Worried about the possibility that I might have Asperger's

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I have always had a hard time communicating with my parents and doctors, especially when the topic being discussed is my own thoughts and needs pertaining to my health and welfare. Because of this, I have only recently mustered up enough courage to mention my suspicions that I might have Asperger's syndrome or some other sort of high functioning Autism disorder, by which I mean that I think I am on the milder end of the spectrum and not necessarily that I have HFA. My parent's were willing to accept my concerns and we now plan to mention this to my psychiatrist. However, I'm terrified that said psychiatrist will either immediately ignore my concerns and tell me that there is no way I could have an Austism spectrum disorder, I've only seen this person once before which is hardly enough time for him to judge, or he'll assume that it's something that it's not and blow it out of proportion which will only lead to my being misdiagnosed. I don't really know what to do about this, but I'm finding myself wishing that I had never even mentioned my suspicions. It seems that there are plenty of self diagnosed "aspies" who are quite content just assuming that they have Asperger's. I would be fine with that, but I hate not knowing and I would rather be able to tell myself that I have Asperger's or some other sort of high functioning Autism, again milder spectrum not HFA, than just to tell myself that I'm an extremely shy person who needs to grow up and meet new people. I'm really not sure what to do other than to ask others, who might or might not have undergone a similar experience, what they did to cope. If it helps, I'm a seventeen year old male and I have horrible awful social skills. I've also been diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder and clinical depression, I think the first diagnosis was just an excuse to put me on Prozac and I believe the second one. I'm not sure if I should post any more info because I am not technically asking others if they think I might have Asperger's Syndrome. I'm really quite sorry for having posted such a long block of text.

Try a Neuropsychologist, they often are more aware of Autism/Aspergers and when to diagnosis. Even better, look for someone who is specialized in Autism/Aspergers.

I would be all for doing that, but at this point I really don't even know if there's enough of a reason to contact a specialist. I've read plenty of material pertaining to Asperger's Syndrome and Autism on the internet and it seems to fit me like a glove so to speak, but that's just my theory and I really don't know if we can afford the costs of a specialist just to prove or disprove said theory. I would be a lot more willing to inquire if I were a little more sure.

I might be able to help a little in coming up with cheap alternatives. What state do you live in?

To be worried about it is silly. It is a SYNDROME, NOT a disease. It won't get worse. So if they could prove you had it, or didn't, it would make NO difference. As for a diagnosis, you haven't said enough for anyone to guess. And HFA is NOT necessarily that bad. According to the DSM, a person with AS would be fin, outside of social things. a person with HFA could be worse, but not THAT bad.

I am sort of in the same boat as you. Recently my husband and I think I might possibly have Asperger's. We try to bring it up to my mom but she just blew it off like there is another reason to my craziness. She just thinks I am just plain weird or thinks I should be on Prozac :/ My husband brought it up to my last psychologist to see if she knew someone that specializes sadly she did not. And just told us not to get lost in a maze and just pray about it. Where I live in my city, a counseling center pretty much blew me off and said you only find that in children >< I know there are centers in my state but I have no clue if they only deal with diagnosing children. It kind of makes me feel like I at a dead end.

Allow me to explain, it would not be the diagnosis of either that worried me. I'm worried because I don't trust my own perceptions of myself, and I don't frankly trust the person I'm going to see to be 100% helpful. I've read far too many stories on here where people talk about their psychologists or psychiatrists not paying the slightest bit of attention to what their saying. I'm worried that I'll end up in a similar situation. I don't have any worries at all about the diagnosis itself because I've already gotten through 17 years of my life being the way I am, and I figure that confirmation of what I think would not make it any more difficult it would just explain the few difficulties I have and still experience. My fears stem from the fact that I can be rather insecure and I am afraid that I'll either be turned away, in which case I'll have been wrong or I'll have been snubbed and that makes me question myself, or I'll be given an incorrect diagnosis, in which case my psychiatrist either wants to put me on a pharmaceutical designed with mental disorders in mind or he doesn't know what he's talking about.

It took me a few goes before I finally received my official dx. Like you, I was initially hesitant to broach the topic to anyone, because I wasn't entirely sure of my perceptions, but when I told my therapist of my suspicions, she was willing to listen to me. The more we spoke about my history, and the more she observed of me, the more she became convinced that I was on the spectrum and she was willing to advocate on my behalf to my doctors. Still, it took me about 2 years before I got the formal nod [in fact, I just received the formal nod a few days ago].

I think my advice would be that you should outline your reasons to the psychiatrist as to why you think you may have ASD. You were given OCD as a dx, and obsessive behaviours and special interests are often found in people with ASDs so perhaps you might want to explore the history of the OCD and why it was dxed in the first place. It sounds like your parents are willing to listen, so it might help to have them either be in the appointment with you so that they can also give the psychiatrist information about your childhood. You have to remember that ASD is a developmental disorder, so it has to be present from early childhood. If you have any school reports, that might help as well.

Also, I wonder if your depression is stabilised at the moment, because social withdrawal and social issues can occur with people with depression as well as ASD. In hindsight, I think my psychiatrist was waiting for my schizoaffective to stabilise before deciding he would view some of my issues in terms of ASD. For a while, he had viewed some of my symptoms in terms of schizoaffective, because there is some overlap between the two disorders.

Anyways, good luck and I hope you will be able to find your answers.

I am in basically the exact same situation as you. I've self-diagnosed because it all fits like a glove, but I'm not sure if I should trust this perception of myself. I would like to get diagnosed because confirmation would help explain everything to myself, but if I the psychiatrist says I don't have it, it'll take away this explanation, and if he says I have something else, I could get completely mired up.

For me, it's not about Asperger's getting worse, finances or treatment. There are no financial benefits for me and I do not desire treatment. It's about explaining and understanding the way my brain works.

I'm afraid I cannot help you with your decision. I have been wrestling with it for quite a while now and I have still not come to a final decision (which isn't exactly helped by the fact that I'm completely unable to make decisions on anything).

In turn, I wish I could help you with your decision. You and I are even more alike than you first thought. I am looking for confirmation because I want to be able to stop wrestling with the question. I highly doubt that, acting on the assumption that I am diagnosed, I am in a position in which I am afflicted severely enough to qualify for government money or any other sort of special programs/treatments. I hope things work out well for you.