Hi ! Is being diagnosis worth it as an adult?

Hi Jabberwocky. I've just been diagnosed at the age of 44 and, for me, it's certainly worth it. For many reasons, but essentially I wanted to know that I am 'really different instead of just being odd.' It has kind of relaxed something in me, even as it brings up other complicated feelings and reappraisals of past and present. I know someone who thinks he too is autistic but doesn't feel he needs the official 'stamp' to say so, and I respect that too. I'm just so uncertain of myself at the best of times, and certainly in terms of telling (in due course) family and friends, it personally helps me to have that bit of paper that says 'assessed and confirmed to  meet  the DSM-5 criteria for autism'. So that if wellmeaning people minimise it or say 'nonsense' I can hold firm in my knowledge that professionals with a lot of expertise could see what I've long suspected. I'm still processing the diagnosis, and a lot of thoughts and feelings spin off from it. But 'know thyself' means a lot to me, and there are so many comparisons I can ease down on now (I think) and stop giving myself such a hard time about.Because it flips things a bit: Instead of being an underachiever (a bit of a too-severe self-judgement anyway, we're not all designed to take life at a sprint - neurodivergent or not), I can actually say I've done OK, considering. 

Hi Jabberwocky. I've just been diagnosed at the age of 44 and, for me, it's certainly worth it. For many reasons, but essentially I wanted to know that I am 'really different instead of just being odd.' It has kind of relaxed something in me, even as it brings up other complicated feelings and reappraisals of past and present. I know someone who thinks he too is autistic but doesn't feel he needs the official 'stamp' to say so, and I respect that too. I'm just so uncertain of myself at the best of times, and certainly in terms of telling (in due course) family and friends, it personally helps me to have that bit of paper that says 'assessed and confirmed to  meet  the DSM-5 criteria for autism'. So that if wellmeaning people minimise it or say 'nonsense' I can hold firm in my knowledge that professionals with a lot of expertise could see what I've long suspected. I'm still processing the diagnosis, and a lot of thoughts and feelings spin off from it. But 'know thyself' means a lot to me, and there are so many comparisons I can ease down on now (I think) and stop giving myself such a hard time about.Because it flips things a bit: Instead of being an underachiever (a bit of a too-severe self-judgement anyway, we're not all designed to take life at a sprint - neurodivergent or not), I can actually say I've done OK, considering. 

Hey, Shardovan!! Thank you so much for responding! You describing your experiences ... actually feel like they mirror mine! This helps me feel a lot better. I struggle with feeling completely different verses everyone else and I always feel a little off. One huge problem for me is during conversation I believe I'm on topic or answering a question but I'm completely off base!! Not even remotely close to speaking about the topic, just what I assumed was similar enough to talk about!

Your response has convinced me that a diagnosis might calm me. I always feel a bit anxious or, like, I'm not going to understand what's happening around me. I feel a lot of stress with being different considering it's not something I'm trying to be :( 

I think you're right that having professionals affirming (or not, although I probably am) on the spectrum would give me reassurance instead of thinking "Maybe I am XYZ like these random people say.".

I do have one question. I am based in the USA and I've been reading that in order to be diagnosed I must go to a General Practitioner then a Psychiatrist. Is this how it worked for you?

How did you get diagnosed as an adult? :)