I just watched the channel 4 documentary on Autistic inpatients: thing need to change

On Channel 4 in the UK there is currently a documentary from their dispatches series called "Locked Away: Our autism scandal". This is a very upsetting documentary, and it has made one thing very clear to me. Autistic people are suffering at the hands of an oppressive mental health regime; we need to push back. The contents of this article may be very triggering for some people.

How many Autistic people are on psychiatric wards?

As of January 2023, there were 1,280 Autistic people on psychiatric wards (National Autistic Society). This is 1,280 chances to provide meaningful care, and yet I would hazard a guess that this has happened with none of them. Among the general population, those who have been held as psychiatric inpatients are 191 times more likely to die by suicide in the following months (National Institute for Health and Care Research). This is all-the-more concerning when we consider that while Autistic people represent 1% of the population, they represent 11% of suicides (Royal College of Psychiatrists).

Is inpatient treatment helpful for Autistic people?

I have written previously about the mistreatment that goes on in inpatient settings. I am far from the pnly person who feels Inpatient settings are inappropriate for Autistic people. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence themselves have documents on their website stating that inpatient facilities have "lots of scope for improvement in autism friendliness". Simply put, no, as it stands inpatient services are not helpful, and may even be detrimental for Autistic people.

My own experiences of being an Autistic inpatient

I have been an inpatient twice, in two different hospitals. The atmosphere is prison-like and hostile. The sensory environment is unbearable. There is a constant feeling that things could erupt at any moment, and staff make this worse.

Contraband such as alcohol and drugs flowed freely on the ward along with razor blades and other harmful items. Staff would use physical and chemical restraint to punish patients, and speak to us as if we were an inconvenience.

When I had reached the end of my patience with the environment (on my second stretch on the ward) I attempted to leave. I was told that if I tried to leave police would be called and I would be changed from a voluntary admission to an involuntary one. I now know this is an abuse of the mental health act.

I left the psychiatric ward in a worse state than I arrived. My care co-ordinator at the time would go on to state in my care plan that I should never be hospitalised again if possible. A difficult thing to write in the care plan of an Autistic Schizophrenic. I am still dealing with the fallout of the sheer quantity of medication they gave to me now, 7 years later.

Why is the inpatient system like this (concluding thoughts)?

Autistic people, particularly those of us with mental health concerns, are seen as sub-human. The system we live within views us as disposable and burdensome. We may have moved into an era of "care in the community" in the post-asylum era, but the attitudes of the old Bedlams are still very much with us. It is assumed that we will never be meaningful contributors to the world, and as such are the victims of a system that uses our mistreatment as an incentive to remain a good, tax-paying, law abiding citizen.

I personally will not stand for the mistreatment of my neurokin, it is time we pushed back and dismantled the systems that mistreat us. We need to throw away the masters tools and dismantle the house with tools of our own design.