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Therapy / Support options if you get a diagnosis?

Shadweller

Please can anyone advise if there is any benefit of getting a diagnosis in terms of the therapeutic support you would be eligible for with a diagnosis?

I mean things like support groups, or 1 to 1 therapies of any type etc?

Is it possible to access these same things anyway even without a diagnosis?

I feel quite certain that I am on the spectrum, absolutely everything now makes sense, and all of my difficulties can now finally be explained in a way that makes sense to me. So I don't feel that I need the diagnosis for any external validation or corroboration. What I could benefit from is support from people that understand, so I am trying to weigh up whether is whether it is worth putting myself through the diagnosis process, which I'm thinking will potentially be stressful and anxiety provoking, and a bit of an emotional roller coaster all round.

Has anyone been through, or is going through the process with similar kinds of thoughts?

Parents

  • On the face of it - my diagnosis was only two interviews (supported by a lot of rather agitated emails from me). I paid £1300 because I couldn't deal with the anxiety of being on a waiting list and being out of 'control' of the process.

    What my brain did to me was another thing entirely - I lost the plot, racked with uncertainty, internalised stigma, near dissociation from reality.

    This was a couple of months ago and basically, I was so exhausted that I didn't even want to see the word 'Autism' - I have needed a massive timeout from any introspection.

    I stopped psychotherapy. I'm not on meds (for the first time in about 20 years). I had a bit of a sudden 'reversion' to a safe-but-destructive much older version of myself (beer, pizza, cigarettes and narcotics every night) - thankfully that has mostly subsided since I'm getting my energy and sense of self back together.

    What tangible benefits you can get from a diagnosis really depends on your personal circumstances. I don't qualify for financial support and have a pretty dim view of medical support from the NHS (my lifetime of tainted NHS experiences don't necessarily reflect anyone else's).

    BUT Validation and certainty of what my significant differences are and the root cause of why I simply can't operate like everyone else has been worth it.

    It's still very early but I'm starting to be able to look at the difficulties I have and accept them - and therefore make adjustments (rather than force corrections).

    So... I really needed the bit of paper with the diagnosis on it. If you don't need that then it's all down to what you might get from DWP / PIP (or if you need to convince an employer to make 'reasonable adjustments) and finding out what kind of support provisions are available from your local NHS - which seem to vary from county to county.

  • in reply to JJ

    Thanks for the reply. The validation and certainty would be a good thing. Although I do feel quite certain within myself that I at least have significant ASD traits that explain a lot of my difficulties to myself. A part of me is tempted to leave it at that. But I don't think I will.

    So far I've not needed to go down the disability benefits or employer adjustments route, but there is no way of knowing what the future holds in that regard. I have definitely had issues though and getting through job interviews has been one of them, but I have found ways round that.

    Accessing any mental health support is the main thing I am looking for.

Reply
  • in reply to JJ

    Thanks for the reply. The validation and certainty would be a good thing. Although I do feel quite certain within myself that I at least have significant ASD traits that explain a lot of my difficulties to myself. A part of me is tempted to leave it at that. But I don't think I will.

    So far I've not needed to go down the disability benefits or employer adjustments route, but there is no way of knowing what the future holds in that regard. I have definitely had issues though and getting through job interviews has been one of them, but I have found ways round that.

    Accessing any mental health support is the main thing I am looking for.

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