Why aremany people anti-psychiatry, it helps us aspies a lot

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I have gone through some therapy for being a better father and husband---but the therapist said I was already doing a great job of being a father and husband. I was being too hard on myself for not feeling comfortable playing with my children. But as he said, I was always there for them even though I was not actively engaged in an activity. While many fathers are out doing something away from the house, I am usually home. As for the anti-psychiatry---yes, I am anti-psychiatry for me. I have not had the need for a psychiatrist in my life. I do not want changed or modified. I enjoy being autistic---so I am not going to fix something that doesn't need fixed. Note that I am not speaking for the suicidal ones you speak of. Perhaps they could benefit from counseling. I am speaking for myself.



I am anti-psychiatry for me (but if others need it fine), and I am educated on it. I am an educator of 22 years and am currently dealing with students with varying needs. I have undergone post-graduate work in specialized education and earned my degrees. You must realize that everyone at the WrongPlanet will have his or her own opinion and will usually stick to it---and most everyone here is very educated on autism. Often times it is the endless research and education on autism that has given us our opinions whether they agree with yours or not. A large amount of us here at the WrongPlanet do not want help because we like the way we are. I, and many others, view autism not as a disorder but as a difference. My philosophy is that autism, particularly Asperger's, is a gift. I also believe that if the majority of the world were autistic, we would be trying to cure the neurotypicals. Asperger's has been a great benefit to my life, and I give it credit for most of my successes.

I personally don't view psychiatrists as murderers or anything like that. Some are nice, and some are not---just like any group of people. The psychiatrist that diagnosed my son with AS was quite to my likening because even though my son has his challenges and issues, he said, "I am not going to prescribe any meds or recommend any treatments here because I feel he will be fine." He stated that my son would most likely find his success in life through his interests. He did recommend smaller group settings for my son's classroom---which is happening. And there were other modifications we got too from an IEP. But---no meds and no treatments. My son is happy and doing fine. So I like his psychiatrist very much.

Even though I have challenges in life, doesn't everyone? I personally enjoy my journey in life with Asperger's---along with its sensory issues, social awkwardness, eye-contact challenges, rituals, etc. And I really enjoy my interests and narrow focus. I am 45 years old. I have lived with Asperger's for 45 years. It's diagnostic criteria is all I have ever known. To change myself would create a stranger in myself. I would no longer know me---and no one else would either. To me, to be changed, would be like I died and resurrected as someone else. Well...that's my opinion.

So---to restate---I believe psychiatry can help some and that is fine, but as for me, I do not want a psychiatrist tinkering with me because I am happy and live quite well with my Asperger's.

I don't like it either when people are negative about psychiatrists or - more general - mental health professionals.

But I also understand that people who unfortunately have negative experiences, base their opinion about mental health professionals on that.

I go to a psychologist frequently. I find it helpful. She leaves the whole medication thing up to my discretion and I choose not to take any.

I do find it helpful. But, realistically, if I had a close friend to talk to, I could easily drop the whole counseling thing altogether.

I go to both a psychiatrist and a psychologist. I would never feel pressured to do anything a psych tells me to do. Some people seem to have an authority problem when it comes to doctors, and don't stand their ground when they feel the advice is not appropriate. Psychiatry is beneficial only to those who really need it. I've been much better since I've started taking meds, and I've had no side effects whatsoever. It all depends on the person. What works for someone, may not work for someone else. I don't think it's right to bash psychiatry as a whole, just because YOU had a bad experience. It has saved many people's lives.

I used one for a diagnosis because I had to. I had them as a child and I didn't hate them, but I don't think they helped at all. Now I don't see a reason to pay to socialize.

I am very glad that many people responded. I respect the fact that everyone has their opinions, and I have nothing against them. I also understand why many of us aspies dont want treatment. I would rather have autistic abilities than be a NT, so I agree with the individual that said we should treat the NTs instead. Lastly, Im glad that people that have been treated by psychiatry or have had a relative treated by psychiatry are the ones with opinions. Like I said, my philosophy is that people who are treated by psychiatry or are a psychiatric professional really should be the ones primarily having opinions. But people bashing psychiatry, without being treated by it or having a shred of knowledge about it should not criticize it. Like I said before, I respect each opinion equally as it seems all the opinions are coming from people that have been treated by psych or know someone who has.

Whenever I see the phrase "anti-psychiatry" I think of R.D. Laing, the anti-psychiatrist from the old days. His writings came over like a breath of fresh air to me when I first noticed them, though I heard his work was largely discredited later on. Still, I've never seen anything that shows logically why his ideas were particularly wrong - anybody got any links to that kind of info?

Basically the guy seemed to be picking up on large numbers of people who had been diagnosed as schizophrenic when the real problem was the people around them.

My experience; One day I played a videogame, I was fully concentrated and remembered what to do in the game, but then i took 1/2 of one pill, and after some hours, I felt somewhat sad and unconcentrated, and when I took 1/1 of the pills, I have felt incredibly frustrated, unconcentrated, troubled, and depressed, now I gotta find some way to daydream or sleep earlier to put my mind to rest.

Or, you know, your mom is the one who is really running the show and the psych does whatever she wants (because, I sh** you not, mom was paying her 400some an hour). That's how psychs were until I was over 18. It's why, from 18-22 years old, I refused to see one.

Many people who are anti-psych had their experiences when they were under age and, often, misdiagnosed.

Oh, yeah...being told to get with the times and dress like the rest of my female peers is really supposed to help me. It didn't help than, and it wouldn't help now, and nor would being told that I'm in Canada.

