AdamJ

People often think I'm being sarcastic when I'm not. Sure, like I care or something.

Darkshine, I've sent you a PM. Please may I ask you to respect the privacy of the message. All the best, Adam

It's incredibly difficult to get referred to an NHS psychologist for CBT so if you've got it, well done you.

I overlooked the fact that you have a care coordinator. Forget your GP, ask your care coordinator to be assessed by a clinical psychologist. Give him / her something to coordinate for once!

Will I default to having HFA or will I need a new diagnosis?

How amazing that you should suggest Tubular Bells. It was the first record I ever owned! I think I was eight at the time. But I only ever played side one. I can't remember side two at all!

Darkshine, I realise you're not asking for anyone's sympathy but for what it's worth, you have mine. The AS dx in itself won't trigger any support from the mental health service. After all, you're the same person you always were but now with a label. But you've got a set of secondary issues that are a virtual facsimile of my own so I truly do sympathise. First a disclaimer: I'm not a doctor. That said, it doesn't take a PHD to see that the professional best placed to help you is a clinical psychologist. My advice would be to go to your GP, explain your problems and ask to be assessed by a clinical psychologist. The assessment will determine whether or not the therapy they can offer will be effective. The psychiatrist's input will probably be limited to a diagnosis and a prescription. Medication has its place but I feel sure that therapy from a clinical psychologist would benefit you. I know it helped me. Note to moderators: I hope this advice to see a psychologist doesn't break your rules.

Absolutely not.

I relate to more or less everything you've written and you have my sympathies too. You could ask to see your care coordinator more frequently. The problem is, do you feel you get any benefit from seeing the care coordinator? Mine was a perfectly pleasant nurse who came round periodically for a quick chat over a cup of tea, largely to satisfy himself that I wasn't on the verge of throwing myself under a train. I didn't really get any benefit myself from those meetings. In my blacker periods when I was suicidal, I got daily visits from the Crisis Team. They are also the gatekeepers to the psychiatric hospital here and they have sanctioned my admission there three times. Being an inpatient benefited me by giving me a breathing space to get myself back on track without having to worry about domestic things like cooking or cleaning. Unfortunately, you have to be presenting some very strong risk indicators to stand any chance of an admission, in my area at least. Two more professionals you could be talking to are the psychiatrist (they come at the problem from a medication angle)and a clinical psychologist, if available. I was lucky enough to have my case taken on by the NHS psychologist who diagnosed me, although it wasn't AS that got me there; it was my other mental health problems. The AS diagnosis was coincidental. Anyway, I think she has probably been the person most instrumental in helping me come to terms with it. Never be afraid to ask, and never play down your problems. Let your care coordinator know how bad things have got for you and that you need more support.

I'm not Charlotte (obviously) but I'd like to give you my $0.02. My clinical psychologist couldn't understand why I was so perturbed when she diagnosed me early last year. She said that most people feel a sense of relief, yet I initially felt quite upset by it. Like everyone, I've had my ups and downs in life but I found it hard not to reflect on my life and feel that there was a clinical reason for key things having gone wrong, e.g. divorce (my ex-wife's petition reads like a list of classic AS symptoms!). This in turn led me to wonder whether I had any chance of future happiness... of things going right. I soon overcame that feeling. There's just no point in reflecting on past events. After that, I did feel relieved. It also brought practical benefits. At work, for example, my employer made changes to my job role so that I now do the stuff I like doing (and which I'm really good at) and avoid the parts of the job that used to cause me major stress. I think most would say relief was the main reaction. Ultimately, that was my feeling too.

Of course - you won't need our good luck but you have it anyway!

I'm wondering whether there is any general awareness in the ASD/AS community, of the movie Napoleon Dynamite which was on Film4 last night. I watched it after learning of speculation that the film-makers intended to portray Napoleon, the main character, and perhaps also other characters, as having AS. If you've seen it, what do you think? If you haven't seen it, I recommend it - it's a heartwarming story with some very funny moments and a really uplifting ending. Film4 tends to run films several times in a short period so it might be on again soon.

I sometimes dream that people are doing things or behaving in a way I don't like, causing me to descend rapidly into a big meltdown. I had one like that a few months ago where my parents visited unexpectedly and set about rearranging everything in my flat. Thankfully, dreams like that don't cause me real-life meltdowns. Here's a small digression. There is a theory that if you have a falling dream and you land, then you will die of shock in real life. This is definitely untrue! I vividly recall once landing in a falling dream. I admit that it did cause me a massive shock. Bizarrely, I instantaneously awoke to find myself several inches clear above my bed, onto which I came back down to rest. I can only assume I convulsed so violently that I 'bounced' myself clear of the bed!

