Opinions: Do we believe the NHS is capable of helping autistic people with mental health problems?

Sparkly-Temporary Account said:

I think it's obvious from the experiences of some of the members here, and also things reported by the media that far too many people are unable to access the help and support they need from the NHS for mental health issues.

Very true.

With the increasing number of people being diagnosed with autism (especially the later diagnosed adults) then there is a ballooning of the number needing support and no realistic pipeline of either trained professionals or the funding for them to work.

It looks like this pinch point could be more than a decade long as it isn't viable to train up vast numbers of new metal health professionals who will be largely at a loose end once the "catch up" of later diagnosed patients is complete.

Also thinking about how people here report their support needs are often lifelong, this will be a tremendous overhead for the NHS were they to fund it, and since most autists are unlikely to be tax payers then we would be a massive drain on their budget.

It is a tricky situation to find a way out of which is why I think the NHS are largely ignoring it and just letting us sort ourselves out as best we can.

If anyone has a plan that includes funding options then I would love to hear it.

Consider that around 2% of the population are autistic (I think neurodiverse overall is arounf 15% but most others have lower support needs) then there will be around 1.4 million autists.

Support overhead would be on average one hour of support per month so to caculate the number of support staff hours for this I would estimate

A therapist would have 40 weeks of work per year (52 minus holidays. sickness, training etc)

Of a 40 hour working week, roughly half will be admin - writing up notes, preparing for sessions, meetings, research for particular clients etc.

So each year a therapist has 40 weeks x 20 hours of face to face time = 800 hour per year.

The NHS would need 1.4 millon support hours needed / 800 hours per therapist = 1,750 dedicated staff.

Does anyone know how many they have now? If they staff are doing other stuff then they have even less hours for autists so we need even more staff. It would be interesting to see the numbers.

If you consider an average salary of £80k, the cost to an employer is roughly double this for pension, benefits, National Insurance etc then this is £160k x 1,750 staff = £280 million per year.

This is before the cost of premises, medications, additional support staff etc.

I wonder how much we as a group contribute through National Insurance contributions versus how much we take in benefits.

This was just playing with the numbers to see what we look like to the government on a balance sheet.

Based on the state the NHS is currently in, I think it's obvious from the experiences of some of the members here, and also things reported by the media that far too many people are unable to access the help and support they need from the NHS for mental health issues.

With enough funding and education/training about autism, then yes, I think the NHS mental health services would be capable.

In fact I’m not living in UK, but in my country I had other negative experiences. I had a psychotherapy, where I was told I have depression, and I was given meds (which I took and there was no difference) I was also told to draw pictures and everything will be fine. When I told the psychologist that I’m worse than the others and I hate myself (years back I did) she said I just have to work for that and stop creating myself problems. 
some short time before I joined this site (despite already suspecting, that suits may be the main source of my problems) I told the therapist about my problems and symptoms and she informed me that I show quite strong autistic traits and then she started laughing, she said it’s such a fashionable diagnosis and she asked me if I wanna get myself diagnosed. I told her idk if I need diagnosis, but I need help. I already knew this person will not help me and didn’t trust her enough to continue the “therapy” and share anything more. 
Here in Germany one psychiatrist told me he is sure that I’m autistic but he doesn’t offer psychotherapy, but took me seriously and sympathised  with me having such experiences. Now I have an appointment booked with a psychologist. I hope to not hear any stupid comments. I’m not gonna mention anything about any “trendy” autism, I prepared pictures to show him my issues as speaking is often draining for me , at times when I’m depressed it’s even painful and causes me crying, do I will show him pictures and explain shortly what is on them and maybe discuss with him. I want him to see me and my problems and that he himself comes to some conclusions and maybe help me, offer me something. Maybe with his help I would be able to join some local group. Or maybe it would be just another experience. I found him on the list given me by the psychiatrist here in Germany. 

no, the NHS and their mental health team are useless at best

It’s a case of prejudice, outright discrimination and point blank refusal to understand, refusal to be educated, where one is written off as being a “freak and a weirdo” “hopeless and heedless moron” and “just a bold child who needs the birch or a leather belt” and in the case of autistic adults, there are some who believe that people with autism should not be allowed to live alone without a live in carer and that the only way to manage autism is by means of ultra strict and harsh discipline to “properly” manage the condition, that autism can easily be bullied out or slagged out of someone, because they have “no time” for our “nonsense” and “foolishness” instead being used as their “whipping boy” and “punchbag” “butt of jokes” and need a good stern talking to by the police 

Here is the thing it is luck of the draw.I have had amazing support from the NHS but it is because I know how to navigate it.My GP was convinced I had autism as I was suffering with severe anxiety and some other issues and I said is there something that categorises all my symptoms and then she said yes Autism.

