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Xye

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Posts posted by Xye

  1. Posted · Report reply

    A lot of this discussion is exactly where I am coming from, I have lived with the hope that I will sort out everything and that it can all be "fixed" somehow. When I was diagnosed with AS it suddenly felt like that wasn't the case.

    The logic went like this: mental health probs can be fixed - ASD can't

     

    I see this may appear ignorant, but it is how it felt.

     

    I think it is true, that the way you handle something, think about it or approach it, will effect the outcome, that if you view something as unfixable it will be unfixable etc...

     

    The thing I disagree with is that relabelling things as autism doesn't change anything... I think it does change things, it changes how you understand yourself, how others understand you, it changes how you think about yourself and your past, it changes your comprehension of so many events - including hours spent talking to 'professionals', it changes how society views you - some people are really accepting, others are really ignorant, and consequently this changes how people feel they can behave, for some the mask can lift, they know why they are how they are, for others the social pressures remain and nothing really changes. The term also is relevant in terms of employment - again mixed responses and as someone pointed out mental heath as a term has its own stigmas attached.

     

    Thanks. You pretty much said what I wanted to say. Or at least I got what I wanted to mean from what you said... :wacko:

     

    Hi again Xye,

     

    I hope BD won't mind me quoting him from another thread:

     

    Bid :)

     

    Thanks. I guess what it all really boils down to is happiness. If I can be happy in what I'm doing then nothing much else really matters. Though maybe that is a discussion for a different thread? (I really have no idea when to let one thread die and create another one)

  2. Posted · Report reply

    I'm not sure if or how I should reply as I fear I may have upset some people here.

     

    Thank you Bid.

     

    I am just so so tired of having to fight for everything. And what is maybe the hardest thing is that I have no support. I have no friends or mates or anything, and I end up getting so frustrated a my parents because I simply cannot find the words to describe what i think and feel when I talk to them. :wallbash::tearful:

     

    To be honest I don't know what to do anymore. I keep putting one foot infront of the other in the hope that one day something good might happen. Though if I didn't have bad luck I'd have no luck at all.

  3. Posted · Report reply

    I think you need to try and learn a little more about ASD - in doing so you will be able to change your mindset and have a less negative outlook. Many people with ASD go on to have successful relationships and friendships. Many of the adults on the forum who have ASD are married and have children, are successful in the workplace etc. I'm not saying it's always easy for them, but it's entirely possible.

     

    My son is quite severely autistic and he has a wonderful relationship with the key people in his life, us, his sister, my parents and sisters, school and his respite carer.

     

    Lynne

    I can understand what you mean, but I think you're worrying needlessly. Although ASD is not curable, people with ASD can always learn new skills. An assessment may define your difficulties for you and identify the things you need to work on.

     

    People with ASD can form friendships and relationships. It may be that they are not typical, but the important thing is that they are beneficial for both parties. Having ASD would not make this impossible.

     

    It's also possible that you do have an element of your existing mental health diagnoses in addition to ASD. Understanding that you have ASD could lead to more effective treatment methods and aid your recovery.

    Lynne is absolutely right! I have a dx of AS, I've been married for nearly 18 years, have 4 kids, and a full-time job working with young people with learning difficulties including autism and complex medical needs.

     

    Bid :)

     

    I am sorry I am Just going by the way I feel. And yes maybe the depression is taking its toll on me and has tinted my world view so that I cannot believe that anything good can happen anymore.

     

    Hi -

     

    I totally agree with Lynden/Bid. ASD will only be an excuse for giving up if you make it one - it is no more insurmountable than the social anxiety, low self-esteem and depression your previous psychiatrist diagnosed; it's just a new label for the same problems (and may not be appropriate anyway).

    TBH it sounds a bit presumptious of your new psychiatrist to dismiss five years of therapy with another professional out of hand purely on the basis of an assumption and some 'shared traits' - which in reality anyone suffering social anxiety, self-esteem issues and depression would. there is, IMO a bit of a 'bandwagon' arising around autism and I think your new psychiatrist is probably ready to jump on it and take you along with him for the ride... That doesn't mean that you couldn't be autistic - it's just an acknowledgement that an NT person with the 'symptoms' you describe would manifest 'some traits' of autism, and none of the things your previous psych diagnosed are in any way exclusive to autistic people...

     

    Trying to put that into some other sort of medical context, think of a situation where you had been seeing a GP for IBS - a long term, stress related illness that affects millions. If you went to a new GP and he said 'well some of the symptoms you're describing would also apply to someone with bowel cancer, so I'm recommending chemo and giving you no more than six months to live... My guess is that under those circumstances you'd want the new doctor to be a bit more thorough in his examination before offering even a speculative diagnosis/intervention, and you'd probably have a few questions you wanted to ask the old doctor too(?)

     

    L&P

     

    BD

     

    BD I feel you are jumping in without knowing all the facts.

     

    These two psychiatrists have talked too each other about me (apparently) and so is aware that in 5 years of treatment including antidepressants/antianxiety medication, and cbt, nothing has changed.

     

    I really did dislike the first psych, and am frankly glad that he is leaving now but before I knew this I had already applied to see another one. The reason being that I had asked for some form of counseling and he had dismissed it out of hand saying I was too young to have issues which needed to be talked about.

     

    The second psychiatrist when i first met him did a kind of basic test or something at our first meeting and he (again apparently) knows something about autism.

     

     

    BUT BACK TO THE POINT:

     

    When you were applying for jobs how did the employers take the ASD diagnosis? I mean did they ask you or anything? I mean I know they are not even supposed to see the health report thingy but still....

  5. Posted · Report reply

    Thanks.

     

    I am just really worried that this may ruin my chances of being able to lead a reasonably normal life... well as normal as is possible for me.

     

    Then again really i suppose it more depends on the person who's desk the application crosses and what they know about it that matters, and that of course is not something I can know.

     

    I am also concerned by myself. I fear that should I get an ASD diagnosis I will, in effect, give up on life. While its social phobia it might be overcome, with ASD....

     

    While knowing either way would be good... I'm afraid.

  6. Posted · Report reply

    Hi this is my first post and I'm looking for some advice.

     

    I am 24 (near 25) and am studying for an MSc which I shall hopefully complete this September. I do not plan on carrying on to do a PhD, which means I shall be looking for a job....

     

    For the last 5 years I have seen a psychiatrist who has told me I have Depression, low self esteem and social phobia. However, I have recently seen a different psychiatrist who thinks, because I have not improved in the 5 years I have seen the previous psychiatrist, that I may have ASD and says I certainly share some traits with people who have it.

     

    When applying for a job I already must put down if asked directly that I have suffered from mental health issues.

     

    My question is thus:

     

    Is there any benefit to having an official diagnosis of ASD?

     

    While we all know that companies are not supposed to discriminate against people with mental health problems they still clearly do, and it is almost impossible to prove that they are doing so.

     

    Does anyone have any experience with this? As I could really do with some advice.

     

    Tom.

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