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Anxiety or ASD is a label ?

amandacoutinho

would like to bring up something that has been upsetting me.

My whole life I have been told that I have an anxiety disorder. Even my GP has recorded it as GAS. However, I have an ASD diagnosis from two countries, Brazil and the UK. Psychiatrists have not said that I have GAD as a primary condition. They say that I am autistic, with anxiety as a comorbidity. In this case, is anxiety considered a diagnosis on its own, or just a comorbidity? At work in the UK, when I tried to explain that my diagnosis in Brazil was ASD, I was told that it was “just a label”, but GAD was accepted and I was quickly labelled with it.

Even in the UK, after receiving an ASD diagnosis from a psychiatrist, it is still sometimes seen as “just a label”, while GAD is accepted without question. I don’t understand this and it confuses me. My understanding is that I am autistic, with anxiety as a comorbidity that is triggered by specific situations or people, rather than being constant. Based on your experience, could you help clarify this for me?

  • The different treatment may be because ASD is something you can't fix, whereas anxiety is something you can.

  • in reply to Hergé

    Thank you for sharing your experience. I really appreciate your words. I understand you when you say that GP has washed their hands. You are not bitter just realistic. 

  • in reply to counterpoint

    “I personally prefer saying I’m 'autistic with CPTSD' rather than 'a person with autism and CPTSD.' It’s incredibly frustrating when people focus only on the depression or anxiety. It feels like they’re just scratching the surface without looking at the root.” This quote was everything I needed to understand. Thank you! 

  • I’m not entirely sure how the legalities work in every case, but I believe that a comorbidity is simply a 'diagnosis on its own' that happens to exist alongside another one. It doesn't mean it’s 'lesser' or just a part of the ASD. It’s a distinct condition in its own right.

    In my experience, things like anxiety or CPTSD that stem from living with neurodivergence can become their own separate issues. While they are likely linked to growing up undiagnosed, they eventually require a specific, targeted approach. Relearning how to live with a diagnosis makes them easier to manage, but it doesn't just make them disappear.

    I personally prefer saying I’m 'autistic with CPTSD' rather than 'a person with autism and CPTSD.' It’s incredibly frustrating when people focus only on the depression or anxiety. It feels like they’re just scratching the surface without looking at the root. My thinking is that if the struggles stemming from autism are caught early, we might be able to prevent them from spiraling into a full-blown secondary disorder. If not, they become a separate challenge to manage. I find I can manage my life in terms of my autistic and ADHD traits, but the trauma lingers. It’s something I’m sure I’ll have to address eventually.

    If addressing your autism through accommodations or specialised coaching/counselling makes your anxiety manageable, then the GAD label might not fit anymore. However, keeping it on your record might actually give you easier access to certain treatments or support if you ever need it.

    In an ideal world, treating anxiety related to autism should look different than treating GAD. Treating the anxiety as the main issue without addressing the underlying autism can be damaging and, honestly, a bit futile. I definitely see why you’d want to clarify your records. I’d probably try doing it myself, especially if healthcare professionals kept seeing me through the lenses of anxiety or trauma without ever looking at why they developed in the first place. My own official records show a 'possible mood disorder' and suicidal ideation, and I’m sure that’s the perspective people see me through. My GP doesn't even know I’m now diagnosed with autism and ADHD. I try not to think about it for now, but it’s a heavy thing to carry.

    Edit to answer the question about the labels: I think the reason they call ASD 'just a label' while GAD is 'accepted' is that many doctors see anxiety as something they can 'fix' with a prescription, whereas they see autism as just a description of who you are. It’s frustrating because, for us, the 'label' of ASD is actually the key to understanding why the anxiety is there in the first place.

  • I am autistic and have ADHD and TRD. The autistic side just gets pushed to one side as I've been told on a few occasions "there's no treatment for autism"!

    I've just started ADHD stimulant meds and I have medical insurance which covers my psychologist appointment. 

    The NHS mental health people have more or less washed their hands of me as I have "things" in place that may help, but if they don't I'm free to go back and get fobbed off at a later date, I do sound a little bitter don't I!

    So they can attempt to treat the symptoms but not the root cause. Or that's my experience anyway.

  • in reply to Martin

    Makes sense Martin. Thank you. I will fight at work to be removed from this label of anxious or stressed person, if ASD for manager is a label then GAD is also a label for myself, above all without a diagnosis. I am just tired of being called anxious stressed nervous since child. Leave me alone in peace an I am very relaxed person Stuck out tongue

  • I am diagnosed with ASD, GAD and social phobia. The extra diagnoses were made during my ASD assessment, while my, mild, OCD tendencies were ascribed to my ASD. I think that a lot is down to the particular opinion of the individual clinician and looking for hard and fast rules is probably pointless.

    My personal opinion is that anxiety, which up to 80%-90% of adult autistic people say they have problematic levels of, is a secondary facet of autism. It is caused by autistic people being immersed in a fundamentally hostile allistic world. Get rid of unwritten and illogical social conventions, fluorescent lighting, barking dogs, itchy labels in clothing, people dousing themselves in horrible perfume etc. etc. then autistic levels of anxiety would probably fall drastically. Perhaps they would fall to the same levels that allistic people experience now.