New view on mental health

[Finallylostit]

Read this today. This Doctor is refreshingly honest and a thought provoking perspective on the explosion in the mental health industry

www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-14576559/REAL-cause-explosion-autism-depression-psychiatrist-DR-ALISTAIR-SANTHOUSE.html

Surely one needs to have cancerous cells to have cancer?

That must have changed very recently then as a few years ago it was very difficult to find anyone who felt qualified to diagnose that profile.

There was really only one educational psychologist around 8 years ago qualified to do so and most LAs didn't recognise the profile at that point. I spoke to the educational psychologist about my child and they explained that whilst many autistic children display demand avoidant traits when in heightened states of anxiety they would not meet the criteria of the PDA profile.

I wonder whether PDA traits are now being labelled as PDA profile by some educational psychologists. Who knows.

I didn't mean to be misleading.

Oh at two be clear when my child was being assessed by the expert pda psycholgist he refused ALL demands to the point that he wasn't doing a single thing. He was in bed all day, refusing to wash, refusing to eat pretty much, he saw everything as a demand.

This is the person I consulted https://www.drhilarydyer.co.uk/

Yes I agree, and I think thats a massive problem

Ive studied the history of diagnoses of MH conditions or conditions of the mind. ND isnt a MH umbrella but comes under that type of diagnosis history whereby the criteria, threshold, tools, assessments, theories, have changed over time

During any discussion about this it seems that people think that today, 2025 is the end of the process of that. It wont be, in 5, 10, 15 or whatever years time, there will be new ways of looking at those same difficulties, different names applied, different process of diagnosis, different categories etc etc

You only have to look at the issues surrounding PD (and the cross over of EUPD and ASD) to understand this.

There may be people now with an ASD diagnosis who in years to come we then describe their condition or range of symptoms as something completely different, they receive a different diagnosis, and we all say 'oh, ok that makes sense, for years we have been calling it x but its actually y'

People get really defensive about this however, Im not sure why.

What an insightful reply. I shall treasure it

But the cancer cells differ depending upon which type of cancer you have… ie, not an homogenous, single ‘type’ of cancer cell in order to be identified and diagnosed.

The pedants are out in force today.

The children off the top of my head (as Im not currently at work) are mid teens now and had their diagnoses a long time ago.

Well I was asking a question not being pedantic. Not sure why you're so defensive.

But clearly a cancer cell is a cancer cell. Its not mistaken for something else. Its a clear test for that one thing.

Thanks God for that. The more people say we are typing nonsense the better because we don't give a effing monkey for your labels so therefore label us talking nonsense because this is what we want anyway. To be left alone and in peace

This is what I am saying: take your labels and your diagnoses and do what you want with them at your own homes.

I think because the diagnostic criteria says that there must be a significant impact to a persons daily life, from childhood, in all three areas of the diagnostic triad, when people try to tell autistic people they ‘only have it mildly’ it doesn’t make sense. If something is significantly impacting your daily life then it’s not really something that the word ‘mild’ accurately describes.
Whereas, if you have mild asthma for example or mild arthritis it does not generally significantly impact your daily life.
Clearly there are wildly different levels of support needs between different autistic people but lower care needs does not equal no care or support needs.

Actually cancer diagnosis can be extremely complex. Much can depend on test results appearing "normal" within prescribed clinical ranges, yet it's not necessarily "normal" for the individual in question. Hence some diagnoses being made very late, and even somewhatby accident. Family members have experienced this.

Everyone's physiology is pretty much unique, but healthcare is predicated by averages and standards. It makes sense that as medical science and research expands, diagnostic criteria will expand and start to recognise presentations previously considered atypical.

Again you’re wrong. Many places do use it and have done for some time. NICE guidance is in line with it.

ICD-11 is now in use.

No they don’t - there is no diagnostic criteria for PDA. It doesn’t officially exist.

Again not correct. There is no diagnostic criteria for PDA and an ed psych is definitely not qualified to diagnose ASD or related conditions. That is not the remit of their role.

But they are diagnosed with the same condition. Autism. It's not diagnosed on a spectrum, you're diagnosed with autism. People can be affected with varying degrees of the condition but they do have the same condition - autism.

Curiouslurker is wrong with that.

No they dont what?

Have a formal diagnosis?

Yes they do, its in their diagnoses reports.

I'm confused.

Do you believe that autism can only manifest in one single way, and that therefore any other manifestation is not autism?

Because that makes no sense at all given that a myriad other conditions manifest one, some or all of a range of acknowledged clinical symptoms of that condition, said manifestation often also subject to change over time.

What about mild intellectual disability though?
I’d say that significantly impacts daily life.
Or mild cognitive impairment?

Other ND conditions are also on a spectrum and the same sort of argument happens. Most people would be okay with a description of ‘mild dyslexia’ I think - it would generally be considered preferable to severe dyslexia - but I’ve heard people argue that there is no such thing. That you simply have dyslexia or you do not, though they do concede it can be more or less severe.

ETA I do think you’re right btw.

Not of PDA. There is no diagnostic criteria. It’s not a thing, officially.

No I don’t think that and given what I’ve posted I’ve no idea why you have decided that’s what I think.

Someone else used the example of arthritis. It’s a good comparator. Arthritis can affect one joint. Or multiple joints. It can affect your eyes. Your legs. Your digestive system. But it’s still all arthritis. ASD is a disorder that impacts each individual in a unique way.

I agree with that completely. However, your insistence that PDA doesn't exist and doesn't have diagnostic criteria made me think otherwise. Just because it isn't in ICD-10 (are we on 11 yet?) doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Most likely as a manifestation of autism.

there is a difference between knowing there is no diagnostic criteria and therefore recognising no one can be diagnosed and thinking it does not exist.

That said, my experience (professional) of those with a PDA profile is a child with consistent unmet needs.