You've reminded me of what I find most puzzling about the NHS services I receive. I've been a psychiatric hospital inpatient three times. While on the ward, I'm under the sole care of an NHS psychiatrist, whose role seems to be purely diagnosis and medication prescription. However, I'm also an outpatient with the clinical psychologist (same hospital) who has no prescribing authority and whose services are, therefore, entirely complementary to the psychiatric side. And yet, they don't seem to have a system of communicating with each other or sharing each other's findings. My psychologist has to ask me what medication I'm on, while the psychiatrist has to ask me if my AS diagnosis has been confirmed! To be fair to the NHS, nobody there has ever sought a cure for the AS. With medication, the psychiatrists have been trying to mitigate my associated problems: major depressive disorder, suicidal ideation, acute anxiety disorder, adjustment disorder and attachment disorder. Of those, the suicidal ideation problem is what has landed me in psychiatric hospital three times. NHS psychiatrists are there for medication prescription - nothing more. NHS clinical psychologists look at the 'here and now' symptoms and try to treat them as best they can - like a sticking plaster. It's all they can afford. The thing is that my (non-AS) problems go back to a troubled childhood but if you want therapy to deal with historical stuff, the private sector is the only way to go. Adam

If it's any consolation, Jeanne, I'm also on Mirtazepine (in combination with Duloxetine) and I think the Mirtazepine works well (for me, anyway). Hopefully, Glen won't need sleeping pills because Mirtazepine itself has a soporific effect.

In my experience, NHS psychiatrists have only one function which is to prescribe medication according to their short-term findings. They don't have the time to work out what the underlying issues are. If you're lucky enough to be referred to an NHS clinical psychologist, they're the ones who dig deeper to try to ascertain the underlying problems and can offer cognitive behavioral therapy, etc. Adam

It sounds as if things reached a pretty desperate point. None of us here knows the circumstances but kicking your son out seems quite a drastic act.

As well as antidepressants (Duloxetine and Mirtazepine), since my most recent admission to psychiatric hospital in January I've also been put on a mood stabiliser / anti-psychotic, Quetiapine 300mg. The psychiatrist felt I might have been showing signs of psychosis because, when asked if I heard voices, I said no but I had a song loudly playing over and over in my mind 24/7 which I couldn't get rid of. (For what it's worth, the song was Lovely Head by Goldfrapp. It's gone from my head now but I've deleted it from my iPod for fear of it getting stuck in my head again). I'm certainly not psychotic but I take the Quetiapine anyway because it deals with my anxiety symptoms very effectively. The problem is, it knocks me out! Recently, my alarm sounded at 6.40am as usual. I hit the snooze button, then didn't wake up until 3.30pm! If you don't mind feeling whacked out all the time, it's great but it's not so good if you have responsibilities like work. I've been told it's difficult to get a Quetiapine prescription because 28 tablets cost the NHS about £180. Yikes! I'm sure there must be other mood stabilisers that are cheaper and less sedating.

"NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 2 of each year as World Autism Awareness Day." A picky point from me too: has he forgotten that the world extends beyond the USA, or does he believe that the authority vested in him enables him to proclaim on behalf of the world?

Hi moongazer. Yes, I prefer repetitive music with a constant rhythm and strong melodies. I also have a strong preference for music with a 'clean' sound - electronic or orchestral instruments, for example. I'm not keen on 'dirty' sounds like electric guitars. I'm also unmoved by music that relies heavily on the expressiveness or emotion of the performance, e.g. rock, soul, jazz, etc. I'm afraid most of it is rather wasted on me. I don't know if my tastes are universally aspie-friendly but if you want any personal recommendations, feel free to PM me. :-) Adam Ps. I often get stuck on a track or album and listen to it over and over again.

Hallelujah! Thanks.

Thanks

BD, I think I must have understated my issue. It isn't about annoying typos. I might be a rigid thinker but I'm not a pedant. It's only recently that I've become aware that my comprehension difficulties aren't universal. Pre-dx, before I'd ever heard of AS, I presumed everyone had similar difficulties to mine. That's partly why my grammar is pretty good: it betrays a lifelong misconception that only correct English usage will be understood by others. I now know this isn't the case. The forsaking of normal rules, especially in internet and email communication, evidently causes difficulties for nobody except me! It isn't merely irritating and has nothing to do with pedantry; for me, it can be a major barrier to comprehension. We can all struggle to make sense of, for example, long streams of consciousness with no construction or punctuation. However, I can have genuine difficulties with much less obvious deviations from regular usage. I've coped for the last forty years mainly by asking for help. My request wasn't intended for members who aren't able or don't have time but rather for those who, as you put it, can't be arsed. Anyway, given its unpopularity, I'll drop it and just muddle on as before.

Nobody's asking for grammar police, just some recognition that AS can make it impossible to understand written text if the mistakes in it demand interpretation skills that many of us simply don't possess.