Worried About Diagnosis Results

I had my assessment a month ago, it wasn't a nice experience 1st lady was lovely who did the practical assessment, 2nd lady not so nice. Lots of issues but main one was 15 minutes in, she kept going on about childhood trauma and how it damages your brain, I came from a broken home, like many children. Every time I answered her questions she was like " well it could still be trauma! " I burst into rears and asked if there was any point carrying on if she had made her mind up so early on. She also questioned me on the way Autism used to be diagnosed, not like the symptoms women present.. Any way it lasted 4 and a half hours with no breaks and for the next 2 days I could not function as brain was fried from the intense questioning, my therapist was very angry about it. They then got in touch and asked to speak to another informant and that was a week ago. 

Anyway they rung today and I get my results on Friday. I am so scared she is going to write me off as just trauma damage (most of which has happened in my adulthood with my inability to read and understand properly). I have been called the sensitive one, the weird one, quirky one, shy one all my life. I tick all the boxes for autism, its looking like my mum and her sister and her Dad were autistic and my brothers 3 kids are all diagnosed and I would say he is definitely on the spectrum. I have struggled for years, in and out of mental health services, no one knows what to do with me. I feel like if on Friday she says she has diagnosed me as just trauma damage and not autism. (i think i have both) Then it is time to give up, as I am tired of trying to understand what is wrong with me and why I find life so hard. Why I don't understand the way people behave, why I hate change, find food stressful, misunderstand what people say, why I think in black and white, hate noise and bright light, big crowds , why when I want to know something I investigate it within an inch of it's life, why I have to plan everything down to every little detail, why I have meltdowns. I could go on and on.

I guess what I am saying is if she say not autism, there is no where else for me to go ( even though I feel like I have found my home on these community sites and fb groups, the way everyone thinks and their struggles are so similar to mine, I finally feel like I fit in somewhere). But no diagnosis would feel like the end of the world to me and I do not know how I will cope. I know some people use self diagnosis, but for me it has to be official or it is not real. This is just my black and white thinking, I have nothing against anyone else using that description. It's just the way my brain works. So worried about how I will find Friday, already convinced what she is going to say Disappointed.

Any advice how I can handle this better please?

Parents
  • Sounds horrific. I've read a little about the crossover between PTSD symptoms and autistic, however,  there's also a view that many autistic people have had traumatic experiences which have given them PTSD or close to it (I read 70%). I consider myself in the latter category.

    I'm not surprised your therapist was angry. I'm angry for you as well, reading your post.  Whatever the outcome you should not have been treated like this, its not ok. 

    Whatever tomorrow brings, you could always seek a 2nd opinion or self diagnose and I'm sure most people in the community will accept that, so you don't have to leave!

    Hope things work out, take care,

    Joe

  • Thanks, I have read up a lot about it, like massively (one of my quirks) and yes there is a cross over and there are a large percentage of autistic people who have PTSD. I honestly think I have both. So fingers crossed tomorrow goes well. 

Reply
  • Thanks, I have read up a lot about it, like massively (one of my quirks) and yes there is a cross over and there are a large percentage of autistic people who have PTSD. I honestly think I have both. So fingers crossed tomorrow goes well. 

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