So, starting to doubt my self-dx.

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Nope, the medical health system is a joke over here. It;s also in one hell of a mess. Well the NHS is.

Id probably have to pay if I wanted a diagnosis, I doubt my dr would take me seriously, they never do.

You have one example to illustrate the possibility of being wrong. To counter that, there are numerous members on this forum alone who self-diagnosed themselves and went on to be professionally diagnosed, including myself.

There are professionals who diagnose autistic people as their job who say "if you think you're autistic, you probably are." I've seen numbers like 80% to 90% used while stating such things. They are saying that if you think you are autistic, even without an expert opinion, there is a high probability that you are autistic. That is at least a couple of professional opinions about self diagnosis.

I go by my experiences, what I've observed on this forum and elsewhere, and what actual professionals have said on the subject - I covered this in my response to Raziel.

I am in the position of having had all of my self-diagnoses (not that there were many of these) confirmed by professional evaluation, so I find it hard to take the notion seriously that self-diagnosis is too uncertain and too likely to be false. I think that most of the disagreement with self-diagnosis seems to be based on theory rather than reality - the idea that one is not a trained professional thus one is not qualified to examine one's self and one's life and come to valid conclusions. I don't see the value of denying that people can do this, nor do I see the value of accepting a perspective that does not seem to be informed by existing data (the number of members here who self-dx and then go on to get a professional dx).

Different from what? People don't automatically notice things like this, no. But when they explore it in depth, they can find the data. It's their experience. I didn't know about ADHD or autism until I actually researched the topics and was able to compare my experiences to what the information I found said. I was also to get a lot of information from my mother and other people who have known me or at least interacted with me who had an opinion about whether or not I might have these things.

If I hadn't self-diagnosed myself with the things I have, I may never have sought out help. Never mind that meeting antipathy about autism self-dx six years ago actively dissuaded me from looking into it further. I don't see the value of trying to present self-diagnosis as a negative thing or even stigmatize it.

I don't see it that black and white and I'm really sick discussing black and white opinions in this forum, just because I think you should be carefull with self-dx. All I'm saying is that self-dx is not valid for various reasons and that you need at least a second opinion to be certain.

Verdandi - Based upon your other postings, you clearly established that base level of expertise I was referring to. I often times wonder if others who take the self-diagnosis route do the same.

What is "self-dx is never a good idea" but a black and white opinion? I tried to point out that there are shades of gray and good reason to trust self-dx as valid observation. I didn't even claim it was 100% correct, but you're the one who doesn't see it black and white?

Self-dx is valid. Not everyone who self-dxes will be correct, but professional diagnoses can be wrong as well. Of course one should be careful, but that's a different argument from the one I responded to, isn't it?



I think - based on people I've seen here - it is more often the case than not.

i am in my 30's and my GP referred me last year to a new Autism clinic at the Royal Berks hospital. She did say though that I was only the 2nd adult to be referred there.

And I doubt my self diagnosis (along with my GP saying she thinks I am on the spectrum) sometimes. I have days where everything is normal, I crack on with things and just have a great time, I communicate with people and all is well. but something always tips me back and I retreat into my shell once more

I should mention: I had lots of doubting of my self-dx. I actually spent a lot of time trying to disprove it.

Then I saw a professional and she was like, "Yeah, you're obviously autistic" and sent me home early.

result

First of all it hugly depents on the psychiatric disorder and second of all it personally see a huge difference between self-dx AND having a suspicion that you could have something.
Self-dx IS black and white, otherwise it would be a personal suspicion. Because then you think you don't relay on others, not even on autism experts (or others) to get a valid diagnosis. Your personal subjective opinion is enough. You must have a huge self-confidence thinking that. But Attwood already mentioned in his book, that some autistics have a "Gods mode" how he calls it.
And yes, Attwood stated that 80% of ppl comming to him have Asperger's, but still 20% not and with ADHD for example it is far less, because according to Barkley most ppl with ADHD don't recognice the severity of their symptoms until their late 20s/early 30s. That's why they usually need someone in their environment also answering questions how that person behaves and so on.
That's why I personally think, having a suspicion and getting that checked is something different and is totally alright, than really self-dx yourself and even think it's valid.

