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Would your life have been different if you’d been diagnosed earlier?

NAS76602

Hello all,

Like a lot on here I was diagnosed later on in life, in my fifties and fairly recently. My daughter asked me if my life would have been different and would I go back and change it if I could. 

I had to think about this, and I’m still trying to work it out. My initial answer is yes I really do wish I’d have been diagnosed earlier and had educational plans in place and maybe not bullied as much and gotten my degrees a few years earlier than I did. 

BUT……

Im ok with who I am, and maybe my struggles are what made me who I am and maybe without struggles I’d not have built the resilience I have. 

I thought it was a good question. Do you guys wish you’d have been diagnosed earlier on in life? And if so would your life have been different to how it is now?

Parents

  • I think an earlier diagnosis could have helped me in some ways. Maybe not materially, but certainly in terms of my mental health. Although I did well academically, the coping methods I needed to survive school were based around teachers assuming that others had given me permission, and not being able to argue while may grades remained very high. However, this basis meant I was left feeling incredibly unsure of them, like they could be taken away at any moment. Which led to an obsession with getting top grades and a massive fear of failure or of appearing even faintly not completely on top of everything. This meant that my mental health plummeted and the mental health interventions I did get were school based so I was reluctant to engage with as I thought it could get back to my school and they'd take away my coping mechanisms (earphones, hiding away at breaks, getting copies of the PowerPoints rather than following the teachers as much, avoiding group work) which was irrational but very very powerful and prevented me from getting good help until after I left schools. A diagnosis would add weight to these necessities and could have left me feeling less panicked every time something went slightly wrong, which would have been nice. On the other hand, maybe I wouldn't have gotten the grades I did, so something good came out of it. 

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  • I think an earlier diagnosis could have helped me in some ways. Maybe not materially, but certainly in terms of my mental health. Although I did well academically, the coping methods I needed to survive school were based around teachers assuming that others had given me permission, and not being able to argue while may grades remained very high. However, this basis meant I was left feeling incredibly unsure of them, like they could be taken away at any moment. Which led to an obsession with getting top grades and a massive fear of failure or of appearing even faintly not completely on top of everything. This meant that my mental health plummeted and the mental health interventions I did get were school based so I was reluctant to engage with as I thought it could get back to my school and they'd take away my coping mechanisms (earphones, hiding away at breaks, getting copies of the PowerPoints rather than following the teachers as much, avoiding group work) which was irrational but very very powerful and prevented me from getting good help until after I left schools. A diagnosis would add weight to these necessities and could have left me feeling less panicked every time something went slightly wrong, which would have been nice. On the other hand, maybe I wouldn't have gotten the grades I did, so something good came out of it. 

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