Autism Diagnosis

Hi Marmaladepink - congratulations on your diagnosis and welcome to the community!

It's great that you're feeling some benefit from your diagnosis. I cried with relief when I got mine, because it explained so much. 

However, during the period following a diagnosis it also can be very common for us - especially as late-diagnosed adults - to experience emotional dysregulation. This can include working through a phase where we experience (backward-focused) anger, frustration, grieving, and more.

The NAS has a great set of articles focused around diagnosis, including one covering how you might feel during the subsequent days / weeks / months - you might find them of interest and/or helpful:

NAS - How you might feel after a diagnosis

NAS - Other advice covering post-diagnosis

I found that I needed to give myself lots of time and breathing space to process and absorb everything that I'd been through. I only felt ready to start therapy or counselling several months later. It's now just over a year since I was diagnosed and I'm nowhere near finished with processing everything.  

It's more the case (for me) that my diagnosis was the start of a new journey, rather than a conclusion filled with immediate answers and solutions for my various difficulties.  

I mentioned therapy, which is often recommended after a diagnosis. You might find it helpful to borrow or buy this book, which includes discussion of various types of therapy and counselling, together with advice on choosing the right therapist or counsellor - all from an autistic person's viewpoint. Several of us here have found it very helpful, myself included:

The Autistic Survival Guide to Therapy

Hi Marmaladepink - congratulations on your diagnosis and welcome to the community!

It's great that you're feeling some benefit from your diagnosis. I cried with relief when I got mine, because it explained so much. 

However, during the period following a diagnosis it also can be very common for us - especially as late-diagnosed adults - to experience emotional dysregulation. This can include working through a phase where we experience (backward-focused) anger, frustration, grieving, and more.

The NAS has a great set of articles focused around diagnosis, including one covering how you might feel during the subsequent days / weeks / months - you might find them of interest and/or helpful:

NAS - How you might feel after a diagnosis

NAS - Other advice covering post-diagnosis

I found that I needed to give myself lots of time and breathing space to process and absorb everything that I'd been through. I only felt ready to start therapy or counselling several months later. It's now just over a year since I was diagnosed and I'm nowhere near finished with processing everything.  

It's more the case (for me) that my diagnosis was the start of a new journey, rather than a conclusion filled with immediate answers and solutions for my various difficulties.  

I mentioned therapy, which is often recommended after a diagnosis. You might find it helpful to borrow or buy this book, which includes discussion of various types of therapy and counselling, together with advice on choosing the right therapist or counsellor - all from an autistic person's viewpoint. Several of us here have found it very helpful, myself included:

The Autistic Survival Guide to Therapy

Hi Bunny, 

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my message. It's much appreciated. I love to read and research things so thank you so much for the links and book recommendation.