Autism and mental health

Hello….. I’m newly diagnosed….. 17 April….. and I haven’t yet been able to discuss my diagnosis.

i have been treated for a mental health disorder for approximately 20 years….. I had to do some mandatory training at work on autism…. Which was brilliantly put together…. And that’s what made me question my diagnosis that I had accepted all of this time.

long story short for fear of boring you…. The psychiatrist I spoke to online on 17 April diagnosed we with autism level 1.

they have not cleared me of the MH diagnosis tho so now I have two diagnoses….. they said it wasn’t their job to do that…..

im angry and stressed and alone

sorry for the whinge Cry

  • Hi and welcome 

    Thank goodness for your mandatory training session.!! Your anger is understandable, I hope moving forward you will get some clarification on your MH diagnosis.

    You have found the right place for understanding and support you are not alone.

    Keep reaching out.

    Sending you are virtual Hugging 

  • Dear 8243andrea,

    Thank you for sharing this with our community. While we are waiting for the community to continue to respond, you might want to take a look at our page about mental health, https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/mental-health

    Thank you. I hope this helps!

    With all good wishes,

    Eunice Mod

  • I've got anxiety, depression and work related stress as well as autism - it is hard sometimes but I've learnt to accept who I am and try to take as much care for myself as possible 

  • and alone

    We are here. 

    We hear you.

    My hope is that, over time, you will come to feel less alone (not least, by getting to know us here).

    Please do keep checking in here when you feel up to it.

    With best wishes and a virtual hug to you today.

  • That's alarmingly common for autistic women and I don't think you're whinging, but raising a very valid point on how mental health services view women and autism, obviously you can have autism and another mental health issue, but so many women have been wrongly diagosed and have to live with a dual diagnosis and all that it entails medically speaking.

    You might find watching Christine McGuiness's tv programe Unmasking my Autism helpful and reading Gina Rippon's, The Gendered Brain and The Lost Girls of Autism helpfull too, they go more into the neuroscience but are pitched at the general reader, not just specialists.  Both of these books go into why the medical establishment have been so slow to recognise autism in women and what the science actually says.