self diagnosed - should i try to get a formal diagnosis?

Hi isthisreal, and welcome!

All I can really say is - if you think it would help you, then go for it.  I was finally diagnosed 2 years ago, at the late age of 56, following a lifetime of problems in lots of areas of life - including misdiagnosed mental health issues.  My depressions and anxiety are, I now realise, rooted in my ASC - and actually, since my diagnosis, they've improved quite naturally.  The diagnosis gave me validation.  It gave me something to hold up and say 'This is why I am what I am.  I'm not a freak or a failure.  I'm just different.'  Also, of course, it enables me to get support (not so easy at my age), and to ask for reasonable adjustments in the workplace.  They can't any longer get impatient and call me fussy.  They need to take me seriously, as they would with a physically disabled person who needs things like wheelchair access, etc.

The only real downside of my diagnosis is that it came too late to help me in all sorts of situations where I've struggled: school, work, friendships and relationships, sensory issues, etc.  That's why I'd encourage it for you.  As long as you would feel comfortable with having a formal diagnosis - something that goes on your medical record.  Some people feel that it's a burden, and I can understand that.

I assume you've done the AQ test.  Talk to your GP.  Persist if they demur.  You have a right, just as anyone else does.

What does your therapist think, too, of the likelihood of ASC?  It was my therapist who first pointed me in that direction, having first thought that it might be BPD because I exhibited most of the symptoms.

Keep talking, anyway.  There'll be a lot of others here with a lot to tell you, I'm sure.

All the best,

Tom

Thanks for your reply Tom, it really helps! I've done the AQ test, and even though I felt like I wasn't "autistic enough", the results said I was well within the spectrum. I have to wait till September to see my GP so hopefully I'll get a chance to talk to him then. My therapist told me she doesn't think I am on the spectrum although I display "autistic behaviour", but I think I disagree with her. I'm not sure whether I should approach the subject again with her or not.

My therapist originally thought it was BPD, because I displayed all the symptoms.  It was only when she delved further into my past and asked questions about my childhood that she began to suspect ASC.  Fortunately, she had experience with this and was prepared to back me up on a referral.  On the other side of the coin... I saw a psychiatrist at my local CMHT prior to my referral, and he insisted that I couldn't be autistic because 'You don't rock in your chair and flap your hands.'  So even the experts are wrong.  ASC isn't something you can just pigeon-hole.  Every one on the spectrum is different.  So, maybe you display 'autistic behaviour' because you're autistic!  What was your AQ score, by the way?  What autistic behaviours do you display, and what makes you convinced about it?

My therapist originally thought it was BPD, because I displayed all the symptoms.  It was only when she delved further into my past and asked questions about my childhood that she began to suspect ASC.  Fortunately, she had experience with this and was prepared to back me up on a referral.  On the other side of the coin... I saw a psychiatrist at my local CMHT prior to my referral, and he insisted that I couldn't be autistic because 'You don't rock in your chair and flap your hands.'  So even the experts are wrong.  ASC isn't something you can just pigeon-hole.  Every one on the spectrum is different.  So, maybe you display 'autistic behaviour' because you're autistic!  What was your AQ score, by the way?  What autistic behaviours do you display, and what makes you convinced about it?

My AQ score is 35, and the main reason I think I'm autistic is my social behaviour: I really dislike social situations and I tend to not understand other people, which makes me feel like I'm from a different planet...

I've got a list of the main 'symptoms' I display that make me convinced about it:

- I've had to make an effort to observe and learn how to do social things (like eye contact) where it seems to come naturally to other people, I have to make a conscious effort to act 'like everyone'

- sensory issues: i like heavy blankets even in summer, i HATE loud voices/noises/fights/conflict, I'm a very picky eater, I have to wash my hair whenever I shower otherwise my hair feels 'wrong'

- I struggle with understanding social situations and how people act: I'm often taken advantage of and I misinterpret what people say or do

- I think in black and white and I take everything literally

- I struggle to grasp unwritten rules and I'm usually quiet because I'm observing how other people act to imitate them

- I dislike crowds

- I'm highly sensitive

- I enjoy routines

- I'm often overwhelmed by my environment and feel like I have to take a break from it

- I have very unhealthy relationships where I'm completely dependent on the other

- I have poor coordination, I'm quite clumsy, I can't see perspective properly, I struggle with recognizing faces

- I have weird hobbies like looking at mormon blogs despite not being a mormon and am fascinated by genealogy and families