"Mental health professionals need to get educated about autism"
The sad truth is: In 2016 there are still very few mental health professionals with enough knowledge of autism, anxiety and depression, to administer effective treatment. In my experience, this is still a much overlooked problem. There is a knowledge gap between most mental health professionals and autism specialists. All too often, an autistic persons unhappiness or challenging behaviour, is attributed entirely to their autism. In fact, if people with autism are given the appropriate treatment to alleviate their depression and anxiety,
Today I realised, that my struggle with autism, is not the main thing that stops me from moving forward in life. Actually, it's poor mental health that creates the larger barrier to my happiness, success and overall quality of life.
Autism gives me the feeling of not being connected to the world. It makes me scared of meeting new people. I have to work really hard to understand what they are saying. It makes me tired and unmotivated.
Faced with these difficulties, it's really not surprising that it's common for autistic people to suffer with low self esteem. This in turn, leads to anxiety, depression and OCD. These mental health conditions create a sort of feedback loop, that exacerbates our autistic symptoms.
Without the assistance of a knowledgable mental health professional, the unholy alliance of autism and poor mental health, results in an increased level of challenging behaviour, reduced quality of life, and greater difficulty for parents and carers.
In some ways, we can make allowances for some of the everyday challenges posed by autism. For example, I can ask people to speak more slowly, and get them to explain things in a more straight forward, or less ambiguous way. I can avoid social situations that I know are going to be difficult. I can even lower my expectations, and not try to achieve greater success in life.
But in end, it's the constant battle with anxiety, depression and low self esteem.
That's the real killer!
Thanks for reading
Steve
Please share your comments and experiences.
Kandace Powers says
December 22, 2016 at 4:40 pmThis sounds so much like my adult daughter. Every mental heath professional we’ve seen has given us a laundry list if diagnoses! PTSD, borderline personality disorder, OCD, depression, separation disorders, attachment disorders. … On and on. Physicians want to throw pills at her. All of which have horrible side effects! Most made her have tremors so violently that she almost bit off the tip of her tounge! Shes a beautuful young woman and amazing artist! But shes trapped in herself! This is the first thing we’ve seen that seems to round everything together to describe her! Thank you! Being armed with knowledge will take us a long way towards dealing with this! I truly can’t thank you enough for opening your life and sharing your pain with us! I can’t imagine it was easy! Bless you for it!
Kristy says
October 2, 2013 at 5:22 pmI know exactly how you feel. I have depression as well as Aspergers and it sucks.
Steve says
October 2, 2013 at 5:47 pmHi Kristy
Unfortunately, I think that most of us on the autistic spectrum are likely to get depression.
How are you coping with it?
Steve
Kristy says
October 4, 2013 at 2:27 amWith medication, and also by writing in my journal a lot
Steve says
October 4, 2013 at 9:35 amHi Kristy
I think that is a good way of dealing with things actually.
Have you tried meditation? this can go well with keeping a journal. It can really help to feel more positive.
Regards, Steve
Kristy says
October 22, 2013 at 8:30 pmI haven’t tried meditation. Do you know of any ideas?