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Nothingasitseem
Contributor

I think my therapist has Aspergers and I’ve been misdiagnosed

Hi, I know 100% without a doubt I’ve been misdiagnosed because my psychologist has Aspergers and misinterpreted the information presented to her. My family and friends agree with me aswell on the misdiagnoses. I’ve been diagnosed with having delusional disorder. I have ptsd which is diagnosed and whilst stressed I can sometimes get psychosis for a day or two but I snap out of it. I was not told about my delusional disorder diagnosis  till the end of therapy with my psychologist  and had a breakdown as I felt like the whole time the therapist didn’t get it but I had no idea she assumed I was being delusional..this has been more stressful than the original trauma of 2013. I cannot reason with the therapist as she takes it as more proof I’m delusional, she hasn’t commented since she’s received letters from my mum and a friend that the events did in fact happen. I’ve been anylising how this went so wrong for months and I’ve come to the realization that my therapist has either Aspergers or high functioning autism, I’m certain she does. It makes so much sense. I know she’s a good person and doesn’t intend to harm me but she would always butt in whilst I was trying to remember a traumatic memory, one time when I was obviously upset with her so I avoided her she rang to ask if I thought people were inserting thoughts into my head which I never have and was completely inappropriate for the given situation. She also couldn’t understand that some one can have a disorder with out a formal diagnosis for a disorder and kept talking over the top of me when I’m trying to explain that my abuser had a personality disorder. She appears unaware that people can have more than one personality disorder aswell insisting to me that my abuser had borderline when they had both borderline and antisocial personality disorder. She’s also asking me questions such as “isn’t it bizzare? And what else could it be?” Trying to get me to question my sanity regarding the abuse! My abuser would love the situation if she knew as she always used to gaslight me!  Should I report this to the health department? My mother says not too because she has finished uni has a child and was freshly graduated when this happened. I understand that but she’s  disregarded a huge crime towards me as a delusion and worsened my ptsd. She’s also has to write court reports for other  people and has a lot of responsibility in her job. My new psychiatrist told me never to speak to her again I think my psychiatrist assumes that she is not a good person but I believe she is and the issue is that she can’t see people’s intentions or correctly read a social situation.  She’s completely broken me but I know it’s unintentional I’m at a loss of what to do ? She even told the police I was delusional!!!! My abuser has gotten off Scott free !! What do I do??

 

Another thing, a different doctor at the addiction treatment centre I visit told my my 2 day psychosis that I get when stressed sounds to him like a flashback not psychosis..he’s also not the first doctor to pull a funny face when I mentioned I only take my meds I actually have the psychosis for like 3 days max and I’m back to normal again. He said it takes weeks to begin working but I swear that I go from completely crazy back to normal after a day or two on meds and I’m fine for most of the year. (I  had the psychosis after stress even when I wasn’t abusing Drugs for 8 months) 

If it’s possible that a flashback lasts 2 days, how do I tell the difference between that and psychosis?

8 REPLIES 8

Re: I think my therapist has Aspergers and I’ve been misdiagnosed

Hi @Nothingasitseem and welcome to the forum.

It sounds like such a hard place to be in. I felt a sense of fear and kind of urgency just reading your post, and I can imagine how difficult things might be for you at the moment.

Are you able to talk with your therapist about the impact this has had on you? It's really important to me that the people I work with are willing to talk about and work through any ruptures in our relationship. While it can be very hard to have those conversations it can strengthen the relationship or allow me to realise it isn't helpful for me to continue working with them (a 'make or break' kind of thing maybe).

Given the difficulties you're experiencing being misdiagnosed (both yourself and when it comes to your ex), I wonder whether it might be more helpful to leave speculation about whether your therapist has a diagnosis out of this and focus only on the impact that the situation is having on you. As you've experienced yourself, it can be harmful to be labeled (and especially incorrectly) and what seems of most importance to you (though I could be reading this wrong) is that you're not finding the relationship with your therapist helpful and it's impacting you.

From my experience, abuse has left me feeling very jumbled and scattered and has made trust so difficult. I have been misdiagnosed also. For a long while I was being 'treated' for mental illness without anyone even knowing there was abuse behind it. At times the system and services have been re-traumatising. I've found it so scary, so confusing and so difficult to make my way through it. Like you, it completely broke me for a while.

Are you working with any health professionals that you trust? As I mentioned earlier, it's helped me to work out when to let go of working with someone I don't trust and to focus on working with those I do.

The flashbacks/psychosis sound very intense for you. I don't have experience when it comes to psychosis myself but others here do and will hopefully come along and share some insight.

Hope you find it helpful to be here on the forum.

Re: I think my therapist has Aspergers and I’ve been misdiagnosed

Thanks so much for your response, definitely do get what you’re saying. Especially in regards to labels, it’s just the sequence of events that made me feel like it’s a highly likely scenario which if I’m right is just an awful situation for everyone.

 I’m going for my second appointment with a new psychologist today and this one has 16 years experience in trauma so hopefully the experience helps work out every thing. Yes navigating the system has been tricky I feel like I’ve massively fallen through the cracks and it’s been a domino effect . You definitely helped me look at things more clearly and I appreciate your response.

