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Adult assessment with mental health issues

confucius

Hi,

I've been diagnosed with depression and anxiety since I was 5. Along the way I've had various other diagnoses like avoidant personality disorder and paranoid personality disorder etc. but no one has ever suggested autism. I score highly on all tests (>43) and know they aren't diagnostic in themselves, but have now put my foot down and been referred for an Asperger's assessment. I asked how long it would take because I had no clue and the woman kept saying "you cannot jump the queue!" I didn't want to, I just needed more information :( They said it would take years for an assessment to be done. Is there anything else I can do in the meantime as a 20-something who suffers with poor mental health? I feel like no one takes me seriously because I have been to uni and live alone, but I have no friends or family (apart from an alcoholic mother and toxic ex) and can't go on like this. I have sucidal thoughts and feel like I just exist but when I ask for help I am told to go on websites for self-help or 'have a bath' and I am so fed up of being fobbed off.

Thanks for reading.

  • Hi Gogzy,

    Good luck with your assessment (: I believe I have an entry appointment or something this fall. May I ask how you got a mental health team? Sorry it's a little off topic, but I would really benefit from some support like that but because I'm left to self-refer through no other choice they don't seem to want to help me with anything other than debt.

  • Thank you, Robert. I am sorry to hear you have been through similar. I will make sure I attend all appointments when given and having dealt with child/adult mental health referrals my whole life I understand the long waits (I was on a waiting list for 2 years for a psychiatrist once, moved to a different borough in the same city and was told to start the process again).

    I just wondered if there are any services available for people who've yet to receive a formal diagnosis. I'm already left to my own devices and struggle with everything from money management to making friends to getting up each day. I'm worried an assessment will affect employment so will look into that in the meantime, but then again I struggle in jobs with relating to people and dealing with authority especially when being treated unfairly (my last boss bullied me, taking me into his office for over an hour at a time and running me down).

  • You sound like a much younger version of myself.

    The harsh truth is that there is a waiting queue for assessments.  It took me 6 months to go from initial referral to a formal assessment.

    My advice is do not miss any appointments they offer you.  Or you will go to the back of the queue.