30yrs of mess to untangle

Hello Monkeyclogs and welcome.

Generally, the National Autistic Society website has good guidance information.  However, in my view, if there were any slightly weaker area; it would be around mental health and the particular support needs of Autistic people (particularly adults / older adults) successfully accessing mental health services.

Mental health isn't only about anxiety and depression.  The intersection of mental health, physical health and Autism considerations is poor.  I am not saying this to make you sad.  Rather, I am reflecting upon lived experience and encouraging you to trust your instincts to learn more and advocate for your personal Autism support needs when accessing mental health services.

Mental health clinicians can lack confidence and experience in correctly engaging with Autistic people.  Another issue is that even within psychology services teams ...stigma may mean those Autistic personnel may still feel career pressure not to have disclosed their own Autism to colleagues - and here you are holding up an uncomfortable mirror of Autism.

I have been genuinely surprised how nin Neurodivergent considerate engagement with leading University departments responsible for training the next generation if clinical psychologists can be.

If you have felt some if these themes - I wanted you to know you are not alone.  Many of us here can identify with that path and experiences.

The CBT that risks encouraging more instead of less masking.  The waiting rooms apparently designed to stress Autistic people, the lack of handshake between Primary and Secondary Care (so work achieved in one team falls to the floor in the next team), the lack of mental health and Autism knowledge in Primary Care, the Hospital appointment diagnostic test environment as far from accessible for Autistic people as you could conceive - the list goes on.

We do ourselves a service by educating ourselves, sharing that knowledge, learning to be bold and assertive in asking for help (from clinicians and other staff, from each other here and anyone else we encounter (the Sunflower Lanyard can be our voice), for requesting reasonable adjustments, for deploying Neurodivergent and My Health Passports - for normalising: we exist and we have legislation in our corner and we require different support to thrive and we will not be quiet about any of that any longer.

Reasonable Adjustments Accessing Mental Health Services:

https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/mental-health/seeking-help/asking-for-reasonable-adjustments

Good Practice Guide For Practitioners:

https://www.autism.org.uk/shop/products/books-and-resources/good-practice-guide

Book (also available via Amazon as an eBook and Kindle):

The Autistic Survival Guide To Therapy

By Steph Jones.

(Equally well reviewed by those being treated and clinicians delivering treatment).

https://uk.jkp.com/products/the-autistic-survival-guide-to-therapy

Sunflower Hidden Disabilities Lanyard:

https://hdsunflower.com/uk/

Many of us here "get it" and no, you are not imagining it; mental health support is yet to be provided with Autism support needs being adequately considered - together, we are pushing for suitable improvement.

NAS My Health Passport:

https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/physical-health/my-health-passport

Looking forward to learning from one another.  Trust your instincts; if an approach feels uncomfortable for you: get it adapted to safeguard your wellbeing.

Hello Monkeyclogs and welcome.

Generally, the National Autistic Society website has good guidance information.  However, in my view, if there were any slightly weaker area; it would be around mental health and the particular support needs of Autistic people (particularly adults / older adults) successfully accessing mental health services.

Mental health isn't only about anxiety and depression.  The intersection of mental health, physical health and Autism considerations is poor.  I am not saying this to make you sad.  Rather, I am reflecting upon lived experience and encouraging you to trust your instincts to learn more and advocate for your personal Autism support needs when accessing mental health services.

Mental health clinicians can lack confidence and experience in correctly engaging with Autistic people.  Another issue is that even within psychology services teams ...stigma may mean those Autistic personnel may still feel career pressure not to have disclosed their own Autism to colleagues - and here you are holding up an uncomfortable mirror of Autism.

I have been genuinely surprised how nin Neurodivergent considerate engagement with leading University departments responsible for training the next generation if clinical psychologists can be.

If you have felt some if these themes - I wanted you to know you are not alone.  Many of us here can identify with that path and experiences.

The CBT that risks encouraging more instead of less masking.  The waiting rooms apparently designed to stress Autistic people, the lack of handshake between Primary and Secondary Care (so work achieved in one team falls to the floor in the next team), the lack of mental health and Autism knowledge in Primary Care, the Hospital appointment diagnostic test environment as far from accessible for Autistic people as you could conceive - the list goes on.

We do ourselves a service by educating ourselves, sharing that knowledge, learning to be bold and assertive in asking for help (from clinicians and other staff, from each other here and anyone else we encounter (the Sunflower Lanyard can be our voice), for requesting reasonable adjustments, for deploying Neurodivergent and My Health Passports - for normalising: we exist and we have legislation in our corner and we require different support to thrive and we will not be quiet about any of that any longer.

Reasonable Adjustments Accessing Mental Health Services:

https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/mental-health/seeking-help/asking-for-reasonable-adjustments

Good Practice Guide For Practitioners:

https://www.autism.org.uk/shop/products/books-and-resources/good-practice-guide

Book (also available via Amazon as an eBook and Kindle):

The Autistic Survival Guide To Therapy

By Steph Jones.

(Equally well reviewed by those being treated and clinicians delivering treatment).

https://uk.jkp.com/products/the-autistic-survival-guide-to-therapy

Sunflower Hidden Disabilities Lanyard:

https://hdsunflower.com/uk/

Many of us here "get it" and no, you are not imagining it; mental health support is yet to be provided with Autism support needs being adequately considered - together, we are pushing for suitable improvement.

NAS My Health Passport:

https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/physical-health/my-health-passport

Looking forward to learning from one another.  Trust your instincts; if an approach feels uncomfortable for you: get it adapted to safeguard your wellbeing.

Thank you! This is really helpful information.

i agree about CBT I have found a lot of therapy doesn't actually help.

One therapeutic situation now really stands out. There was a group therapy day unit I attended where every morning we had to sit in a circle and go round giving a word for how we felt that day. I would say I don't know, because I didn't know, then I would get told I was with holding from the process and pressured in front of everyone else. Eventually I just started picking random emotions so that they left me alone.

Of the many conditions I've been diagnosed with that there seems to still be a consensus that I am, is bipolar. But I seem to be able to describe the different states only in terms of how fast my brain is going and how much sleep I need, rather than happy or sad. This has lead to them not realising the severity of a depression or manic episode at times until things have spiralled considerably.

I'm very reluctant to come out as neurodivergent in the world as I've long ago stopped sharing my mental health conditions with anyone except my closest friends. I just hide away when it gets obvious and only have one or two trusted drs.