I'm hoping those with lived experience of Autism/ASD and using a psychiatrist / medication might be willing to share their experiences. I'm not yet convinced this is right for me, but the experiences of others may sway me.
I will provide some context about me and my journey so far. My apologies in advance for the lengthy background.
About 2 years ago I was diagnosed with ASD Level 2 by a psychologist in my early 50s. My psychologist didn't know about (and then dismissed the entire idea of) the Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) profile. This was a shame because my experience of ASD aligns with PDA traits, but not on the extreme side.
Prior to my diagnosis, I quit my job of 25 years due to severe depression and anxiety, due to work commitments not enabling me to seek help. Quitting helped me get diagnosed, but has resulted in isolation. All my family and support live inter-state, my only local close friend has significant health difficulties of her own, and I live alone.
I have sought help from various local agencies, but have been told I'm not eligible (e.g. too old to meet their criteria), been added to their lengthy waiting lists, or not received a response after making contact (my anxiety about phone calls etc doesn't help). I found the only ASD-related support group located near me, but didn't find their meet-ups very useful. This has led to ongoing depression that help is not available, unless of course you have a lot of money to pay for it.
My sister, who is an OT and inter-state, is worried about my mental health and believes I should see a psychiatrist and get on medication. I'm extremely concerned about that idea, and am therefore wondering if the experiences of others may allay my concerns, or give me suggestions on how they dealt my concerns.
For e.g. I would be living alone while trialing medications. Many meds have potential side effects where monitoring by others, I would think, is essential. (I think Community Guidelines prevent me from mentioning examples, but those with experience will know them, including the severe ones.) I am not confident I would be self-aware that I would be experiencing the side-effects. Plus, I'm often very sensitive to medications, and could therefore risk some of the rarer ones.
Based on this background, I have some questions.
Have you found that psychiatrists have value beyond just prescribing medications, over just seeing a psychologist?
If you lived alone while trialing meds, did you find a solution regarding supervision? For e.g. did your psychiatrist organise or refer you to a service which can help? Or were you just expected to find (and pay for) your own supervision during such trials or take the punt on no supervision?
I don't have anyone who could help regarding supervision. While I could visit family inter-state, they are all experiencing significant hardships which would prevent them supervising me. That includes my OT sister, who has enough on her plate.
Assuming there is a solution to the supervision issue, what have been your experiences with medication for ASD? What difficulties have you found it helps with? What role has it played in your recovery or journey?
Many thanks for any insights or suggestions you might have.
I'm hearing that you are reaching out to gain understanding of people's experiences with ASD and medication.
I do not have my own lived experience of this, but I have worked with those who take medication for the anxiety and depression that may come from ASD - not medication for ASD.
This helps them to be able to be ready for the 'talking therapy' that may support their ASD.
I hear you are hesitant about meds.
I guess one thing to consider: Is it worse to try or worse not to try?
One thing I wanna clarify with you - (I am not medically trained just FYI so pls do correct me if I'm wrong or if my info is out of date) as far as I know, there is no psychiatric medication currrently prescribed for ASD. Are you talking about a medication for ADHD mayhap? Little bit different but just wanted to double check with you!! And you're correct that medication names can't be mentioned but you can just name the class (e.g. stimulants, antipsychotics, etc).
But yeah I was wondering because, well I'm not saying that folks with ASD won't get prescribed meds, but it's usually because either their ASD is undiagnosed (so they're treating the wrong thing), or it is simply a way of managing symptoms (I legit hate calling them 'symptoms' and not 'traits' but in this context I think it's relevant), e.g. someone with a persistent low mood might get prescribed anti-depressants to help manage things until they feel confident to step back off em again. But even then, low mood isn't an autistic trait. So yeah, I don't think there's any 'medication for autism'.
As to your other concern about adjusting to new meds whilst living alone - I think best bet would be to chat to the psych about it before making any decisions. The more you're aware of potential side effects the more you can prepare and put contingencies in place. Like if one possible side-effect is an increase in depressive symptoms, you could write out little reminders to stick up around the house that say idk something like 'It's okay! It's just the chemicals re-balancing in my brain!'
Also, whether the pdoc is as emotionally attuned as a psych depends entirely on individual practitioners; many do report that pdocs are generally less emotionally aware/attuned than psychs, and will seek out pdoc only for medications stuff and then get psych support for emotional/mentality side of things - but no experience is universal. Alas, only way to find out is to go see the pdoc and check in with yourself during/after about whether you’d feel safe to be open with this person on an ongoing basis.
Also, finding MH support that isn't stigmatising for folks with ASD can be its own challenge, hey! Have you managed to find some super affirming/non-pathologising professionals to help you navigate everything?
