Can You Trick Yourself Into Believing You Have ASD

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I've been reading about the symptoms and struggles had by people on the spectrum and was wondering can you trick yourself into believing you have ASD.
Admittedly I didn't even know what an autistic symptom was a year ago so never suspected I had ASD.
I'm now second guessing my symptoms and even think on a sub-conscious level I might be pretending they are worse than they really are due to some mental illness ( cant prove it though ).
I know what I am describing sounds a little like Munchausen's or hypochondria but is it possible with out these.

I'm sure you could, especially if you only have some of the typical symptoms, and function acceptably in spite of them. Even some adults who have autism pass inspection by mental health professionals at first glance, due to coping mechanisms built up over many years that mask the more obvious external signs.

The trick would be if you are autistic, managing to successfully pretend you weren't. I mean, being high-functioning certainly allows many of us to feign "normalcy" for brief periods, enough to make people think we're just a little "odd," but I'd think things like having no friends, constant stimming, and uncontrollable, overpowering anxiety and abject social ineptitude would be impossible to ignore over the long haul.

I also think sensory hypersensitivity is easy to miss when you've lived with it all your life, because without any other point of reference, one tends to assume everybody is experiencing life that way. When it finally clicks that most of your incessant anxiety is caused by the constant barrage of chaotic sensory input, a lot of the other symptoms suddenly make perfect sense.

But yes, I think it would be easy to confuse other similar sets of issues with autism. But it would likely still mean you were experiencing some sort of psychological impairment.

You can trick yourself into thinking you have just about anything... but you have to have the right mechanism for tricking yourself.

Thanks for your answers guys , it only confirms what I thought. I really need to stop analyzing everything until I've had an assessment.

The evidence had to be there the whole time since early childhood, likely long before you ever heard of autism or anything about it at your age. It is also why they usually have a parent/family member included in the assessment for a third party perspective/observations of your behaviour.

When I first found out about it being something you were born with , it was obvious I didn't have ASD as I didn't remember any issues I had as a child ( I was going to leave the forum and carry on with my life ).

Kraftie then told me that it might be BAP so I've stuck around as autism began to pique my interest. I have since found out that my self awareness is appalling ( my GF is gobsmacked that there's things she knows about me that I didn't realise ) and I clearly had issues as a child but was blissfully unaware of it.

If I do have ASD it was definitely not a issue with me till I was 19 and it does appear that what might of been mild autistic traits have got worse over the years , I know this still doesn't mean I have ASD but it's still baffling for me.

Technically, you can trick yourself into believing anything. That's why humans are so great at rationalising indefensible actions or illogical ideas. It's entirely possible that you have convinced yourself that there is a deficit where none actually exists or have simply misattributed your problems to autism. Or it's possible that you have autism and you're suffering from a sort of imposter syndrome because of it.

What's most important is addressing the difficulties you face rather than concerning yourself too much with a particular label. Diagnosis takes a lot of trial and error anyway.

I really don't think I have convinced myself I have deficits but anythings possible especially with low self esteem , anxiety & depression.

I've never heard of imposter syndrome but looked it up and that does sound like me especially in my last job , I felt like a complete fraud blagging my way through the day worrying that I wouldn't be able to fix the next problem and looking like a rank amateur.

The issue I have with just addressing the difficulties is the complete lack of confidence I have with the medical community in being able to help me ( which they haven't in over 25 years ). I am not sure if this is because by the time I'm in a secured locked psychiatric ward the symptoms I have are usually psychotic and they keep me in there so I can re-energize , I have always been released with the pretense that it's not the right place for me and it does me no good ( I am only a danger to myself ).
For me it's not just about addressing my difficulties , I want to know where the difficulties stem from so I gain a better understanding of myself and hopefully fix myself - If I have ASD there's no fixing it and I just need to except things as they are , If it's not ASD I've got to keep fighting otherwise I'll just lose the will to live and end up in a padded cell and the vicious circle continues.

Edit: I've just read that imposter syndrome in autism is usually after confirmation of autism so not sure it applies to me.

I've been wondering about this too, I know that I tend to end up researching conditions when I find theory videos/ articles on certain characters, and there are quite a few reviewers and song artists I know (well not personally) that are autistic so it's something of an interest to me.

And with my online therapist mentioning autism to me, it's kind of hard not to wonder sometimes. But for me, my social issues only really affected me in younger childhood, I cope perfectly fine now- I no longer have any issues with eye contact, or misinterpreting body language (well... I still do now and then admittedly, but not as much I did) and I'm getting better at not getting too freaked out when people get too close (it still makes me uncomfortable, but I don't get violent anymore like I used to when I was a child) unfortunately I still have oversensitive senses, but I have my ways of coping.

I don't think I have autism though, and besides- my issues with maths have been more of a priority recently for me since I seem to be doing fairly fine socially, and my maths issues I've been wanting to look into for awhile. I also want to look into OCD, but the therapists I've talked to don't seem to be that concerned about my obsessions, they've told me to keep trying to cut back on checking behaviours, I'm hoping I can keep to that plan without falling into bad habits again.

I had a similar situation and concern when I suspected that I have ASD - is it all in my head, am I making it up, am I somehow exaggerating, am I crazy? As others posted, it's possible that it could all be in your head, but it's more likely that you are seeing traits in yourself that DO fit with it. Whether or not those traits are enough for a diagnosis is not something that you can identify yourself. The best thing to do, and only way to know, is to get professionally assessed, importantly by someone who specializes in ASD. Do you have any resources or ASD professionals in your area? If you have a proper assessment by someone who knows the condition well, you can be fairly confident in their conclusion.

I beginning to seriously doubt I have ASD although I have a lot of traits. I do think I have the obsessional side of OCD though which I think is my most serious issue.

I've read similar stories to yours which only feeds into to 'do I /don't I' thinking. I am currently on a waiting list for an assessment ( 15 month waiting list in my area ) so I've done all I can with regards to seeking help. What you have said makes perfect and logical sense but it's difficult to just let things go until my assessment ( maybe due to OCD ? ).

Does anything specific make you doubt it?

Also a lot of people with ASD have trouble with an over-analytical mind which is kind of similar to the obsessional side of OCD from my understanding...at least how it manifests. But I am certainly not licensed to give any diagnoses, Just have experienced the thought loop trap of getting stuck obsessing over some more negative thought .

Ya...the waiting really really sucks. I think I flipped back and forth between "I have it", "I don't have it/it's all in my head/I'm crazy" every other day, and couldn't really think about anything else. 15 months wait list really really sucks.... I read a lot about ASD while waiting for my assessment - while you may or may not have it, reading about it could help, and learning about how others have dealt with some of the same things you are experiencing can give you ideas for how to work with it yourself. And try to do something fun/nice for yourself too.

I have an answer for everything so confirmation bias is the only thing that makes me doubt it.

I was put on the waiting list when I joined this forum so it's not 15 months now ( although it feels like it )
Thanks for the kind words , unfortunately as I'm suffering from depression doing something fun/nice is a pretty alien concept for me at the moment ( although this forum seems like fun to me )- it should pass though.