Published on 12, July, 2020
I am a women in my 50's. A number of years ago I was diagnosed with a personality disorder. After years of depression and meltdowns I finally got an assessment for autism. I have had private and nhs assessments which both conclude I am autistic. Following an appointment today with mental health services it appears that the only route they want to go down is regarding my personality disorder which I feel was a misdiagnosis. How do I get them to accept that this was a misdiagnosis and start to help me with my autistic difficulties>
It sounds like you have been on a long and difficult journey, and it's incredibly frustrating when your concerns are not being fully acknowledged by the professionals who are supposed to help.
As autism is a developmental condition and not a mental health condition, the mental health team are unlikely to help with difficulties associated to your autism unless they are cause co-morbid conditions such as depression, and anxiety. This is why they are probably focusing more on your personality disorder diagnosis. If you feel it's a misdiagnosis, consider documenting specific examples of how your experiences align more closely with your autism rather than a personality disorder, and ask for a new mental health assessment to reconsider your PD diagnosis.
Personally, I am diagnosed autistic recently but was diagnosed with EUPD/BPD 4 years ago. I know a lot of people are misdiagnosed first with EUPD/BPD when actually they are autistic, but I personally identify that I have an accurate diagnosis of both EUPD/BPD and autism. There are a lot of crossovers and I am still fully learning what is an autistic difficulty or personality disorder issue. Only you know yourself and it will mean exploring your difficulties further and learning if they align with autism or not.
I found this advice on Embrace Autism really helpful, which you might want to check out: https://embrace-autism.com/its-not-bpd-its-autism/
Thank you. That is helpful and worth exploring.