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Does an official diagnosis help

GreenGardener

Hi. I have been seeing a therapist for about two and a half years now. We have recently been talking about my possible autism. My therapist has said that although she can't diagnose me, my charatiristics/ things that I struggled with would probably be categorised as autism. I have done research myself  and through speaking with family members, think I am autistic.

Is going through with a proper diagnosis worth the appointment s and stress? I am conflicted, some family members are encouraging me to peruse it, others think it's enough that I know myself and can get help in other ways. 

Did getting a official autism diagnosis help other people?

Parents

  • I wondered the same thing. I think it depends on your reasons for wanting to know.

    My aim is to know if there is a deeper reason for my dysfunctional thinking, cognitive distortions, trauma, sleep issues, isolation, depression, problems with stress, etc. in order to cope in future. I had thought I was reasonably normal, it was everyone else, until even I could not explain away what I was doing.

    The solution(s) will depend on what the root cause is. The approach if autistic would be different from if I am neurotypical. I need to know for sure.


    I have had a number of depressive episodes  I couldn't keep a lid on it in Jan, spoke to a counsellor which did not help, so sought a clinical psychologist 3 months ago who on the 3rd session suggested I may be autistic and wanted me to do the AQ-50. After being in denial (as I rejected the same thing 27 years ago) I did it and scored over the 32 needed for clinical significance (have since one a lot of the other tests from embrace autism).

    Have now met a consultant clinical psychologist for an initial discussion as part of getting a diagnosis, who has confirmed there is a legitimate rationale for continuing.

    I made quick progress as I have intellectualised it all in the meetings to keep the emotions in check, and I analysed myself in Jan to recall everything from 50 years and note it all (which is unwise without support as I re-traumatised myself, but I need to reach a conclusion and I'm obsessive once started, was spending 20+ hours preparing for each 1 hr session with the psychotherapist)..
    I am fortunate in having money, so the process has been quite quick, the problem was starting as other issues related to trauma stopped me doing this for nearly 3 decades. Have also paid for various other things privately that I have put off for a long time too; I struggle with seeing GPs. For some reason paying is much easier, I assume it is because I am in control and not asking for help (which I find very hard to do).

Reply

  • I wondered the same thing. I think it depends on your reasons for wanting to know.

    My aim is to know if there is a deeper reason for my dysfunctional thinking, cognitive distortions, trauma, sleep issues, isolation, depression, problems with stress, etc. in order to cope in future. I had thought I was reasonably normal, it was everyone else, until even I could not explain away what I was doing.

    The solution(s) will depend on what the root cause is. The approach if autistic would be different from if I am neurotypical. I need to know for sure.


    I have had a number of depressive episodes  I couldn't keep a lid on it in Jan, spoke to a counsellor which did not help, so sought a clinical psychologist 3 months ago who on the 3rd session suggested I may be autistic and wanted me to do the AQ-50. After being in denial (as I rejected the same thing 27 years ago) I did it and scored over the 32 needed for clinical significance (have since one a lot of the other tests from embrace autism).

    Have now met a consultant clinical psychologist for an initial discussion as part of getting a diagnosis, who has confirmed there is a legitimate rationale for continuing.

    I made quick progress as I have intellectualised it all in the meetings to keep the emotions in check, and I analysed myself in Jan to recall everything from 50 years and note it all (which is unwise without support as I re-traumatised myself, but I need to reach a conclusion and I'm obsessive once started, was spending 20+ hours preparing for each 1 hr session with the psychotherapist)..
    I am fortunate in having money, so the process has been quite quick, the problem was starting as other issues related to trauma stopped me doing this for nearly 3 decades. Have also paid for various other things privately that I have put off for a long time too; I struggle with seeing GPs. For some reason paying is much easier, I assume it is because I am in control and not asking for help (which I find very hard to do).

Children