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Should I see a therapist/psychiatrist/psychologist?

O

I thought I would ask for your opinion, I've been thinking about ever since my diagnosis 2 months ago. My assessor said I should if I want too but the problem I have is, I don't know I want/need to.

I think I feel relatively good at the moment since my diagnosis, because of my diagnosis, it answered a lot of questions I had about my self which I'm happy about and the forum has been good for me I like talking to you guy and even if I don't post or reply I like reading because it's nice to read other people talking about things I think about and just reading that people have the same experiences as me.

However, I've been going back and forth in my head that it might be good to able to speak to some who is a professional and works with people on the spectrum just so I can speak face to face to a human that understands and that can help me when I do encounter my issues. I admit that right now my overall mental state is stable because I've been very much removed from society for the last year because of lockdown but I worry about when I go back to work especially when I'm in the process of looking for work and having to put up with all those recruitment people (no offence intended if anyone here is a recruiter, I worked as in recruitment for 3 years so I know what you're all like).

So to clarify my question more, Do you guys think it would be good to see someone now or shall I just wait until something happens?

Parents

  • Depends if you think you need help working through anything at the moment. I think if you're worried about going back to work (which is normal) and that shift back into the everyday which could be a stressful change there's a starting point. There's no harm in talking with a therapist and exploring those thoughts/feelings. Most do an initial assessment/discussion session so if you felt at the end of that you didn't want to pursue the relationship any further you've sounded them out, made the decision and there's no loss (apart from the cost I guess).

    I saw a therapist last year - she doesn't specialise in autism but she did a lot in helping me unpick some of my closed thinking and helping me acknowledge how I was feeling. I keep her contact details to hand - usually if I hit a meltdown or crisis point I know I can book a session and safely work through things with her - she does manage to find a way to ground and re-orientate myself. Having said that - trying to choose one was a bit of an ordeal (which school?, cost?, where located? male/female? what are their specialisms? experience? how does their bio read? how many sessions do I want? how often?). It was hard enough when I was coming out of my last um.... "break" (months signed off!) and finding my feet again. I'd hate to do it if I was in the middle of struggling with something.

    I've never really appreciated how valuable a skilled therapist with a good listening ear is until recently. I went private - because of the choice and the sense I could always find someone who I felt comfortable with - instead of someone being found "for" me and I'd be stuck with them. 

Reply

  • Depends if you think you need help working through anything at the moment. I think if you're worried about going back to work (which is normal) and that shift back into the everyday which could be a stressful change there's a starting point. There's no harm in talking with a therapist and exploring those thoughts/feelings. Most do an initial assessment/discussion session so if you felt at the end of that you didn't want to pursue the relationship any further you've sounded them out, made the decision and there's no loss (apart from the cost I guess).

    I saw a therapist last year - she doesn't specialise in autism but she did a lot in helping me unpick some of my closed thinking and helping me acknowledge how I was feeling. I keep her contact details to hand - usually if I hit a meltdown or crisis point I know I can book a session and safely work through things with her - she does manage to find a way to ground and re-orientate myself. Having said that - trying to choose one was a bit of an ordeal (which school?, cost?, where located? male/female? what are their specialisms? experience? how does their bio read? how many sessions do I want? how often?). It was hard enough when I was coming out of my last um.... "break" (months signed off!) and finding my feet again. I'd hate to do it if I was in the middle of struggling with something.

    I've never really appreciated how valuable a skilled therapist with a good listening ear is until recently. I went private - because of the choice and the sense I could always find someone who I felt comfortable with - instead of someone being found "for" me and I'd be stuck with them. 

Children
  • in reply to Ethan

    I agree with Ethan and I'm talking from personal experience that it's sometimes better to start therapy when you are in a relatively "stable" place before the proverbial muck hits the fan. Life is uncertain and there will be a point in your life when you may need the techniques learned in therapy. (I waited a few months for therapy to start, nearly cancelled it because I felt "well" then a few weeks later was thankful I hadn't cancelled it). The therapist said to me that quite often people wait until they're in a crisis before they contact the service but I can see now that because I've always had tendencies towards anxiety, contacting them at any point would've been beneficial. I'm saying that if you start it before you go back to work, you will hopefully have some good coping strategies for when things do possibly start to get difficult.

    I really would like some more therapy, targeted more at how daily life at work impacts me from an austistic point of view. It actually feels a bit lonely sometimes because I feel a lot of people don't really understand.

    Hope this helps.