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

But there is a concrete test for Down Syndrome - you can see the extra chromosome, or part of a chromosome.

It’s a spectrum condition and many of the “high functioning” autistic people have comorbid mental health illnesses.

Presumably you agree that EUPD was overdiagnosed/misdiagnosed in women who we now might think have ASD?

So there are examples of how diagnoses and thinking about criteria, symptoms, traits and presenting need changes over time.

Prior to that it was termed borderline PD

Things change, terminology changes, practice changes.

There are also recognised tests for conditions such as autism or depression for example, but by nature they have to be via diagnostic questionnaires, and how the patient presents. Just because there isn't a difference in chromosomes or something that you can see on an x-ray or scan, doesn't mean the condition is any less real. Say someone has a migraine - scans and blood tests won't show anything but the migraine is still real and debilitating.

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-maths-technology/understanding-autism/content-section-overview?active-tab=description-tab

This is a completely free course that you can take in your spare time.

I’ve read this recently-it’s excellent. She is incredibly knowledgeable about psychosomatic and functional disorders. Her other books are good too.

But that just repeats things I already know.

With every other condition, either there’s a definitive test, or the symptoms are broadly speaking the same. With autism everyone has different symptoms, there’s no definitive test yet we confidently assert they all have the same condition?

But migraine sufferers all have the same symptom - head/neck pain and visual disturbance.

Thanks @Pomegranatecarnage
I love reading different views and ideas. I just read Sleeping Beauties which was great and Let me not be bad which was dreary.

Yes, I 100% agree with that. Of course clinical practice changes as further research changes what we know. However, that does not mean that there is no such thing as autism - it just means that we don't know enough about it and that more research is needed.

I am the parent of an autistic female young adult who is pushing back against the EUPD diagnosis that has been foisted on them, btw.

Firstly, you don’t know what it will tell you unless you do the course.

Secondly, I’ve been paid to give training for the last 20 years. I’m not giving it for free on a Sunday night.

Not necessarily. I have aura migraines. No pain, just visual disturbances. Even migraines are complex. Maybe if you abandoned your need for simple answers, you would be able to deepen your understanding.

I've been told off on other threads for saying that some people have mild autism, others more severe autism. I was told by several posters that I didn't know what I was talking about and that 'spectrum' meant that exact symptoms can vary but that it has nothing to do with severity.

My question then is how anyone can seriously think their child, attending a normal school and making friends, can in any way be considered on the same level of need as a nonverbal child who is unable to care for themselves.

I've seen it as a teacher. Some kids have autism and I would barely even know if the parents didn't tell me. Others have autism and simply can't function in a standard classroom, meaning they have to attend a more specialised school. These kids don't have the same level of severity of autism. They just don't.

If only it was that simple.

The issue is being undiagnosed often causes significant mental health issues.

I didnt say there was no such thing, but I believe (as does my slibing who has a diagnosis of Aspergers) that there isnt a blanket 'ND', there are different conditions that seem to come under this umbrella now and this isnt helpful

A bit like schizophrenia isnt a condition of itself, its an umbrella term for a number of behaviours, presenting need and other conditions.

It’s complicated. I’ve taught the whole spectrum of children from nonverbal to savant - in mainstream, specialist and resourced provisions.

Please let me direct you to this excellent free course:

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-maths-technology/understanding-autism/content-section-overview?active-tab=description-tab

Yes this is correct, Im not sure what the political, with a small P, reason is for this advocating of the removal of categories. Many professionals I work with are uncomfortable with it along with parents of children who are extremely disabled, non verbal etc etc.

It really isn’t. Your experience doesn’t speak for all Autism is massively undiagnosed particularly in women and girls. There are awful waiting lists and only 1in a 100 children are diagnosed as autistic.

You might want to shelve the Daily Mail and read the article in the New Scientist about new research showing that girls/women with autism have been woefully under diagnosed and unsupported for decades due to clinical bias towards male models of ASD.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg26635372-400-a-revolutionary-new-understanding-of-autism-in-girls/

Written by Gina Rippon, a Professor Emeritus specialising in cognitive neuroscience.

I think I’ll rate her expertise over a man trying to flog a book, even if he is supposedly a practicing psychiatrist.

