Negative reaction to diagnosis

Good for you I guess said:

Basically, it has been a week today since I was diagnosed. I never sought out a diagnosis. I never wanted a diagnosis. I was surprised by it but my family and friends seemed to think it was quite obvious.

Sounds very familiar to me. Friends not so much, but family - if I had known that they wouldn't at least be a bit surprised I wouldn't have told them about it at all. I wanted them to tell me that it's bullshit, but they didn't do that, instead they seemed delighted somehow. You are certainly not alone with this.

Good for you I guess said:

Firstly, I need to know is autism a medical condition? Is it a mental or physical health condition? I’m guessing it is a health condition as that is what being diagnosed with something means to me.

It's classed as a medical condition, yes, but not sure, they call it a neurodevelopmental condition, so maybe somewhere in between? Is there a specific reason why it's so important for you to know. Maybe "in between" isn't very satisfying if you want a clear "mental" or "physical".

Good for you I guess said:

Why is it seen by many people as a good thing to be diagnosed with autism?

Suppose it can bring great relieve to find a reason why things haven't worked out and so on. It didn't have that effect on me either, quite the opposite, but think I can see why it can be useful. I may also give you certain rights and protection, although employers for instance seem to be able to work around this pretty well if they want to. But after all, you are the same person with and without diagnosis, so being able to understand your own difficulties and possibly explain them to others may help to make it easier to get on with them.

Good for you I guess said:

To me, ‘autistic' is a negative label and I am having trouble coming to terms with it.

I think "normal" has become quite a narrow window nowadays, you have to be a certain type of "normal" actually... Not sure who defines it though - if society as a whole did that then it should perhaps be wider. Anyway, I think a week is very little. Guess you will get on with the thought better over time, even if you may not come to a point where you think it's a good thing that you got this diagnosis. Guess that's where I am at the moment - I'm not quite so angry anymore with myself and the people that gave me that diagnosis but everytime I hear the argument that I'm still the same person as before I'm disgusted about the awful person I've been for all those years then, and I still doubt that things can work out after being told that it's real and it's actually me who is the problem.

Take care and try to give yourself some time!

Good for you I guess said:

Basically, it has been a week today since I was diagnosed. I never sought out a diagnosis. I never wanted a diagnosis. I was surprised by it but my family and friends seemed to think it was quite obvious.

Sounds very familiar to me. Friends not so much, but family - if I had known that they wouldn't at least be a bit surprised I wouldn't have told them about it at all. I wanted them to tell me that it's bullshit, but they didn't do that, instead they seemed delighted somehow. You are certainly not alone with this.

Good for you I guess said:

Firstly, I need to know is autism a medical condition? Is it a mental or physical health condition? I’m guessing it is a health condition as that is what being diagnosed with something means to me.

It's classed as a medical condition, yes, but not sure, they call it a neurodevelopmental condition, so maybe somewhere in between? Is there a specific reason why it's so important for you to know. Maybe "in between" isn't very satisfying if you want a clear "mental" or "physical".

Good for you I guess said:

Why is it seen by many people as a good thing to be diagnosed with autism?

Suppose it can bring great relieve to find a reason why things haven't worked out and so on. It didn't have that effect on me either, quite the opposite, but think I can see why it can be useful. I may also give you certain rights and protection, although employers for instance seem to be able to work around this pretty well if they want to. But after all, you are the same person with and without diagnosis, so being able to understand your own difficulties and possibly explain them to others may help to make it easier to get on with them.

Good for you I guess said:

To me, ‘autistic' is a negative label and I am having trouble coming to terms with it.

I think "normal" has become quite a narrow window nowadays, you have to be a certain type of "normal" actually... Not sure who defines it though - if society as a whole did that then it should perhaps be wider. Anyway, I think a week is very little. Guess you will get on with the thought better over time, even if you may not come to a point where you think it's a good thing that you got this diagnosis. Guess that's where I am at the moment - I'm not quite so angry anymore with myself and the people that gave me that diagnosis but everytime I hear the argument that I'm still the same person as before I'm disgusted about the awful person I've been for all those years then, and I still doubt that things can work out after being told that it's real and it's actually me who is the problem.

Take care and try to give yourself some time!