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Psychiatric referral difficulty

Katherine

I’m a 48 year old woman just diagnosed with ASD four weeks ago. The psychologist’s report recommends a full mental health assessment because I was diagnosed with OCD 8 years ago and they feel this diagnosis needs revisiting due to the ASD diagnosis. I made an appointment with my GP to see about next steps and they are understanding this recommendation as a request for a psychiatric referral. Firstly is this correct, or should I be asking for something else?

According to the GP they are unwilling to make this referral because they cannot evidence significant long term distress. I’ve been quitting jobs due to overload for 10 years! I’ve gone from full time management downwards through various admin roles, to minimum wage work from home, and now I’m a dinner lady and barely managing to make myself go to work. How can I explain to the GP that this is significant long term distress? They are looking only through a prescribing lens; however I am unable to take the SSRIs they recommend because they make me foecally incontinent. 

I guess I’m looking for any tips on how to explain to my GP that I would very much like to follow the psychologist’s recommendation for a full mental health assessment. The right words to use so that they will understand? Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

  • Hi Katherine, Thank you for sharing this with the community. I'm sorry that this has been a difficult time for you. 

    You may want to visit our advice and guidance on a wide range of information about autism, socialising and relationships, communication and education: https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance. You may find some useful information there to help you address your concerns with the GP going forward. 

    Good luck going forward and please keep the community updated with your progress.

    All the best,

  • Good morning from America, Katherine!

    Ooo I don’t know! I don’t know if I have any good advice about bringing this to your GP, but I would like to comment on the BPD. It does seem like it is very common for women in particular to be misdiagnosed with BPD when it really should be ASD. So I think your psychologist is on the right track.

    I can understand that the doctor is hesitant because there’s no medical treatment for ASD whereas there is for BPD, but yeah, they should be taking the psychologist’s advice here. Maybe this might be a reason to try out another GP and see if they can give it a second opinion? I have a feeling another doctor looking at your case with fresh eyes would see it the same way as your psychologist.

    Whatever you choose to do, I wish you the best!