Self-Diagnosed for now, struggling to get diagnosis.

Since graduating from college I've been strugglign to adapt to society, I've been unable to hold down a job and have been dealing with depression, mood swings and a whole host of mood swings. My wife pointed out to me a while back that I showed a lot of signs of autism, and rethinking about my childhood (I was always paranoid that people weren't telling me that there was something wrong with me. I wasn't like the other kids, I did well in school, but I didn't act like them, I didn't talk like them, and I didn't think like them), I couldn't read until I was in 4th grade, and the only solice outside of learning I ever took was video games. It was the world I understood best. 

My psychiatrist agrees that I might have autism but is telling me that a diagnosis would do nothing for me, and that kaiser, at least the one I go to, will only diagnos children and that they don't see a point to diagnosing adults because we should already have coping mechanisms. School was the only thing I ever understood. It made sense. I have a schedule, I attend, I learn at my own pace, I can leave and return, I gain knowledge, I grow in power, I move onto the next adventure. It was even easier to be social, I felt safe. It was an environment I knew.

Anyways, I forgot what my point was. I guess I just wanted to be heard, realize I'm not crazy, that I do have this problem and that I can finally start finding resources to help me succeed.  

Parents
  • As far as I can tell, Des is in America (Kaiser is an american chain of psych hospitals, he graduated from college and talks about 4th grade). He may not be aware that NAS is a british organisation. The advice we can give is therefore limited since the american systems of healthcare are significantly different to our own NHS based systems.

    Des, you are very welcome to contribute and ask advice but the mecahnisms and implications for having a diagnosis are quite different here.

Reply
  • As far as I can tell, Des is in America (Kaiser is an american chain of psych hospitals, he graduated from college and talks about 4th grade). He may not be aware that NAS is a british organisation. The advice we can give is therefore limited since the american systems of healthcare are significantly different to our own NHS based systems.

    Des, you are very welcome to contribute and ask advice but the mecahnisms and implications for having a diagnosis are quite different here.

Children
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