Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello! It’s recently been suggested by my (fairly new) psychiatrist that I may have ASD. I’m currently 28 and been in mental health services for about 14 years with various diagnoses of anxiety, bipolar, schizoaffective disorder and borderline personality disorder - although I’m currently diagnosed with bipolar and anxiety. I currently work full time as a Social Worker and I am currently training to be an Approved Mental Health Professional. The suggestion of ASD has thrown me somewhat and my wife and family are not convinced I have it. I’m obviously not looking for a diagnosis on here, but I wonder if anyone who has been diagnosed could relate to the following?
If anyone who is diagnosed feels that they can relate to the above, I would be interested to hear... Like I said, I am not looking for some online diagnosis, but just a sense if my experiences are typical of someone with ASD, or not... Thanks!
Hello, welcome!
I was diagnosed with ASD Thursday just gone
I have bipolar, so can relate with one of your mental health diagnoses - although, sadly, as far as I know, it doesn't tend to be misdiagnosed in place of autism, whereas borderline personality disorder can. My psychiatrist told me he suspected I had autism too, and that's how I was first referred for diagnosis (although, difference between me and you is that I had suspected I was an aspie some years before)
I can relate to the self-harm, rich imagination, unintentionally coming across as rude, feeling awkward and different, and having anxiety around unstructured social situations
My family thought I was 100% 'normal' too, but if your psychiatrist thinks you have it, you probably do have it