I am glad it does not speak for all because I am individual and live my life as I want it.

This is completely from my own experience and observations...

We have a DC who is genuinely ND, diagnosed at age 3 from specialists. We in no way wanted him to be suffering from the conditions he has but it became clear at this age and before.

Fast forward to school, as a teacher and parent attending sessions to help st my own DC's school separately. I was actually in disbelief in all who attended the sessions were desperate to get their DC diagnosed but school and doctors doesn't agree with them and the DC didn't meet the criteria. Do you what the main reason was? Bad parenting, absolutely. The parents and children were very well looked after by the school, endless extra food parcels, support, meals delivered during the holidays and extra bags of goodies given out.

The parents I observed, sorry, just being factual here, were very overweight, many had more than 3 kids, some 7/8. The conversations I overhead/was part of ... wot u doing now? Dunno, probably netfilx...feeding their DC a boasted discounted supply of sweets and crisps and complaing they are bouncing off the walls...they drank a lot of alcohol and smoked, did drugs when pregnant, got beaten by their 5th partner to their 5th baby.

So much goes on you don't all see. These Mums were all self admittedly unable to look after themselves, let alone children. Yet they pass on their own conditions to their own DC and want diagnosis for more money. Again, yes, the conversations of oh you should this and that.

One particular memory was taking a day off work to supervise my child on a school trip out to a farm. The Mum opposite me was complaining she couldn't get an ehcp. Her DC was gorgeous, completely non ND from my contact with her, her teachers, medical analysis and social workers etc. She asked if my DC had an ehcp and I said yes, she just exploded and said why can't 'I' get one?

My response...I wish my DC didnt need an EHCP and the only reason we have one is because school staff and us knew unfortunately they had to have it to move to a specialist school. We hated having to do this but moved them and they have thrived beyond anyrhing we had hoped for.

Her response... lucky you! You can get the extra money now. Erm, what extra money, had no idea as me and DH worked full time and it's our responsibility to pay for DC, as we've been brought up to do.

So apparently there was DLA available, which we didn't ever think of applying for but we're advised to. As it became clear we couldn't use wraparound care anymore, due to DC being terrified, also a lot of intervention was needed, so I went PT to be able to take to appointments.

So in our circumstances the DLA has been so appreciated and I've never claimed any benefits before.

Such a long read, guess I've poured my heart out, so if you get to the end of this thanks and bedtime lol 😆

Again, I agree with you. It's @Wildflowers99 who seems to be implying that if it isn't simple to diagnose in a black/white binary fashion, it therefore doesn't exist.

We don't know nearly enough about autism. My youngest is absolutely autistic. At the same time, they are about to complete a STEM degree, live independently, have a great social life and friends. All those things are more exhausting for them because of their autism, but it is worth it because quality of life. As I have said, we need so much more research on what autism actually is, or even if it is a single thing or not. We now know that what we used to call 'schizoprenia' is nothing as simple as something you can just capture under one umbrella (yes, I work in mental health).

What gets on my wick is the 'well, if it isn't a simple yes/no then none of it is real' brigade.

Yes - I have hemiplegic migraines that feel and look like strokes. I’ve narrowly avoided having lumbar punctures for meningitis when I’ve been sent to A + E with severe migraine. Not to mention the links between migraines and functional neurological disorder, which is often misdiagnosed. Epilepsy that is misdiagnosed as functional neurological disorder, leading to SUDEP. Let’s just say the brain is a complex organ and leave it there.

Don’t be fooled. My 11 year old attends a mainstream school, she has a group of good friends - all coincidentally diagnosed adhd and / or ASD.

To you she appears mild and fine.

But. When she transitioned to secondary she lost 20%’of her body weight due to sensory overwhelm and burnout. She can’t empty her bowels independently. Never has been able to. She cannot eat sufficiently to maintain herself so is prescribed meal replacement shakes. She had a feeding tube at 2. She cannot go to new places. Her friendships are heavily managed and controlled. She cannot see them out of school. She cannot cope with people in her home. She cannot cope in the homes of others. She has repetitive behaviours that control her life. I could go on. But all you’ve done here is show you don’t know anything.