How Doctors Ruined AS Woman's Life and Health

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?

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How doctors turned into a twitching, bloated wreck

(Filed: 16/11/2003)

Eldred used to have a good job, a long-term boyfriend and her

own home. That was 17 years ago. Since then she has been reduced to a

twitching, bloated, semi-catatonic wreck by prescription drugs, which

numerous experts now say she should never have been given.

Eldred was a bridesmaid at her sister's wedding in 1986

What , now 43, actually has is Asperger's syndrome, a relatively

mild form of autism that in her case was so slight that she was able

to live the first 26 years of her life with few problems.

Asperger's is not a mental illness and cannot normally be treated

with drugs. Instead, people with the condition require behavioural

guidance in relating to a world they often find difficult to

understand.

When first exhibited signs of anxiety, a common symptom of

Asperger's, and sought medical advice, she was said to be suffering

from everything from an attention-seeking disorder to mental illness.

She was locked up and put on 32 different drugs - which have ruined

her health, led to her being repeatedly held in secure psychiatric

institutions and prompted her to make several attempts to kill

herself.

Doctors say that the side-effects of the different drug treatments

have given her tardive dyskinesia, a condition that makes her jerk

her limbs repetitively and grimace uncontrollably, and catatonia,

where she " freezes " while climbing the stairs, or flushing the

lavatory.

For years her 64-year-old mother Maureen tried, and failed, to get

's National Health Service doctors to acknowledge her Asperger's

but was branded an " interfering " parent.

Only recently has 's Asperger's syndrome finally been

acknowledged by her doctors, but they still insist on keeping her

medicated even though at least one expert said she could die as a

result.

In her home in Ruislip, north-west London, Mrs Eldred recounts the

story of her daughter's tragic life. She was born in 1960, the second

of three children, to Mrs Eldred, a retired secretary, and her

husband , a panel-beater who died two years ago. has an

older sister, , 45, and a younger brother Adam, 37, neither of

whom has Asperger's.

" We always knew was different, " said Mrs Eldred. " She was a

quiet girl, the kind who sat at the back of the class at school

trying not to draw attention to herself.

" When she was 16 she left school and trained to become a secretary.

She got a job and proved herself to be a very good worker because she

was focused and accurate. "

When was 26, Mrs Eldred suggested to her that she buy her own

home with her sister. " With hindsight, that was the start of the

problems, " she said. " Moving out made her anxious and she went to her

GP and he put her on benzodiazepines [a highly addictive form of anti-

anxiety drug]. "

When the anxiety did not abate, she was referred to a psychiatrist,

who decided that she was an attention-seeker.

In a state of growing drug-fuelled confusion, made the first of

several attempts to kill herself, stabbing herself in the chest and

neck with a pair of scissors, puncturing her lung and windpipe. She

was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and locked in the secure

ward of a hospital, where cocktails of drugs were administered to

her. Her 10-year relationship with her boyfriend fell apart.

's life took on a new pattern. Under medication, she was like a

zombie. Eventually she was released from the secure institution and

tried to take herself off the drugs, suffering severe withdrawal

symptoms. These were interpreted as a need for more medication and

she was re-sectioned and the cycle began again.

Mrs Eldred agreed to sign documents permitting the authorities to

detain for periods of six months or more only after they

threatened to take her to court to remove her authority as next of

kin.

Finally, in 1993, Mr and Mrs Eldred paid for a psychiatrist to offer

an independent opinion. He diagnosed Asperger's syndrome and sent his

report to 's doctor, who disagreed with it.

Instead, three years later her former doctor wrote a letter to other

professionals saying that 's mother " continues to interfere as

she has done for many years " and had " sabotaged " 's treatment.

Following a complaint by Mrs Eldred, the General Medical Council

warned the doctor that his language had been " inappropriate and open

to misinterpretation " .

That did not stop the authorities from locking up . While being

detained she was frequently kept in isolation, forcibly restrained by

staff and allegedly bullied and sexually harassed by other patients.

Her latest regimen of drugs has also made her balloon from her normal

weight of 8st to 15.5st.

During the past 10 years a succession of experts in Asperger's have

confirmed 's diagnosis and drawn attention to the damage to her

body and mind cause by the inappropriate drug regimes.

In August 2000, Amitta Shah, a consultant clinical psychologist,

wrote in a report: " The current treatments, which include anti-

psychotic medication, intense observation, physical restraint and

seclusion for long periods, are all likely to exacerbate 's

difficulties and lead to deterioration in her physical and mental

health.

" She is showing serious side-effects, which include tardive

dyskinesia and other disorders of movement and volition . . . and she

is extremely vulnerable to developing full blown catatonia, which can

become irreversible and life threatening. "

All needed was a stable environment, gentle support and

interesting activities. This would best be provided " outside a

medical/psychiatric setting " , Dr Shah said.

Prof O'Grady said that should be taken off drugs that

have " already more than likely caused her some harm and which have

been singularly without long-term benefit to her " .

Mrs Eldred says that - who is currently living at her mother's

home but could be sent back to a secure unit if she tries to wean

herself off the drugs she is still being prescribed - cannot be left

alone. " She was more independent at 16 than she is now at 43 as a

result of her many years of involvement with the mental health

system, " she said.

" They acknowledge she has Asperger's but are saying she also has a

schizo-affective illness. The truth is that her other problems are

all caused by the drugs she has been given for 17 years.

" She has been ruined and it is the doctors who have done it. I can't

help hating them for it. " >>>