Autism

The infantilization and otherization of minorities will never stop mindblowing me. "Yes, we know you may require this medication to have a functional life, but there's the chance you might also abuse it to the point of harming yourself so its distribution will be extremely monitored, and we may give you extreme difficulties to get access to it." Bitch, there are idiots who DRANK BLEACH yet no one has seriously considered mandating the requirement of permits to buy bleach, and the only difference here is that everyone uses it.

I am so sorry you went through that! That psychologist has absolutely no business in being a clinician. She's not only unhelpful, but actively harmful. While this is entirely your decisions, I would encourage you to report her to the licensing agency because if she was like that with you, she's doing it with others as well. Although you were lucky enough to have a supportive GP, many others don't, and this supposed psychologist is actively preventing individuals from accessing proper care. She needs to not be in her position so that she won't be able to hurt others.

However, I can empathize a little. I had a GI that I would see for a significant chronic GI issue. He noticed my attention deficit and encouraged me to tell my psychiatrist. I knew I had attention issues my whole life, but in my experience, telling a psychologist was a waste of time because they point out my successes and imply that I don't have attention issues. Regardless, since I had confidence in my GI, I told the psychiatrist. This is exactly how it went because it was so shocking to me, that I never forgot it. I could paint a picture of the entire office setup when it happened because that's how well my body remembered it.

Psychiatrist: Anything else you would like to report?

Me: My GI said to tell you that I have attention issues.

Psych: I'm not going to prescribe you stimulants.

At the time, I didn't even know that stimulants were the medical treatment for ADHD. However, now I knew. I kept living my life, struggling and barely making it. My successes were highly supported by caring loving people that believed in me and gave me the support that I needed to achieve and contribute.

Edited: for reasons

I'm assuming that you're referring to an experience with the NHS? Our provision of mental healthcare is shameful. I had a similar experience with a doctor who told me that since I have qualifications that it was unlikely to be ADHD. This was after I told them that I was worried about the substances that I used to get the qualifications. This went on for years as a series of doctors refused to refer me for a diagnostic session. I eventually paid for a private psychiatrist and was duly diagnosed at 47.

I'm not seeking substances any more, I have no desire to because the problem has been decisively solved by the medication and a plethora of coping strategies. Now I'm expected to pretend that the last forty years of gaslighting in schools, colleges, doctors surgeries, etc, was all just a big misunderstanding? This is a country of bigoted Dunning-Kruger morons. Why do I need to follow their rules when they don't know what they are talking about?

Anybody labouring under a mental health disorder is forced to become an expert of their own condition while these cretins grub around in the dirt and wave flags for our most privileged royal family.