I was diagnosed several months back and still have doubts. I can totally relate to trying to disprove it. I did the same (which is why I spent so much time researching personality disorders). I oftentimes wonder how so many people can self-diagnose with 100% certainty.

I don't think anyone can. I think some might believe it 100%. While I think they might still be correct, I think that such certainty is problematic when dealing with something like this.

I also spent a lot of time researching personality disorders, and the possibility of people who wrongly convinced themselves they were autistic. It was very hard for me to accept even when I was saying, "Yes, I do think I am very probably autistic."

I also have doubts every so often, but I also have two professional diagnoses now, and lots of records from my therapists that confirm it.

Yes, I do the same, research a lot of stuff and especially because my new psychiatrist has another opinion about what I have it messes me up. I was first dx with HFA for several years and he re-dx me with ADD with autistic tendencies.
I'm not saying that he is right or wrong, but it basically confuses me.

I also thought in the past (and still think) I could have other stuff going on too, but it's never with 100% certainty, I personally think it would be gods mode being 100% certain about once one diagnosis and I'm aware that I see myself different than others do. I don't always know if I truly behaved socially right and how often I really do that, so my environment can tell that better. I just can tell in wich social situations I THINK it behaved wrong. I just want to say with that, that the personal fiew about onceself is always a bit subjective and very often we over- or underestimate our problems. If I really have ADD (how I've been dx with) I underestimated that, eventhough I sometimes overestimated other problems I have.

But I have to addmit, I once got miss-dx but from the beginning I believed I got miss-dx out of several reasons:
a) Short befor that two independent experts had a different opinion
b) I was never dx with that diagnosis in the past
c) It didn't make sence to me

After I changed psychiatrists I got re-dx again, so I was right that I was miss-dx.
The situation was that I had a name change because of gender identity disorder and so needed for that, according to the law in my country, two independend expert reports who both dx me with that. But another psychiatrist stated that I'm propably not GID and that I'm basically just nusts. After that I talked with one expert who dx me with GID about this opinion from that other psychiatrist and he basically sayed that this psychiatrist has no clue. After that I found my new psychiatrist I'm now (actually already since a year ^^) and he agreed with the two independent GID-experts who both stated that I have GID.

So of course you can have another opinion and think that you are miss-dx, it happens in psychiatry. And also have a personal suspicion about what you have. All I'm saying is that those ppl should get a second opinion from a psychiatrist.
But I totally CAN'T understand how some think their own subjective diagnostic opionion is 100% correct, sometimes even when others thought differently.

I don't think anyone's saying that their own opinion is 100% correct. I certainly wasn't. Although in retrospect, mine was 100% correct and validated by professionals.

Using subjectivity the way you are is a bit lopsided, too. Psychiatrists are subjective as well. That's why there are screening tests and diagnostic tests for so many conditions - to help with that subjectivity. Not surprisingly, many who self-dx also rely on many of those tools to help guide them. Subject opinions are not automatically worthless or wrong just because they're subjective, and I think that objectivity is often overvalued or assumed to be present when it is far from present.

Anyway, I think it's invasive to demand that people who self-diagnose see a professional. That really should be up to each individual. In the US, prior to the Affordable Care Act, pre-existing conditions could disqualify one from getting good insurance (or any insurance), so a professional autism diagnosis would sabotage their ability to get insurance. There are other issues as well, which is why even some adults on this forum (currently active or active in the past) may have an "off the books" diagnosis.

I don't see why anyone should be required or expected to get a professional opinion.

Also, it seems strange for you to argue for this by talking about GID diagnosis. Like, I can see needing that diagnosis to access treatment, but no one needs a diagnosis to know what their gender is. The DSM-5 changed it to "gender dysphoria" to clarify that it's not the person's gender that is the problem, it's living in a transphobic society. But cisgender people do not need a diagnosis to confirm their gender, why would you or any transgender person need one? Would you actually be skeptical of someone who diagnoses themself with GID or GD without a professional opinion?