Are people with Asperger in danger of being locked up

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QFT
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22 Dec 2019, 11:16 pm

I was talking on a phone with a girl I met on dating site. No, she doesn't have Asperger. Instead, she is deemed slow learner/ mentally ret*d (well I am not sure about this one: her IQ is between 85 and 95 and one needs to have IQ below 70 to be mentally ret*d) she also has mood/anxiety disorders. In any case, she told me that Trump is building "mental ward" so she would be locked up if its built. I am not sure what she meant. I thought mental wards were there long before Trump. That, plus she also said democrats are pushing for it -- yet Trump is Republican and he supports it too. So as you can see I am totally confused about what she was talking about. But IF what she said is true -- would it mean that people with Asperger will be locked up as well? She said she is in danger because she is deemed "mentally ill". But are aspies deemed mentally ill as well? I mean "DSM" stands for "diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders" -- which would imply that anything in DSM is a mental disorder. Yet I heard some people say Asperger is not deemed to be mental illness. So what diagnoses would render you as mentally ill then? Is there an exact list of them, or is it decided on case by case basis?



EzraS
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22 Dec 2019, 11:50 pm

There used to be a lot more mental health facilities than there are now. It sounds like there is a push to get them reinstated.

Most of the people who are so mentally ill, intellectually disabled and significantly autistic who would be in to such a facility, but aren't because they aren't available, are homeless.

If you are able to look after yourself, no one is going to lock you up.



SharonB
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23 Dec 2019, 9:51 am

@QFT, there'd have to be a cultural hysteria, that extends to mild differences. I'd like to think it wouldn't happen these days in that big of a way. I wonder if this woman has other noticeable differences as I agree that a slightly below average IQ by itself wouldn't seem to be impactful.

@Ezra, when there is hysteria, people get "locked up" for being scary or unbalanced (different). I'm one of those generally harmless AS types who was arrested for behaving unpredictably during routine questioning. And then there was the time a prescribed medication made me manic and I was "hauled off" to a mental facility ---- the dr immediately stopped the medication (antidepressant) and I returned to normal state, but if the dr had misinterpreted the situation and instead given me other medications I might have worsened... once one tangles with authority (never an AS strong suit), things can get complicated.



livingwithautism
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23 Dec 2019, 11:10 pm

I doubt it.



CockneyRebel
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23 Dec 2019, 11:48 pm

I don't think that's going to happen this day and age. Our society has come too far for that to happen. At least, I hope so.


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kraftiekortie
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24 Dec 2019, 1:07 pm

Only if one commits a crime.

Or is a danger to one’s self or others.

Otherwise, nobody is going to be forcibly locked up because they have autism.



League_Girl
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24 Dec 2019, 9:06 pm

As anti trump here, I have never heard of mental wards being built by him nor by republicans so I don't know where she is getting this. Also she is not slow since her IQ is average. Maybe a learning disability yes. I seriously doubt they are being built so they can round everyone up with mental disorders and lock them in there. No one will ever pass that.


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28 Dec 2019, 3:31 pm

It is highly unlikely, firstly because it would cost an insane amount of money to keep everyone detained who has been diagnosed with ASD/any mental illness. Second, there is an increasing recognition that autism is NOT a mental illness, therefore people can't be detained under the mental health act simply because they are autistic (in the UK, at least).

I am however a bit worried about the girl as she sounds slightly paranoid.


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