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Feeling very sad and alone since diagnosis

Fran123

Hello, 

I’m 42 and have recently been diagnosed. And I’m not sure what to do next.

my assessment came about by being diagnosed with low mood and depression along with consistent panic attacks but nothing was helping, medication and talking therapies never seemed to help at all.

5 weeks ago I was actually shocked that I was diagnosed - I always thought I was just weird and anti social. After my diagnosis which was done on line I was sent a leaflet via email and that was it. Sent on my way with best wishes. 

I am now feeling even worse, my panic attacks are awful, my driving anxiety is even worse and the tears are daily. I feel lost and I’m struggling to find help. My GP said let just up your medication again and see how you go. Nothing has helped.  I’m on a wait list to see a mental health practitioner but it just feels like I’ve been given a label and that should solve things, when actually I’m still struggling and there is nothing I can do. 

did anyone else feel like this after a late diagnosis? Will the sadness ever go away? 

Parents

  • I was diagnosed at 50 and like you sent off into the world with no help or support, I think the feeling was that I'd coped for 50 years and I could carry on. Unlike you though, I found my diagnosis a massive relief, at last there was an actual real world reason why I was so different to everyone else. I took great pleasure in telling an ex that I was ASD, we split up because he couldn't cope with me being different, among other reasons, but that was one of the biggest. There are lots of books that could give you an insight, there maybe groups local to you too. It does sound like you could be in burnout, you certainly sound exhausted by it all. Give your self some time, a diagnosis is a jumping off point, not the end of the road. Gradually you can start to look at your life through an autistic lens and maybe some of things that have been troubling you will feel less troublesome, doing this with the right therapist could be useful, but it has to be with the right therapist and the right sort of therapy.

    Maybe start off with watching Christine McGuiness's documentary about her autism discovery, it was an eye opener for me and I'd never felt more recognised than I did watching this program.

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  • I was diagnosed at 50 and like you sent off into the world with no help or support, I think the feeling was that I'd coped for 50 years and I could carry on. Unlike you though, I found my diagnosis a massive relief, at last there was an actual real world reason why I was so different to everyone else. I took great pleasure in telling an ex that I was ASD, we split up because he couldn't cope with me being different, among other reasons, but that was one of the biggest. There are lots of books that could give you an insight, there maybe groups local to you too. It does sound like you could be in burnout, you certainly sound exhausted by it all. Give your self some time, a diagnosis is a jumping off point, not the end of the road. Gradually you can start to look at your life through an autistic lens and maybe some of things that have been troubling you will feel less troublesome, doing this with the right therapist could be useful, but it has to be with the right therapist and the right sort of therapy.

    Maybe start off with watching Christine McGuiness's documentary about her autism discovery, it was an eye opener for me and I'd never felt more recognised than I did watching this program.

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