Mental Health System Vs. Clairvoyance and Sexuality

There are many prejudices in this world. This affects the lives of everyday people constantly. I spent 15 years under the mental health services after being sectioned via a court at the age of 18. I was born with a form of Autism. I was only diagnosed at 16 with Asperger Syndrome after my father had to get the MP involved due to CAMHS assuming that I was probably on the spectrum without providing an official diagnosis. I had to obtain a diagnosis from a forensic team after the police kept getting involved for my behaviour issues relating to my undiagnosed Autism. I have just managed to get out of the mental health system after requesting to come off the section 117 aftercare. I wasn’t provided with any services for the past 7 years therefore the council agreed to end the section after 15 years. I want to go into how I may have got myself into the system by accident alongside the behaviours associated with my Autism. I was labelled a criminal due to a stupid attempt at trying to get revenge on someone who had rejected me when I was a teenager. I tried to get a tutor from college arrested for carrying a bomb when another student had told me that she was due to go on holiday that day. I emailed the airport saying that I had information that a passenger was carrying a bomb. Luckily, the court downgraded my charge to providing false information. I also got charged with Harassment a few times for how school had encouraged me to communicate as a child. I was told to write things down if I couldn’t talk to the teachers in circumstances where I was being bullied etc.

I never felt safe in the mental health system due to aspects of my identity. That was my clairvoyant side. I have always had precognitive dreams, been able to sense things and when I was very young, I remember being able to see things. The medical system doesn’t recognise these abilities as being scientifically real. There is a likelihood that anyone encountering mental health services (whether its CAHMS or adult services) will be accused of having delusions, having sleep disorders or potentially having Schizophrenia. I was honest about what I could do as a young person. I wasn’t aware that not everyone has these types of abilities. I assumed that they were experienced by the average person.

The second part of my identity that made me feel unsafe while in the CAMHS was knowing I was most likely homosexual or something in that spectrum. Those that are my age group lived under the Section 28 laws that were in force between 1988 and 2003. This law stated that local authorities (which included schools, healthcare, social care – basically anywhere governed by the local authority) were prohibited from promoting homosexuality. This meant that anyone showing signs of being that way inclined could have been openly discriminated against and treated unfavourably at school. I feel that this was an aspect that probably got me referred to CAMHS initially alongside the way that I was conditioned to communicate.

In conclusion, I feel that the above points demonstrate how the mental health system, it’s outdated views and structure can be potentially detrimental to those that have certain aspects to their identity. Lifestyles that differ from the ‘norm’ or ‘traditional’ could potentially not lead to correct diagnoses or help for those experiencing mental health issues. I made the decision that I felt safer on a personal level without the involvement of services in my life. I believe that aspects of my personality and lifestyle lead to the many extraordinary negatively embellished notes that I uncovered after having my son adopted against my wishes. Child protection used that information to get a court to approve his adoption after initially putting him on a pre-birth plan when they asked me to sign these notes over to them during their investigation.