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Why Get Diagnosed?

Boggart

Hi,

I'm an adult (31), female, and I think I might have mild autism. I wanted a diagnosis, and the mental health team (with whom I'm involved for anxiety) gave me the AQ10 questionairre thingy, on which I scored 8/10, but when I took it back to my GP she said something like that they don't really have any facility to diagnose adults and it wasn't that important anyway- I should focus on my other health stuff. I have severe anxiety, complete agoraphobia (I don't leave the house at all except for tests / specialist appointments at the hospital), and emetophobia, and digestive problems for which I've had an intestinal bypass- that's what the specialist appointments etc are to do with. 

I like my GP a lot- she's been very kind to me helping with my physical health problems, and very understanding about the anxiety stuff. My previous GP was nothing like that, so I really appreciate her. I do not want to make her mad at me, or get her into any trouble at all, but I'm a bit disappointed I can't get diagnosed. 

I guess I'd just like some advice- what should I do? What would you do? Is there any way I can press this without making my GP dislike me? Or is it best to just drop it? Does getting diagnosed make any real difference to your life? Does it help with studying / benefits / would it affect the treatment I get for anxiety? I'm already signed off sick, and I don't know if I really need any support for the autistic traits- they've always just been part of my personality, but I'm not sure how much the anxiety is tangled up in it, or whether that matters at all for treatment purposes? I might be completely wrong, anyway- I might just be an oddball and not autistic at all! I have a lot of the traits, but certainly not all of them. I guess I just got a bit of a bee in my bonnet about it and I'd really really really like to know. 

Parents

  • Sorry, I didn't mean to criticise, the mild/severe thing is a personal view, it's certainly not a general view.

    I love your answer, you make yourself very clear and it does look like a list of AS traits, and the way we see them. Everyone's experiences are different, we find, and for the most part we go along with it. There are people with different views and abilities, and for my part I try to understand what people are saying.

    I could have written pretty much the same as you have. There is a bunch of us here who have similar experiences, and your final sentence really hit home. When we're on overload already, it doesn't take much to set us off, and afterwards be amazed that something so trivial caused so much. It's the last snowflake that causes the avalanche!

    There are people on here who are self-diagnosed, and that's perfectly acceptable. Personaly, I advocate for a formal diagnosis, having been through one and feeling that it benefits me. It's finally explained all the things that were ever wrong, puzzling, hurtful, etc about my life, and it's certainly solving many puzzles for me.

    I hope your journey does the same for you.

Reply

  • Sorry, I didn't mean to criticise, the mild/severe thing is a personal view, it's certainly not a general view.

    I love your answer, you make yourself very clear and it does look like a list of AS traits, and the way we see them. Everyone's experiences are different, we find, and for the most part we go along with it. There are people with different views and abilities, and for my part I try to understand what people are saying.

    I could have written pretty much the same as you have. There is a bunch of us here who have similar experiences, and your final sentence really hit home. When we're on overload already, it doesn't take much to set us off, and afterwards be amazed that something so trivial caused so much. It's the last snowflake that causes the avalanche!

    There are people on here who are self-diagnosed, and that's perfectly acceptable. Personaly, I advocate for a formal diagnosis, having been through one and feeling that it benefits me. It's finally explained all the things that were ever wrong, puzzling, hurtful, etc about my life, and it's certainly solving many puzzles for me.

    I hope your journey does the same for you.

Children
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