Loss of confidence following ASD diagnosis

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Halligeninseln
Deinonychus

Joined: 22 Sep 2011
Age: 72
Gender: Male
Posts: 382
Location: Central Europe

04 Oct 2011, 2:34 am

Tuttle wrote:

I was actually really scared of being told I didn't have AS in my diagnosis, not that I did. For me getting a diagnosis meant that I wasn't broken, not that I was.

There's definitely that side to it, too. I too was afraid of finding out I DIDN'T have it, but now I know that I DO I'm reeling about all over the place (metaphorically speaking).

Halligeninseln
Deinonychus

Joined: 22 Sep 2011
Age: 72
Gender: Male
Posts: 382
Location: Central Europe

04 Oct 2011, 2:45 am

Thank you all for your really interesting replies. When I put them all together it comes pretty close to how I feel.

HalibutSandwich
Snowy Owl

Joined: 1 Oct 2011
Gender: Male
Posts: 139
Location: On the hairy end.

04 Oct 2011, 3:33 am

I haven't been diagnosed yet either but am working towards it. And I'm also having some weird confidence issues about getting diagnosed. The reason is I've been told for 15 years my troubles are caused by chronic depression and anxiety. Relatively speaking, those conditions respond reasonably well to medication and therapy. Even though medication hasn't helped me, it could just be I haven't found the right antidepressant to work with my condition yet. So there's still hope. However, there is no real cure for Asperger's. No magic pill. The only treatment will be to learn to lie about who I really am. So the NT's feel more at ease with me. I'm not comfortable with that. I am who I am. And that's where the confidence issue comes in.

Halligeninseln
Deinonychus

Joined: 22 Sep 2011
Age: 72
Gender: Male
Posts: 382
Location: Central Europe

04 Oct 2011, 4:01 am

HalibutSandwich wrote:

It probably depends a lot on one's age. I'm 57 so I know that I function up to a point and that having Asperger's isn't in practical terms going to prevent me from doing things except what it has already prevented me from doing. If one is 14 years old, for example, it must be a bit more demanding to be told. I have already lived most of my life without knowing I had it. So it should really just be a relief to know why things happened thus and so. But it brings a real shift in one's self-image and that takes some getting used to.

OJani
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 23 Feb 2011
Age: 52
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,505
Location: Hungary

04 Oct 2011, 7:12 am

I'm similar to many people here in that I hope my diagnosis will turn out to be AS/ASD. (I'm currently going through an evaluation process.) My self-esteem and confidence is not at the same level it had been before I discovered AS, yet I think all-in-all I'm already better off than before. WP, other internet sites and books have been a tremendous help to me to understand myself and the people around me better.

_________________
Another non-English speaking - DX'd at age 38
"Aut viam inveniam aut faciam." (Hannibal) - Latin for "I'll either find a way or make one."

Hikikamori
Blue Jay

Joined: 1 Aug 2011
Age: 39
Gender: Male
Posts: 88

04 Oct 2011, 10:42 am

Before I figured it out I just thought I had anxiety. I thought I could find the right medicine to fix it too.

But there was no cure for this...It was never going to go away.

I felt like I died.

I felt stupid.

I was sad and I was angry.

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