The normal NHS waiting channel is a 6 year wait so I found out you can do right to choose and I found an organisation that would asses me within 6 months.It actually was 3 months.

So  my advice keep battling say that you want an assessment and ask for the right to chose

Near duplicate response.

This is the exact same response as my son got, except in Cornwall he isn’t classed as autistic enough for support from the autism team but to autistic for the adult mental health team to support. He has been left in no mans land without any support at all.

No. Normals can't experience our life. So how can they know anything 

I come from the opposite side of things. First saw a psychiatrist in autumn 1973, didn't get the Asperger's dx  till May 2019. Like a lot of people getting a mental illness diagnosis long before an autism diagnosis -  I was not treated well by  mental health services.

Things are better now,i.e no heated exchange of words with the mental health, only because my daughter demolished lies that had been allowed to become entrenched about me by my previous mental health team in Essex.

My mental health team here in the SW of England are comparatively more knowledgable about autism, but I still got a puzzled look on mentioning 'adaptive functioning' at my post diagnosis appointment. I have had a lifetime of adaptive functioning ability that's way below my intelligence level, without a smidgen of help and support for it.  

Urban Wandering Photographer said:

neurodiverse individuals

Just FYI:

As a parent I found as soon as my son turned 18 and went from camhs to adult mental health the support just wasn’t there. We had to go private for his counselling and on the nhs it is not available if you have asd. This is ridiculous. Appointments are every 6 months . No support wot so ever. Something does need to be done but nothing ever is.

So why don't we form a working comittee and design our own paradise?

With any accomplishment first you need to frame your intent and start to build a pathway to success...

I worked briefly in an "autists paradise" at one time, where I only needed 3 days off in 8 months, but I didn't know at the time I had Autism or ADD. So I know it's possible to get close to an autists paradise.

I liked 1. being paid enough so that I could get there in good order and do the job. 2. I liked being left alone to work unmolested for a while after I got in so as I could get "myself going" 3. then I liked to work pretty furiously until lunchtime. 4. We ate like kings, in as much as me and my boss (who was about 18 years younger than me!) woudl go to tesco's deli (quite good in Aylesbury, let me tell you) and retrun with a load of nice stuff for anyone else who wanted to partake to share with us. rolls and cheese and pickles & salad etc. 5. On demand free coffee. (I started my days some days with two double espressos in the same cup I called it the "super speedy head raper")  Everyone was polite and althoug a little back-bitey as workpaces often are, the real trouble stirring types were quickly identified and suitably "contained". After the takeover they were all promoted of course.  

They don't have a clue about autism. 

I don't want to be put on pills because the cause of my depression is that society does not understand autism, does not accommodate and is not designed by nor for neurodiverse individuals. 

Absolutely!...not

It is a thundering disgrace that this is not rolled out nationally, along with the best practice and latest research findings and treatments from around the world, including Austrailia, which the NHS is more than capable of doing - we also have to seriously question and robustly challenge the kind of people who are being placed in positions of leadership in the NHS as some of their decisions over the years have been highly questionable, involving the mismanagement and misuse of public funds 

Devil -v- deep !

fibromyalgia -v- hep c.

It is good that you and your GP are of a similar mind though.....and great to hear of patient+GP synchronicity......and the funding/means to enable it in your case. 

We'll probably all be asked to rate our pain on a 1-10 scale and how will it know if my 10 is the same as yours? I don't think humans do very well at this.

Will it be translated from one language into half a dozen others that nobody understands, a bit like instructions from IKEA?

You never know, we might actually end up with something thart listens to us, but I doubt it, it will probably want to talk to all our other devices which will be fun if like me you don't use social media, YouTube or have a smart phone. If it talked to my Kiindle it would probably come away with the impression that I'm obsessed with death as I read a lot of crime fiction.

I'm having to have a blood test next week to see if I was given infected blood back in the 80's, the symptoms for hep C are very similar to those of fibromyalgia. I'm not that worried about it, but the GP and I both thought it was worth checking.

I Sperg said:

A.I. will eventually replace their diagnostic function, and on the whole I expect it'll be able to out perform the humans

I can imagine the trouble that AI will have with the Brittish "it hurts a bit" or "I just feel a bit off" input, never mind the challenges with masking autists when trying to perform any sort of mental health work.

Nightmare!

Oh my god! That’s absolute rubbish. My heart goes out to you.