The answer is simple. Traditional patient-centered therapy is worse than useless for most aspies. The main point of it just goes right past us, and even makes the therapist look bad. Consider, for example, the infamous question "how did that make you feel?", especially after you told your therapist about getting bullied. Now, that makes him/her look like a blithering idiot! After all, how is it possible for someone with professional training in psychology not to know what bullying feels like? Yeah, the real reason is to "bring a person's feelings to the surface in order to deal with them better" (whatever the hell that means). But many aspies, and probably a small number of NTs as well, simply don't see the point in "bringing the feelings to the surface". What they're really looking for is a way to cope with the emotional stress that comes from being bullied, and the therapist won't give them that. This, combined with the perceived stupidity of "not knowing" what bullying feels like, pretty much destroys all traces of patient's trust in the therapist. Loss of trust leads to anger, resentment, and defense mechanisms; hence, the general anti-psychiatry attitudes that are prevalent of WP.

***accidentally reposted longer reply instead of editing original***

Last edited by RampionRampage on 08 Dec 2009, 7:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

People seem to be confusing psychiatry with psychology.

On top of that, they're only thinking about one kind of psychology, which is the kind you hear most about. CBT has better results.

Psychiatry is practiced by many but most of them suck, and few of them really know how to appropriately medicate Aspies. Many Aspie symptoms are never going to go away, no matter how many drugs you give them. I should know.

One thing I learned is that you shouldn't trust college psychologists with squat. Most are only trained to counsel in safe sex, alcohol control, and all the normal youth angst stuff. I was arranged with a counselor who was supposed to have been educated in knowing about Asperger's Syndrome but it turned out to be far from the truth.

Despite this, I still think psychiatrists/psychologists/whatever are still good for people with extreme mental cases. For me, I really should be in a mental institution. I would head straight back to one right away except they won't let me have internet or watch the tv I want and then there are stupid group meetings I have to attend to dealing with issues that arent part of my case.

My family and friends however seem VERY anti-psychiatry. I guess my first had to be whenever my mom would pick me up from the counseling place and would demand me to tell her everything I told the counselor. Does she even know why she's paying $120 a session? My sister and friends are constantly ridiculing and mocking me for being on antidepressants. I blame this lack of support for the reason why I was taking my meds improperly. No one seemed to care that I was on meds so why should I have to keep up with my schedule? My mom screams at me daily for not taking my vitamins but not once did she ever get on me about not taking my antidepressants. My family just pretended like I wasnt on them.

I hope that once I move out of my parents and have money, I will be able to see a mental health specialist again without scorn, ridicule, or judgment by my family (cuz they would never know )! !! !

I trust my own experiences more than I do someone elses, or a popular consensus. This applies to more than just my views on the mental health care, or the professions that service those needs.

My experience has only consisted of about 5 different individuals serving professional roles in mental healthcare. 2 psychiatrists, 2 psychologists, and one psychoanalyst.

Psychiatrist 1 = See above. (Forced over medication and basically incarceration based on talking to me for 30 seconds)
Psychiatrist 2 = After 1 year, she has no clue how I tic. She made several medication errors (prescribing aditional drugs to counteract another one that activated me.) She didn't understand why it was important to me to find out if I was Autistic.

Psychologist 1 = Told me during our first and only appointment that she thought my father was a child molester. She thought I was manic at the time. How unsafe would it be to tell someone who was manic that they thought their father was a child molester? This was a few days after I learned about AS and was freaking the .... out. It contributed to me checking into the place where I was seem by Psychiatrist 1.
Psychologist 2 = She's great. She understands AS/Autism. I saw her once after the events that surrounded the above incidents about a year ago. She said I was textbook AS when I asked after our first visit. I didn't see reason to go back and I needed to get my thoughts back in order before letting someone potentially make an error while I was vulnerable. I didn't have any history of run ins with the mental health system until age 31 and right after the AS discovery. About 8 months went by and I got back to my old self + a little better by having more information. Then I found out that my diagnosis just said suspected AS and still has BP. I've seen the psychologist another 3 times in the past couple months. She has helped me recognize some additional sensory factors that I hadn't considered. I think she has been inferring for the past two visits that she thinks I do have AS, but I'm not so good with inference. I asked her after the last visit when she would have a diagnosis. She said she'd have it for me by the end of our next appointment (next week = some closure after a over a year of analyzing). I'll probably still see her for a while after the diagnosis, but don't see myself pursuing a long term dependency.

Psychoanalyst = The guy that runs the group I attend is cool. I met with him in private once to see if I was a good fit for the group. And then I've attended many groups. He seems like a really nice guy. After I'm done with the diagnosis and report from the psychologist, I may go to him instead if I NEED therapy.

Sorry for the long post, but that's basically all my experience mental health professionals. 3 out of 5 were not positive. 2 were so negative, that I am very cautious about mental health providers. 60% seems like a high rate of suck to me for such a small sample.

If I went to 5 dentists, 2 of them actually put me in a potentialy life threatening state, 1 of them just sucked and made my mouth hurt worse, and only 2 actually did their job proficiently I would be cautious of dentists too.

It's mainly because that Psychiatry has developed a very bad reputation because of horrific human rights abuses in mental institutions, it's become associated with lobotomies, locking people up in padded rooms and force-feeding them (now obsolete) anti-psychotics with horrible side effects, zapping people's brain's with electricity via electro-convuslive therapy, etc.. Not that I'm anti-psychiatry, i take Ritalin and Paxil, but that is the very valid origin of the sentiment.