I think I should get diagnosed.

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After last night, with a complete meltdown in a front of a bunch of people I respect, and people telling me that I appear like I don't care, that I ignored them, etc, etc, etc, coupled with a bunch of other things, I feel like I should looking into getting an official Aspie dianosis. Just for peace of mind. Even if I end up not being Aspie, I still feel like I need some serious psychoanalysis right now.


How does one go about doing this? I'm 24, completely independent, full time job, but no health insurance. How do I do this? How have all of you done this?



ugh today was awful.

I'm sorry your day was bad.
I was diagnosed when I was in a Psych Ward, so I wouldn't really know how to get one otherwise.

I doubt any offical dx from a doctor would make much difference to others. Most
people can not understand what others are going through. They assume all people
have free will to make any choices they want. When the reality is we have close to zero if not zero real choice.

I avoid meltdowns using two methods.

1) Medication such as SSRi's make me far less likely to get upset.

2) I know that most the time social conflicts are my faught. So when things go wrong I do not blame others and at the same time I do not trash myself either. I
just remain quiet most the time and the need to have a meltdown passes.

I guess where you live will determine where is the best place to be dx. I would search for the nearest expert to DX you and then if he feels you could benifit from any treatments for your comorbit problems he might recommend someone closer to your location.

Good advice Machine, although I think she wants the DX for her own mental satisfaction, it's like getting a pet and not knowing what it's original name was in a way. I don't think that she thinks that the DX will change her friends minds, although she hasn't mentioned a trace of that thought yet, positive or negative.

You need a Referral to a psychiatrist who diagnoses these things. Is that easy? No. But you could start by asking your family doctor.

So far, I've been diagnosed by a psychiatric nurse, a family doctor, a Psychiatric Team, a family doctor again. Then they gave me the Referral!

Now I'm on hold for the Big Appointment - I've been waiting 6 months.

Good luck. It is wise to find out, because if you are Aspie there's help available.

Depends on where you live ... In the US, you're pretty much on your own (cost-wise) unless you have a generous Insurance Plan where you work. In the UK, it's a much different situation, in Canada they have their own torturous path.

The problem is that I don't have a family doctor. I JUST got health insurance from work, but i don't believe it covers things like psychiatric help. I am really just looking for a peace of mind, and maybe some suggestions on working certain aspects of my pesonality out without taking meds (I react horribly to almost all medications)

I'm not sure what the cost is but in 1983 the cost was $35/hr for a pyschologist
I saw. Psychatrist charge $150+ and hour when I checked in the earily 90's.
Yeah most insurance plans do not cover mental health. Though I think they will cover mental health meds.

The odds are very high that no matter what your dx is that its not going to matter.
The same kind of treatment options are going to apply. I consider myself social phobic before I heard of aspergers 6 months ago. The same lack of social skills crap I read 17 years ago about social phobia applies to aspegers. Aspergers just suggest a physical mechanism and reasons why learning social skills will be a slow process.

My old Psychiatrist and Psychologist told me I had Asperger's. They worked in the same office. They wanted me to take some sort of test for it, but I had to go to some other person. My parents set up a time to take the test. I ended up not going because I didn't want to go alone, have to drive into DC (I didn't know my way around the area of DC it was in), have to get up early, and have to take what I thought would be a long test.

My current Psychiatrist insist I have Asperger's. He told me to see some Psychologist, I think for therapy type stuff though. But, I'm not sure, I wasn't paying attention when he told me why. So, I have no idea if that would mean if I have been diagnosed with Asperger's or not. In my profile, I chose Have Asperger's - Not Diagnosed. Because I have yet to take this test. But My past and current Psychiatrist's keep insisting to me and my parents that I do have Asperger's.

That probably has nothing to do with this thread.

Actually, most health plans DO cover at least some mental health stuff, at least in the US. I've been drawing on that since 1987 and I've had a lot of different health plans in that time.

Veronica, are you in the US? Who is your health insurance through?

I got diagnosed by a psychologist here at my university.

I have never had health insurance and pay all my cost out of pocket. I was basing
my opinion on most health insurance not covering mental health treatment on what i read in the past which may or may not be true today. I order my meds online.

Machine SSRi's are meant to not be long term, only bipolar people end up been on it for life, it is meant to help break the cycle unless you focus on the problem itself it will stay there...

Just saying coz you say is not needed but you seem to be sticking to something that will not work... And going back into your safety behaviour...

Not saying its wrong but you become dependant on the drug if used long-term you can approach it that way but that’s just using something to get over something that can be broken, also saying this as your view on when to take a beta-blocker...

http://www.biopsychiatry.com/online-pha ... pills.html

Last edited by logitechdog on 12 Jan 2007, 10:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

As usual its hard to understand the entire context of you post. I have used SSRI's off and on for 13 years. No question I'm better on them than off. I've been off them when I ran out of money. Which has not happen much.

For some conditions the SSRI's are - although I think they can actually trigger a manic episode in bi-polar can't they? I took SSRIs for over 2 years for OCD and chronic depression and didn't help but for some reason 2 psychiatrists and one doctor insisted to keep taking it just because of the OCD label. And they are addictive - but they call it something else. I had a very hard time stopping even by completely tapering off. They may help some people but it is always best to approach meds with caution.

As far as trying to get a diagnosis - you first need to find out about what benefits you have and who coordinates that for your employer. Some only offer coverage through certain clinics or doctors if they have benefits at all and that may make it hard to find someone with experience with AS.

Who's taking a beta blocker for Aspergers?? That is a heart medication mainly used to slow heart rate and on occasion used to lower blood pressure.