My country has failed me
Two days ago I went to a psychiatrist for a diagnosis of autism. I trusted him because of his board certifications in psychiatry and the fact that he is a member of the psychiatric board in my country. When I was speaking, I was very nervous and unmasked, fidgeting with my fingers and squishy, he was interrupting me with stupid questions, I showed him my RAADS-R test (that has the score 204, huge, huh?) and he seemed like he doesn't know what us it!
And he was asking me stuff like "Do you cause mischieve?" No way, in the end he said "These aren't autism symptoms, it's just your nature" wow, then who has a depersonalization episode on the road and caused a situational mutism? Who told you about the early symptoms since childhood?
What should I do now? Please help, cuz I can't bare any medical gaslighting again, thx.
Find a second opinion or a third if necessary
If you are able to speak to a keyword: neurodivergence affirming assessor online, that may be an option, if you're able or can find an online assessment that takes your insurance/ is affordable.
I'm so sorry this happened; i'm sure it must have been frustrating and also hurtful. If you feel that autism helps explain your story, please know you're welcome here. Sometimes we truly do know ourselves best. Be well and let us know if we can help.
*edit: I'm unaware of the availability globally of online assessment and the things surrounding it, but certainly willing to help look into this.
@Z4IN
Is it the country, or the individual practitioner you went to that failed you?
I think it's the practitioner. It appears that he was asking you irrelevant questions, suggesting that he has no experience in screening for autism. Either that or he's just not very good at it.
I agree with the rest here, that additional screening by different practitioners will be extremely helpful.
I filled out the screening tool myself, twice, as there were slight differences in them. My score was 120 on one of them and 135 on the other. That, along with ADHD explains a lot about the difficulties I had growing up. However, over the years, I developed compensations, and don't feel that those attributes are placing significant limits on my functioning. In fact, some of the traits serve me quite well, giving me aptitudes that others find admirable.
So, I hope you find someone who can help you. I also hope you find the gifts that come with neurodivergence. Based on his life and early difficulties, I'm pretty sure Thomas Edison was on the spectrum, as have been others who've demonstrated unique gifts and creativity.
@Spiritriver
In fact, both psychiatry in Iraq and the country itself played a role in this failure.
Here, people don't acknowledge psychiatry at all, also being straight up ableist, which has resulted in very few, if any, mental health professionals and therapists being available, even incompetent.
And I think my psychiatrist believes that a person with autism is a mute child playing with trains, idk, I won't come back to him.
@Z4IN
Many autistics are highly intelligent, and have exceptional talents. It's better now than it was when I was a child, but at that time, a child was either "normal" or they weren't. I was removed from school at the age of 7, as the psychiatrist told my parents there was no use trying to educate me further.
Many months later, my parents stumbled into the awareness that I needed further testing. Then it was discovered that I was the opposite of developmentally delayed. When they put me back in school, I was still unable to function. The apparent autism was actually PTSD.
Anyway, the system was so archaic that there was no help for me, and I just struggled and suffered until I quit school at age 15. It turned out okay though. I finished college with honors.
Anyway, I at least have a clue of how it feels when it comes to knowing you need help, but none is available.
I hope you find an opportunity to get the help you need. Perhaps when you get older, more options will be available.
A huge factor that contributes to surviving and succeeding, is the fact that you're aware of your need for help. Many refuse to accept that reality, therefore remain without hope.
Hi Zain. I’ve had similar experiences. My psychiatrist is very specialized in depression medication. My psychologist is specialized in schema and trauma, but definitely not neurodivergence. So they pretty much ignored all my autistic traits and went straight into depression and such instead of an autistic burnout. I think the key thing is that look for neuro-affirming professionals instead of usual ones. When you search them up, it should say on the website that they are neuro-affirming/specialized in ASD. Some mental health professionals just haven’t been studying a lot about autism (in my country it’s a disability, so it’s not specifically included a lot in mental health, and psychiatrists are generally more useful for prescribing medication, neuro-affirming OT/psychologists are generally more helpful with autism diagnosis.)