I'm more shocked that the author managed to get a diagnosis on the NHS at the age of 42. In my experience, the NHS won't refer you to a psychologist unless you're on the brink of suicide or complete mental breakdown. It's incredibly tough to get mental help in this country.
> One of the stated targets of the IAPT programme is that for referrals finishing a course of treatment in the month, 75% enter treatment within 6 weeks, and 95% within 18 weeks5. These are based on the waiting time between the referral date and the first attended treatment appointment.
> 89.1% of referrals waited less than 6 weeks to enter treatment
Interesting, thanks for the stats. I guess the trick is getting the GP referral in the first place. I am pretty sure as a normal-seeming adult, if I asked for an ASD assessment, my GP would be extremely reluctant. I would have to be very insistent. I'm fairly certain I have Asperger's or some flavor of ASD, and I have found it a real struggle trying to get an actual diagnosis. I even paid for private treatment, but my therapist told me flat out that most psychologists prefer to not label people anymore (unless it substantially impacts their life so they can get disability benefits).
Also you might want to be careful with this; my experience is that once you have any kind of mental record on your file, your GP will try to say every physical problem is all in your head. If there’s no compelling reason to get the diagnosis, sometimes it’s better not to have one.
One time IAPT refused to help me because they believed I will be suicidal if they continue (it makes no sense). I had to pay for private treatment, because they were useless.
Healthcare (universal or otherwise) deals well with short term 'conditions' (things like dealing with broken bones, flu, heart attacks, and even cancer). It does not deal well with long-term chronic conditions that require personalized, daily care. I know a couple with a severely autistic child and they just can't get any support because the only support they could get is a specialist to work with the child day-in and day-out and that just cannot scale.
You can get referred if you mention that you will seek legal action if they don't comply with your request. It is quite unfortunate, because NHS costs ton of money and they still live off the myth that they are the best thing in the world. If I had not used private specialists I think I would have been dead by now.
So true. I joked with a friend that the best way of getting access to psychologists in the NHS is to have a TBI or stroke. When it's a "physiological" brain thing they are quick to react. It's a sad state of affairs.