 

Re: I think my therapist has Aspergers and I’ve been misdiagnosed

@Nothingasitseem  Hi that does sound like a difficult position to be in. In my experience as I have seen many different mental health professionals they all have one thing in common, they seem to all have a not specialty but a kind of preference for certain issues and often that preference if I can call it that will strongly influence their judgement of you. I know a psychiatrist who was obsessed with autism while I was in hospital and every single one of his patients came out with that as a diagnosis. I also saw a psychologist who specializes in trauma and even though that wasn’t my issue she went digging around trying to find any incident in my past that could be construed as traumatic, I think sometimes psychs get so used to looking out for certain issues that they miss noticing others but it isn’t because of autism although it could be usually it is just human error and someone who doesn’t listen very well. 

 

Hopefully this new psych is a match for you. The most important thing is finding a match that works for you and that you feel comfortable with. 

 

As for the psychosis issues ptsd can cause brief psychosis especially if you dissociate but that is not equivalent to a psychotic disorder, mostly for a psychotic disorder symptoms of psychosis have to be present consistently for 6 months although there are some diagnoses that say 3 months. Either way 3 days is not usually enough to warrant such a label.  (Btw if mods want a reference I cannot give you one anymore as the copy of the dsm I was reading this from has since been taken away from online and the other source was a physical text book I got from uni so I can’t link that either) 

Re: I think my therapist has Aspergers and I’ve been misdiagnosed

Thanks for your reply. I do appreciate you taking the time to respond.

 My mother said something along those lines two days ago but slightly different. She said her dr told her majority of people who get help through the public health system get a psychosis diagnosis as there’s limited public funding for some other disorders. That psychologist who diagnosed me as delusional was through working in the public system. My new one so far seems ok, I think he gets it 🙂 Hes private and he does do a bit of trauma work so I’m hoping all goes well. guess it takes a few times before you know for sure tho. 

And yes I’ve always felt like my 2 day psychosis is very linked to ptsd it definitely feels that way. 

Re: I think my therapist has Aspergers and I’ve been misdiagnosed

Hey there @Nothingasitseem I am really sorry to hear of this experience with your initial Psychiatrist. It sounds like you're not comfortable with some of the conversations and pathology that has occured in those sessions, I am however really glad to hear you have two other practitioners you've met with who you trust and feel you get more valuable support from. It's really good to remember that there's always more options than your initial practitioner, it's okay to try new practitioner's and to ensure you've found the one that is right for you. A good therapeutic relationship can be a game changer, do you feel more comfortable with your new Psych?

 

Certainly anyone can make an inquiry/complaint about a registered health practitioner in Australia, there's more info on this here at the AHPRA website. Keep us updated as to how you're travelling 🙂 

Re: I think my therapist has Aspergers and I’ve been misdiagnosed

I think she is too young and inexperienced to be treating you.

 

Many of these clinicians use what is called diagnostic overlays to assess a patient and view anything that appears to be out of the ordinary as being classed as mental illness.

 

If you must see someone be willing to go in with an advoocate who is able to provide info regarding the context of your situation.  Don't go in to see a clinician alone.  They have nothing to go by only your testimony.  Be willing to have someone back you up in person.

 

As to whether she has aspergers its difficult to say but she is doing you a lot of damage.  I would not go back to her but would seek out a practitioner that has a good reputaton going by word of mouth.

 

Psychology and they way it practices by removing someone from their environment and analysing them instead of having an asessment of their overall situation is wrong.  There is such a thing as crazy making situations!

 

And your current psychologist is being very suppressive, making you ill.

 

This is a frequent occurance and is just now being recognised as an issue in psychiatric counseling.  The person should be able to have friends and family to vouch for them instead of having to fight it alone.

 

But you get a mental illness and you wind up on a socioeconomic scrap heap with little supports and a probing clinician who knows nothing about your situation LOOKING EVERYWHERE FOR SIGNS OF MENTAL ILLNESS when all you want is someone to ACT and INVESTIGATE your claims.

 

There is newer approaches coming out in psychology that sees someone within the context of their environment with witnesess and people willing to advocate such as family, friends and relatives.

 

Why should you have to put up with this rubbish?

 

She is a hack not a clinician.

 

Just try and go elsewhere before she does any further damage to your wellbeing. I know she is a nice lady but you can vote with your feet and walk out

 

 

 

 

 

 

Re: I think my therapist has Aspergers and I’ve been misdiagnosed

Hi there

I’m sorry to hear that there are some members who’ve had disappointing experiences with mental health professionals.   Whilst I get that it can be disheartening and frustrating when the connection you were hoping for is not there, it’s also important not to use terms like ‘hack’ when describing a therapist.

 

It can be helpful too to remember that everyone’s experience is unique and individual and the best way to support each other is to offer what has helped in your healing journey, rather than the opposite. 

 

Thanks for listening and it’s always good to remember that this amazing community is a safe, respectful and anonymous place to express yourself Smiley Happy

 

If anyone would like to talk about this more or have any questions about the guidelines, please send us an email at team@saneforums.org.

Re: I think my therapist has Aspergers and I’ve been misdiagnosed

I’ve been referred to the family and community officer to explain to her what happened. Any advice? My meeting with her is on Tuesday..

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