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Confused about my Diagnosis

Rhjnsgcskdl

A few years ago, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, autism, and ADHD in my home country before moving to the UK.

The diagnoses came after several months of weekly consultations with a psychiatrist. However, only the bipolar diagnosis was disclosed to me at the time. I only found out later—through an official letter the psychiatrist had sent to the NHS—that he had also diagnosed me with autism and ADHD.

I was only treated for bipolar, and the medication caused some pretty bad side effects.

My GP here told me I could stop the medication, saying my issues seemed more like emotional dysregulation than a mood disorder.


Since stopping medication, I’ve been unmedicated, but I still have intense meltdowns, especially when I’m physically stressed (e.g., sleep deprivation, skipped meals, overexertion at the gym).

My GP is skeptical about my original diagnoses. He said mental health labels are rarely clear-cut, unlike physical conditions, and that it’s impossible to truly know the cause of my symptoms.

He suggested therapy and recommended I avoid overexerting myself physically as a way to manage the meltdowns.

It was my partner who strongly encouraged me to research autism further, as he noticed I showed many traits. Since then, I’ve found online resources and tools life-changing—they’ve helped me make sense of so much about myself.

But I also feel conflicted. My views now don’t line up with my GP’s, and I’m scared that I’m just “internet surfing” and self-diagnosing based on traits I happen to relate to. I’ve read that self-diagnosis can be valid, but I also worry (given my mental health history) if it’s really safe for me to rely on that alone.

I’d really like a formal autism assessment, but I can’t afford a private one. What’s especially confusing is that I’m already officially registered with the NHS as having bipolar, autism, and ADHD, yet I haven’t received any support for autism or ADHD.


Right now, I feel stuck and aimless, and not sure how to move forward.

I’d really appreciate to know if anyone has been through something similar or has advice!

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  • Rhjnsgcskdl said:
    He suggested therapy

    What was your response to that suggestion by your GP - I wondered; were you still finding yourself thinking through whether therapy might be a strategy worth trying out as suitable for your situation?

    The National Autistic Society conducted a study where they identified the biggest barriers to accessing talking therapy, as well as what support works best. 

    One of the outputs was a free PDF guide called "Good Practice Guide".  Although the guide's target audience was actually the therapists working in support of Autistic people, I found it useful to read the guide too - to help me think about what it would involve for me to feel it more realistic that I could engage with talking therapy. 

    (I wasn't assuming that I would necessarily be fortunate enough to get a referral to a therapist already accustomed to working with Autistic people - so we might need to learn together: how to best adapt things to be more suitable).

    https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/news/adapt-mental-health-talking-therapies

    There is also a paperback book which quite a few of us here have read and found helpful (you could check with your Library):

    Title: The Autistic Survival Guide to Therapy
    Author: Steph Jones
    Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
    Published: Feb 21 2024
    Format: Paperback 
    (Also available as Kindle and Audiobook.)
    Pages: 256
    Size: 214 x 136mm
    ISBN: 9781839977312
    "In this candid, witty and insightful exploration into therapy, Steph Jones uses her professional and lived experiences as a late diagnosed autistic woman and therapist, as well as consulting therapists from across the world and tapping into the autistic community, to create the ultimate autistic survival guide to therapy."
    Another route to a therapist (paid for privately) would be to consider creating a shortlist of potential providers via the National Autistic Society Directory, or via the Psychology Today website (I haven't added those links - just in case the anti-spam filter gets overzealous). 
    If I were in your place; I think I might be reluctant to try that private route, for now (as it sounds like you are well engaged with your GP and working together to creatively problem solve: how your experience of life might be improved).
    I suppose; we each of us do need to remember that, naturally, we are that complex combination of both our physical health and our mental health - even before we layer-in additional factors such as our Neurodivergent needs, dealing with our daily life stressors etc. 
    That acknowledgement does mean determining (and operating) our personalised selfcare routines which are so important for our optimal maintenance i.e. "the basics":
    - drink sufficient water throughout the day,
    - eat enough nutritious food - regularly throughout our day,
    - getting sufficient sleep,
    - doing those interests we find relaxing,
    - exercising enough and regularly ...but not overdoing things,
    - navigating stressful situations in life as resiliently as possible,
    - asking for help if we are overwhelmed,
    - keeping up our social connections with loved ones and friends,
    - venturing out within our local community reasonably regularly,
    - spending some time outdoors on a regular basis,
    - keeping on top of e.g. our - education / work / household / grocery shopping / cooking tasks etc.,
    - completing our regular roles in caring for our loved ones and those we know / support in our local neighborhood,
    - maybe we might have petcare, or garden / houseplant care to manage too,
    - try to keep our personal finance / other calendar adminstration up to date,
    - keeping track of medication / healthcare advice / attending mefical appointments,
    - managing our laundry and personal hygiene, and
    - prioritising some opportunities to have some fun.
    When you list it all out like that; we are all really busy people - even before we consider: our Autism / ADHD / additional diagnosed mental, or physical health conditions / needs / requirements etc.
    Sometimes, I think we don't give ourselves enough credit for: "doing our best".
    (Note: nobody gets extra credits for "perfection", nor for trying to be a "super-human" ...so we can all lessen our being anxious on either of those accounts.  Also, to be constrained are: "catastrophism" and "imposter syndrome" too).
    Doing our best = good enough!
  • in reply to DormouseAtRest_25

    Thank you.

    There is a lot of wisdom in this post.

    Very helpful. 

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