Now I’m thinking I’m not autistic

Ava said:

I don’t know if I am autistic or not.

The simplest way would be to get a diagnosis - have you considered requesting your GP to arrange one?

Bipolar can be trickier to accurately diagnose so I would request an assessment for this too.

Your GP may ask why you want these diagnoses so I would spend some time to document the traits you exhibit for both just in case - take these with you to either talk about or show to your GP when requesting them.

Bipolar can lead to you feeling quite different at different times so this is why you need a professional to assess it - your judgement may not be objective enough to self-diagnose.

Ava said:

I’m in burnout and have been for decades. 

Have you sought any professional help from therapists to manage the burnout and get back to a healthier balance?

Ava said:

anyone know of anyone with bipolar and autism or how common it is?

This article quotes a number of studies that have pretty different results, from 27% of autistic children showing bipolar symptoms (their words) to another study showing only 8%.

I suspect the studies are not looking at the exact same things but there is a significant overlap.

Ava said:

I don’t know if I am autistic or not.

The simplest way would be to get a diagnosis - have you considered requesting your GP to arrange one?

Bipolar can be trickier to accurately diagnose so I would request an assessment for this too.

Your GP may ask why you want these diagnoses so I would spend some time to document the traits you exhibit for both just in case - take these with you to either talk about or show to your GP when requesting them.

Bipolar can lead to you feeling quite different at different times so this is why you need a professional to assess it - your judgement may not be objective enough to self-diagnose.

Ava said:

I’m in burnout and have been for decades. 

Have you sought any professional help from therapists to manage the burnout and get back to a healthier balance?

Ava said:

anyone know of anyone with bipolar and autism or how common it is?

This article quotes a number of studies that have pretty different results, from 27% of autistic children showing bipolar symptoms (their words) to another study showing only 8%.

I suspect the studies are not looking at the exact same things but there is a significant overlap.

Hi Iain, thank you for your reply. The Gp in this area is unable to send me for an assessment as they don’t have anywhere here to go. But I can only go private and that cost £2k.

I’m wondering if any of you have thought about Avoidant personality disorder and if any of you have that or can show personally the differences?

I haven’t seen anyone about the burnout but I think  I will keep trying.

Thanks Iain