Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi all,
My name is Jess and i’m a 22 year old female. I received my ASD Level 1 diagnosis last week (I believe this would be equivalent to high functioning autism/Asperger’s).
I was just wondering how everyone ‘dealt’ with their diagnosis and the emotions that were felt? The diagnosis is welcome and for me it feels like I’ve finally found the answer to many of the questions I’ve had about myself and my life.
Last week after my diagnosis I felt happy and extremely liberated - maybe now I can finally stop hating myself for my differences and learn to allow myself to be the true me. A few days later, however, I’m now feeling quite sad, lonely and confused but also a bit of denial; that they must of diagnosed me wrong and I’m a fraud.
Did anyone else experience this? And what other stages can I expect to move through as I begin to process this? How did people find sharing their diagnosis with their family and workplace ?
Thank you in advance :-)
I can relate a bit - I got my diagnosis just under three hours ago and I’m in the happy liberated phase; but I can well imagine that this could turn into sadness and doubt. Part of the reason for this may be that we think “of course I’m normal - I’m as I’ve always been, and that’s normal for me”
But we are allowed to love ourselves and cut ourselves some slack.
Keep chatting on this forum - it’s a place full of love and resonance most of the time.