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50 years old - is Aspergers diagnosis worth it?

richardsw16

After 10 years of depression and talking therapies (and comments from friends and family), I'm beginning to think I've got Aspergers.

Is it worth going through the diagnosis process? What does a diagnosis lead to?

Think I can be referred by my GP to Maudsley Hospital in south London, but it will take months.

Would be grateful for experiences of others.

Parents

  • @lostmyway

    It was my sister (a teacher) who suggested it. A mixture of things - dispassionate responses, difficulties at work in negotiating/persuading people, a series of shorts jobs where I got frustrated/bored and needed to move on, periods of depression, lack of response to talking therapies and antidepressants, problems at home with my wife and kids, lack of friends (or a need for them). I then started reading up on aspergers and saw myself in a lot of the traits which I'd thought were "normal". I'm trying not to make 2+2 equal 5 by trying to match myself to the ASD traits, but the more I read, the more I understand about myself. I was beginning to feel that I just "thought differently" anyway.

    The difficulty (particularly for the NHS assessment) is that I've developed coping and hiding mechanisms over 50 years make me look "normal" to others. However, I am getting totally stressed, depressed and frustrated underneath.

    I clearly don't have some characteristics of ASD/Aspergers - I have a daft and very sarcastic sense of humour. But I think I tick many of the other boxes. We'll see when I get my feedback in June.

    Getting a diagnosis (even if they just say it's "mild") will help me with future job choices, and hopefully a better situation at home.

    Hope that helps.

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  • @lostmyway

    It was my sister (a teacher) who suggested it. A mixture of things - dispassionate responses, difficulties at work in negotiating/persuading people, a series of shorts jobs where I got frustrated/bored and needed to move on, periods of depression, lack of response to talking therapies and antidepressants, problems at home with my wife and kids, lack of friends (or a need for them). I then started reading up on aspergers and saw myself in a lot of the traits which I'd thought were "normal". I'm trying not to make 2+2 equal 5 by trying to match myself to the ASD traits, but the more I read, the more I understand about myself. I was beginning to feel that I just "thought differently" anyway.

    The difficulty (particularly for the NHS assessment) is that I've developed coping and hiding mechanisms over 50 years make me look "normal" to others. However, I am getting totally stressed, depressed and frustrated underneath.

    I clearly don't have some characteristics of ASD/Aspergers - I have a daft and very sarcastic sense of humour. But I think I tick many of the other boxes. We'll see when I get my feedback in June.

    Getting a diagnosis (even if they just say it's "mild") will help me with future job choices, and hopefully a better situation at home.

    Hope that helps.

Children
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