For a long time I’ve thought that there was something else different about me and not just sza. Whenever I look up the symptoms for autism I feel like I’ve got like all of them. Never brought it up with my doctor though. Usually I think that it must just be the negative symptoms of sza that I mistake for feeling like autism. I dunno. Anyone here have both mental illness and autism?
1 out of 110 children are autistic
I got diagnosed in May when I was 32.
To be honest it’s a massive waste of time here as you get no support after diagnosis
All I got told was to read a self help book
Not helpful
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Diagnosed at 62 in May last year. It only happened because I moved and came under a better mental health trust. If the people at my last trust had done their jobs better, instead of using phrases like ‘awkward,demanding and troublesome,’ I should have been dxed in 1992.
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I’ve had the feeling like I had a form of autism. I think it goes with the numb feeling that comes with schizophrenia
I thought I had autism a while back, so I asked my case manager and pdoc about it. The Case manager said that symptoms of sz/sza and autism are so intertwined, that it’s very tough to make a separate the two. My pdoc just brushed it off and didn’t think I need to get tested. I still think I have Aspergers or something, but who knows at this point.
Negative symptoms are very similar to autism:
Asociality, apathy, alogia, blunted affect etc
I find negative symptoms more disabling as they have these too:
Avolition, anhedonia, lack of hygiene etc
I have the communication problems and abnormal body movement with swimming traits, but I think I fit into the broad autism phenotype category rather than diagnosable autism.
The truth I have found is if they unpick it, you don’t actually get any benefits from having the diagnosis.
I disagree with your health workers though. My assessment was mainly my mother giving them information for ages 0-5.
They didn’t really even speak to me as I did the questionnaire and answered some pre-meeting questions. If you have a relative who has known you from birth, they can easily make a decision, as it’s a developmental disorder.
I was classical autism level for social communication & Asperger’s level for social interaction .
I had that attitude from the previous mental health trust I was under.
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It is a lot more than that these days.
Got diagnosed after substance induced psychosis but before paranoid schizophrenia. I got diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome at a real hospital – I did tests and everything. They didn’t do an iq test unfortunately because I was college aged and assumed to be above average I guess.
I probably wouldn’t qualify for the new autism spectrum disorder diagnosis because mine was mild.
I never got the proper help. In fact, I got hostility and confrontation over the diagnosis from a good psychiatrist. They doubt it.
The people who diagnosed me were more qualified than these nut bags, but whatever. Some psychiatrists have entertained the thought, but I feel like I know more about AS than they do like when it comes to comorbidity with adhd.
Basically it caused more harm than good but it gave me a sense of mind, closure, and understanding. I appreciated the diagnosis because my life finally made complete sense. I never had friends growing up and never figured out why.
Across the CDC surveillance sites, an average of 1 in every 54 (1.9%) 8-year-old children were identified as having ASD in 2016.
I had a look. Seems like it’s not working at least where I am.
How do you access help? What help is there?
I was told about a thing called the LIMA project, but they didn’t put me on their individual waiting list because it is months long. They have workshops.
It all seems a bit rubbish that they diagnose and then that’s it.
I literally have a diagnosis of ASD and I have no idea what it means. I don’t want it to be like my sz diagnosis where I don’t access support for over two years whilst it still damages my life
When it was accepted I might be on the spectrum things moved quite fast here (compared to time spans others have mentioned) re being assessed.
Has it made much practical difference? No. At 62 there’s only a very limited amount that can be done . I’m reckoning though that you’re at least 20 years younger than me. The potential for improvement is there, and you should be getting that help.
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