Published on 12, July, 2020
My name is Tim. I'm a 65 year old widower. I've been under mental health services since late 1973, but didn't get the Asperger's dx till May 2019. My mental illness dx has changed several times over the years. Currently it's swinging between schizophrenia and schizoaffective. Not dxed but probable: severe social anxiety(seen as secondary to the schizophrenia/schizoaffective),dyspraxia -mentioned several times by MH pros,dysgraphia, total aphantasia . Medical: Atrial fibrillation, mild scoliosis, low vit d,atopic dermatitis.
I'd hesitate to call it traumatic. Frustrating-yes. I had to move near my stepdaughter, and thus come under a different mental health team to get referred ,assessed and given the ASD dx. The previous team had basically ignored my mentioning I thought there was more going on than just mental illness. Like a lot who get the mental illness illness dx 1st,and wait quite a while for the ASD dx, I've not been treated well by the mental health services.
Thankfully that has changed since moving in 2017. Too much water has gone under the bridge re making big strides forward, but it's a big relief to be treated in a kind and polite manner- not as a nuisance.
As for avoiding things I think that would've been difficult to do.As a son of a diplomat I was set to go to prep and then public school from 8 to 18. At prep school there was mild teasing. At public school there was almost from the start severe verbal bullying.
Things got even more stressful and anxiety provoking when I started to study for A levels. On one hand I didn't want to disappoint my parents by not going to uni. On the other hand I was acutely aware that I lacked the skills to cope with the non academic side of university life.