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Hi, I'm Sevenn, new to the site... I'm 33, from Ohio... I was recently diagnosed with Aspergers... Still trying to figure out where I go from here. It was something myself, my husband, and a few people close to me had long suspected, so you would think the diagnosis would be a relief, and in some ways it has been. (The overwhelming "I'm not crazy" so to speak.) But on the flip side... The diagnosis comes after YEARS of misdiagnosis, in and out of psychiatric treatment since I was a child, labeled adhd, major depressive, obstinate defiance disorder, major anxiety disorder, ocd, and even bipolar, despite me pointing out to docs for a decade that I had never had a true manic episode. (one of the diagnostic criteria). I do have my share of depression, and some ptsd, but who wouldn't after spending most of their life being bullied, or told to just try harder, or well, a lot of other crap that happened. So the diagnosis comes with relief, anger, anxiety, and sadness. It's so much right now to wrap my head around that sometimes I feel like I don't know where to start. So in searching the internets for info, and trying to understand by reading blog after blog after article after site, I stumbled across this site. And thought maybe it would help to get to know more people that are likely to be going through at least some of what I am. (Everyone's journey is different, but there's often similar landmarks.)

I'm even trying to figure out who in my life i should share this with, who will be supportive and who won't. So my support network may not exactly be solid.

Has anyone else gone through this, diagnosis as an adult? If so, what did it mean to you?

Well well... PTSD is essentially a threshold of crazy BS you've seen (one I'm sure beyond a reasonable doubt I've crossed) and I was diagnosed altogether too early to make sense of things myself (age 4-5; arguably the other side of Occam's razor). Just today someone misinformed made an armchair diagnosis of me as manic-depressive. Now, arguably my whole life and all the work implied has been one manic episode, but the depressive part absolutely wasn't fair. I've climbed out of enough personal holes to be present for that guy's barrage of social tests, and professionally, auto-didactically, earned more respect than that from anyone who, like him, uses software I test and work to maintain every day and night (right now in fact). Who you should share with is entirely a matter of who's equipped to deal with the fact they may have been causing you untold annoyance and confusion the whole time they've known you, or who shares in your predicament enough to reconcile their misgivings about your equilibrium and how they might endanger it. Also, share with as many healthcare professional friends as possible. They ALL have helpful anecdotes or research news. For one thing, you will be astounded at the solidarity in this particular support network, tenuous as the forums formatting may be. Perhaps more so after clicking the link to this thread I started earlier tonight - jump right in, and don't hesitate to make lengthy introductions: http://www.wrongplanet.net/postp5548750.html#5548750

_________________
"Standing on a well-chilled cinder, we see the fading of the suns, and try to recall the vanished brilliance of the origin of the worlds."
-Georges Lemaitre
"I fly through hyperspace, in my green computer interface"
-Gem Tos

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Welcome. What part of Ohio? Lived in Youngstown over half my life.