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?
