Branching Out (Quietly). Hello from TheQuietOak!

Your early life sounds idyllic. I would have loved to spend time in the desert searching for stuff, all that sifting sand revealing things.

CMHT was helpful up to a point, in the sense of being a supportive presence in times of crisis, and in encouraging me to take active steps to improve my mental health through short courses on mindfulness and self esteem. The last engagement with the service did not help me at all because much as I wanted to feel better, I couldn’t face going through much the same thing again. It felt pointless and I didn’t have the energy for it.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy has been helpful, and since my ASD diagnosis seven months ago,  I have adapted the techniques to suit my autistic self and work on long held guilt. I’m happy enough working alone with that for now.

I didn’t know I was autistic when I was engaging with CMHT, so maybe things would have worked better for me if I had known and if the CMHT members had been qualified to work with autistic adults.  Since diagnosis, my mental health has improved because I don’t feel so guilty over past and present behaviours. I don’t think my engagements have harmed me. In hindsight they have validated me indirectly,  because now I am more aware of what doesn’t work and I have more space to focus on what might be helpful in my life.  

It sounds like you are self aware and can communicate the needs of your autistic brain to CMHT, so I hope they will will become open to working in a way that suits you.

Thanks for that, your work for the charity and being a Forest School leader sounds really cool. 

Welcome TheQuietOak,

Like most of the people on your thread - I love your name too.

I actually work/volunteer for a wildlife charity and am also a Forest School leader (within the charity), so spend a lot of time working with trees and nature. 

I am quite scared of heights though (especially since a bad abseiling accident when I was younger), but I do like looking through the branches/leaves up to the canopy and watching the birds, butterflies, mammals and insects doing what they do best.

I hope you enjoy your time on the forum with us all.

Mweekie xx

I also live in the countryside by the sea, not sure I could be away from it now. I grew up in Africa and spent many years as a kid in the desert in Egypt looking for stuff, I've got some cool arrowheads, bones and stuff. Did you ever find the CMHT to be helpful? I'm worried they will make me feel worse. Thanks for replying.

Hello and welcome to the forum TheQuietOak.

I like your name; TheQuietOak branching out is a wonderful analogy. 

Many of us here have had engagements and disengagements with the Community Mental Health Team; in my case several. 

I am quite an outdoor type, although in a more restrained fashion than I used to be when younger. I enjoy walking in nature and I am lucky to have countryside and sea at close hand. I try to keep up to date with material culture archaeology and I am researching religion and beliefs in ancient Mesopotamia and the surrounding area.

And they all want to borrow my WiFi. The nerve! I love oak trees too, I spent half my life up them as a kid. (Only about a quarter now.) I saw my first purple hairstreak butterflies yesterday, they live on the oak trees but sometimes come down into my garden onto the courgette plants weirdly. I'll try and share a picture in a minute but I've never done it before so maybe I can't.

Do you have about 2,000 species living with you, sheltering in your branches and canopy, lol? It's one of the things I find so fascinating about oaks.

Thanks for the welcome! I have always loved climbing trees I was pretty much arboreal as a kid, hiding up trees! Thanks again!

Hello and welcome to the forums, I always think an Oak tree is a proper tree, love the name 

Thanks for that, I'm fairly good at fighting my corner but I'm not sure weather it's going to be worth it in the end, especially if I feel like I've annoyed them, not sure I really want to open up to people who I've annoyed. I do appreciate you advice though thanks again.

That’s very disappointing to hear.

There’s some advice here about how you can escalate your issue:

NAS - What can I do if formal support is not offered or is not enough > Health services

Thanks for the welcome! I am going to start a post in a minute summarising my struggles with the CMHT and asking for advice but thanks for the input. I have emailed them parts of my diagnosis which states :that I "prefers to write and use emails" and recommends that I "should always have access to alternative and augmentative forms of communication (such as text/email). These forms of communication should be respected and accepted"  It also states I present with selective mutism. I have quoted parts of the NHS guide you mention also. They still won't accept test only communication. Anyway I'm going to ask for advice in my post as I'm starting to feel that I'm the problem and want to make sure I'm not being unreasonable. Thanks again

Hi and welcome to the community! 

TheQuietOak said:

let's just say my current dance with the Community Mental Health Team feels less like a waltz and more like a wrestling match with a very stubborn octopus. It's been a bit of a battle trying to get support that actually fits how my autistic brain works (apparently, "text-only communication" is still a mythical beast in some kingdoms!).

In respect of having them meet your needs, you might find it helpful to refer them to the communication-related advice in this NHS guidance:

NHS - Meeting the needs of autistic adults in mental health services

You might also find it helpful to specify your autism-related needs in either an NHS "health and care passport" or the NAS version - each has a section for specifying your communication needs to those involved in your care:

NHS - Health and care passports

NAS - My health passport

"Hi there! Thanks so much for the welcome, and for reaching out. It's good to know I'm not the only new person figuring things out! Hope to chat again too.

Hi! Thanks for replying!

Hello and welcome to the forum! I’m new here so I’m still getting used to the site but hope to chat again soon 

Hello and welcome! I hope you feel at home here!

Thanks so much for the welcome!

Hi and welcome to the community