Psychiatrist won't diagnose me because I have social anxiety

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Generally, autistic people develop theory of mind later and in a different way from neurotypical people, look for an article with Francesca Happe among the authors.

Research from Cambridge suggests women with autism use the prefrontal cortex for social judgements.

Autistic people tend to be weak in cognitive empathy, completely normal in affective empathy. It means we care as much as the next person.

Typical mental health problems among autistic people include OCD / eating disorders / anxiety / depression.

That sounds like a classic catch-22. If you're autistic then you're probably going to have trouble socializing and will therefore have social anxiety.... but if you have social anxiety then you can't be autistic.

Absurd.

What you're describing with your psychiatrist sounds just like another way people deny that autism in females exists. Generally, when a professional diagnoses a girl or woman with a mental disorder, they stop at that and either don't consider or outright dismiss the chance of that girl or woman being autistic.

While a self-diagnosis can be helpful, a professional diagnosis can confirm your belief that you're autistic. Find someone who specializes in helping autistic people, especially autistic females if possible.

Time for a new therapist

Doctors, like high school teachers, do not like being proved wrong!

That's a quick route to getting a personality disorder label if you aggravate the pdoc too much .

I agree w/Isabella and Noca: where does a shrink (psychiatrist) get off on making a diagnosis re: ASD? As far as I know (including according to my own shrink), that's outside their realm of expertise since they don't have the tools to test for it. You have to see a psychologist, someone trained in psychometrics (that's who tested me) or someone along those lines to determine whether or not you're on the spectrum. A psychiatrist's opinion in this regard has no more weight than, say, a GP doctor's does.

And secondly, to argue that you can't have it b/c you've been diagnosed w/social anxiety is a ridiculous conclusion. The two are hardly mutually exclusive, as evidenced by the fact that many ASD people have social anxiety. I have in the past and still do to some extent, especially when I'm meeting new people or dealing w/large social gatherings. You're better off getting an opinion from someone qualified to give it, rather than a psychiatrist, who simply isn't.

Glad you're going to find a new psychiatrist, sounds like the right move!

Your psychiatrist sucks, Lucy. If she has Dr in her title, I would start addressing her as Mrs. No one that stupid deserves to be addressed as Dr.

Your psychiatrist is using black and white thinking. A trait normally associated with ASD. Perhaps a more skilled psychiatrist would also diagnose her with ASD.


I think so. During my childhood I had no concept of what other people thought of me and didn't usually have social anxiety. During my adolescence I finally developed a concept of what other people might think of me and realised how foolish I must look in their eyes. After that social anxiety hit me like a ton of bricks. Is this experience typical for people with AS?

Last edited by RetroGamer87 on 22 Apr 2019, 11:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I think a psychiatrist is knowledgeable enough to present a case as to why you should be tested, but it takes someone trained in assessing autism to say 'Yay or nay' as to whether you are on the spectrum.