BBC Panorama undercover investigation at mental health hospital

Autonomistic said:

That's after his parents battled for over 20 years, trying to get their son out of there.

And publicity on mainstream television.

That's after his parents battled for over 20 years, trying to get their son out of there.

Imagine how many more cases there must be, where the detained vulnerable adult does not have relatives actively fighting their case.

I'm really sorry to hear that. It happens far too often that autistic people don't receive the help they need and are put through so much avoidable trauma.

Sadly I am speaking from experience and I no longer have any contact with the system. Just the mention of mental health or social services is enough to trigger a negative emotional response in me. 

Good God!  and all because the authorities won't get their act together to provide what he needs in the community.  Prisoners are treated better than this.

God, I don't know what to say to you, except to get angry with the system on your behalf.  For my own reasons, I can't trust the services who are supposed to help.  

Oh me too.  Much safer. Everyone has a right to reform, but some characters in there would be dangerous to be around.  Throw me enough books and I could cope in alone in a box a loooong while. I think I would be actively requesting solitary confinement.

Joking aside though, these people were treated worse than a prisoner in solitary confinement.  The roughness, the denial of any comforts in there, the jeering by staff.  How are poorly people, autistic or not supposed to get better like that?

Didn't watch the programme but I read the article on the BBC site about it and that was shocking.

There was this today as well:

"Tony Hickmott: Autistic man to be released after 21 years in hospital" https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62819017

Shows just how easy it is to fall through the cracks of the system - and once you've fallen, that could be it for years. 

I went through the same for the last 2 years because the system still don’t know what to do for the best or how to help people like us. The trauma I’ve had from trying to get help is astounding, I was ill before I went under services. Now they have me scared to breathe wrong around them, just in case I get locked up forever and lose my home and animals. Just because i’m autistic and not coping. 

I also knew what to expect, so I avoided watching it because I'm depressed enough already.

I'm grateful that the special school ( for mentally disturbed children) that I attended as a child had no punishment regimes or staff bullying.

I knew this was going to be on, and I avoided watching it, as I’ve seen too much of the same type of thing happening before. Just thinking about it makes my blood boil. Where the understanding? Where is the support? How is this still happening??

to be fair i think id prefer being in solitary if i was in prison to avoid interaction with the other prisoners

As I said, people in authority are psychopaths. 

The Blair Brown Corporation is trying to weasel its way back into the public domain. They'll no longer receive a penny from me. 

I watched the program and felt physically sick. Harley and Olivia have never committed a crime and we’re treated in a way similar to a Victorian asylum system. I’ve unfortunately been in similar institutions and this one isn’t the only one, it’s the tip of the iceberg.

There are simply ones, in authority, who are psychopaths.

Very true.  It reminds me of the story in the US, where a vulnerable Autistic man was sent to prison for a misunderstanding and minor offence.  His family made sure the prison new he was autistic, expecting him to receive special treatment. He did, he was placed in solitary for ten months as a dangerous mental patient.

The BBC is also state-run. Just sayin'!

and this is one advantage of never getting diagnosed lol you get diagnosed its as good as being sentenced to prison for murder.

Yes, that program had a profound impact on me too when I saw it. 

Take that together with the recent BBC Scotland expose of autistic folk locked up in high security mental health situations and the testimony of people like Alexis Quinn in her book Unbroken.

Autistic people are being locked away because their Autism is not recognised, or it is recognised but they do not get Autism informed support when they need it, and in the worst case scenarios are actively mistreated and made worse by a system that is supposed to care for them.

My tax £££ are being used to abuse people like me who need our help. Yes, I felt sick watching that program. How is that poor lass ever going to get over that state sponsored trauma. And given that they once almost sectioned me the thought: "There but for the grace of God, go I" did go through my head. I didn't sleep easy after seeing that.