Published on 12, July, 2020
Autistica have launched a campaign to break the cycle of autistic people being unnecessarily detained in mental health units. Many are trapped for years and the traumatic treatment they endure in unsuitable environments means that their mental health actually gets worse not better.
Most shockingly the article states that more than 60% of people detained in mental health units are autistic. The actual proportion could even be higher if services do not pick up on and assess for autism.
Details of the campaign can be found here. They are urging everyone to write to their MP and a proforma letter template is provided.
https://www.autistica.org.uk/get-involved/break-the-cycle
If you need any more convincing read the heart-breaking story of Jackie, who was sectioned in her 50s following the death of her father. She went through what can only be described as a living hell for several years.
https://www.autistica.org.uk/get-involved/my-autism-story/jackies-story
The loss of a parent can be a huge life change for an autistic person and trigger a mental health crisis. Realistically I could see myself in that situation in the not too distant future and that is extremely scary. Autistic people should not be afraid of seeking support for fear of being sectioned. We need to unite to stop this appalling mistreatment of our fellow autists.
Indeed, I saw this earlier this week. It's so upsetting to read these stories.
The trigger for me was when they took my teeth and the permanent sensory trauma that left me with. I KNOW I escaped Jackie's fate by a mere hair's breath. Literally escaped. I feld the hospital and had to "go missing" for a while so that they couldn't do an MH assessment and the police could be talked down from the position of having to take me back there before I dared go home.
I had no idea I am autistic at that point but as a medical phobe I knew that no matter how bad things were they would get a whole lot worse locked inside a hospital. God! That would have been like trying to cure an arachnophobe by locking them in a box full of tarantulas and black widows.
Given that mental health services completely missed the fact that I could be an autistic person experiencing sever sensory distress and instead misdiagnosed a PD without even telling me, you betcha I am one of those who is now too afraid to seek support for anything emotional for fear of that being misunderstood and mishandled by services such that my problems will only get worse. I try to keep my doctor's mind focused on the sensory processing differences in trying to survive physical medical treatment now and tell them nothing about any other kind of anxiety.
I feel this.
I really want to see change as well.