social Services. And had to get myself entered into their database in order to try to get info from them. They (I spoke to 4 people) didn't think they had any responsibility for ASD. In the end the team leader passed on the message that they have a new service, and I should call a number. Which turned out to be the local mental health service, who told me this keeps cropping up but they have no provision for ASD. I phoned social services back and they were nice and told me to put in a complaint.

I'm seeing a newly appointed consultant psychiatrist. (This will be very painful as she's my 'peer' and I'm just the mental patient). I would like to straight out refuse to try any more antipsychotic medication (BTW I've never been psychotic....it's simply what they prescribe to people who are agitated aka disagree with the psychiatrist) and would rather just take an antidepressant I've taken for years in the past.

I decide to be unreasonable and write to both the new psychiatrist and the head of psychology. Psychology put me on a long waiting list for Cognitive Analytical Therapy. I've had 3 years of therapy in the past, with some very good therapists. I don't think that talking about my childhood will help. Particularly not as ASD traits are clearly behind a lot of my problems.

I'm depressed and struggling with the people side of the part-time work I'm doing.

Where do I turn now? My local authority haven't implemented the statutory guidance on autism. My mental health trust have told me they are not commissioned to provide ASD services. The primary? health trust won't fund me to be referred out. I have no money and realising that I've had lots of trouble with ASD traits all my life...and that there isn't a magic cure is distressing me. I need to access a service that understands women on the spectrum, that can cope with comorbid mental health conditions (I have some sort of mood disorder, though maybe not bipolar) and perhaps one linked to a university or city as my background is academic and cosmopolitan (my local mental trust staff can't understand people like me). Arghhhh!