To those who take issue with self-diagnosis

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Pieplup
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20 Nov 2018, 2:46 pm

magz wrote:

Pieplup wrote:

magz wrote:

Pieplup wrote:

I said this in another thread about self-diagnosis, But I believe self-diagnosis is just a step towards diagnosis nothing more nothing less. And ofc it's not valid. I mean i can self-diagnose myself with cancer doesn't mean i have cancer :roll:

I wouldn't agree with the "nothing more, nothing less" part.
Why anyone needs any diagnosis at all?
I believe, the answer is: to get a suitable treatment.
But what if there is no suitable treatment for you available?

There is also a bit of fluidity in a term "official diagnosis". I didn't self-diagnose per se, my therapist brought the topic when I explained to her my struggles with "obviousness" claimed by people to things I couldn't even notice. She said "Maybe the keyword Asperger's Syndrome would help you". I thought it over and over and yes, it finally gave me the key that fitted the lock of interpreting my weirdness.
But I didn't follow to official assessment. There are no services for adult AS females here that I couldn't get without an official diagnosis. The official diagnosis is mainly focused on granting disability status (thus, often denied) but I don't need it, either. Yes, I often struggle, but not any more than a random NT who didn't make wise life decisions.

So, althought AS in my case is an idea that came from a professional, when I get only two options to check: self-diagnosed or officially diagnosed, I check the former. And I don't pursue the "next step" because it wouldn't give me anything I need.

Well part of it is that You also can get other benefits and It'll help clear out doubt (for the most part) Although, If you don't want any of those services and are already well off the only benefit may be that you might be able to get some sort of work place accomidation. I can't really think of a good example, Mainly cause i have no experience but. There are still some advantages. Now if none of that interests you and you don't need extra confidence you don't really need to get diagnosed but some people might question the validity of you thinking you have autism.

My workplace is aspie-friendly the way it is, my boss has obvious Asperger's syndrome himself

As for those who doubt if I'm autistic - some doubt is healthy. You can also doubt an official diagnosis. I've had an official diagnosis of schizophrenia that turned out to be all wrong :mrgreen:

Maybe some day some researchers invent a fullproof laboratory test for autism not based on superficial symptoms and interpretations. I will be very much interested.

ASPartOfMe wrote:

There have been plenty of posts about official diagnosis being doubted here on WP. Self-diagnosis is more likely to be doubted.

Thing is you got to make decisions on what's best for you. Your purpose here on earth is not solely to please others.

Yeah I covered that in my lengthy post int he other thread the OP talked about. Read if your curious.

Basically explained mostly what i think about it.
I think of diagnostic process as something like this
Suspicion or suggestion of being/having autism/autistic>Research/self-diagnosis/self-test>diagnosis.

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Pieplup
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20 Nov 2018, 2:49 pm

rebeccadanielprophet wrote:

Pieplup wrote:

If someone is deaf they are deaf whether or not they are diagnosed as deaf. Just an example.

[color=#00b2ff] If you don't have a concept of being deaf or of sound enitrely hard to tellif you are so therefore i doubt that they would self-diagnose and therefore are irrelevant to the my point/conclusion/post. That's my logic against that. Your welcome to disagree I think others would notice someone being deaf b4 they would. Same with being blind or not being able to smell or etc. Especially true for colorblindness.

Pieplup
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20 Nov 2018, 2:51 pm

MM99 wrote:

I think a lot of you lack a lot of empathy towards autistic people without a diagnosis. I realized I were autistic when I was 16, almost three years ago, but haven't got a diagnosis until a month and a half ago. You can't imagine how invalid and unsure I've felt during these years, how many times I've told myself "you're just making this up as an excuse for being such a failure of a human being" or other not particularly nice things regarding that. Part of that has stayed with me even now, after getting an official confirmation, and sometimes I start to doubt myself and the validity of my autism all over again (it doesn't help that the therapist I'm seeing now told me last week that she doesn't really believe I'm on the spectrum because I told her I'm very empathic... yeah, maybe I should find a new one...).

And still it was better than having no explanation for all the things that made me so different and weird and unable to fit in and do things "the proper way" and succed academically. I don't know how I'd have survived this last three years, which have been the roughest of my life, if I hadn't stumbled upon the label "Asperger's" and figured out that that was the deal with me. I think I'd probably had killed myself, completely convinced there must have been something utterly and disgustingly wrong with me (which was the way I felt about myself for most of my teenage years). When I were 17 I wasn't too far from doing it (I certainly self-harmed a lot around that age), even knowing that I were autistic and that none of the s**t I was dealing with was my fault (it was rather society's fault) and that there was absolutely nothing wrong about the way I was. So I really think realizing I were autistic, years before an official confirmation from a mental health professional, saved my life, or at least saved me from failing deeper into a very unhealthy spiral of self-loathing and shame that would have done me great, long-lasting harm (as I've said, it could have potentially killed me).

So if someone tells me they are autistic, no matter if they don't have a diagnosis, I'll believe them. Because if there's a chance they are in the situation I was, I want to help them, not make them self-doubt even more. Because I remember how unsure and ashamed I felt, how invalid, because I still have felt like that this last month and a half a lot and I don't know if it will ever go away after questioning the validity of my autism for so long. Because I know that knowing that about themself is probably the only thing that gets that person through the day or that stops them from hating themself or thinking they are disgusting. Because I remember how I just wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out again whenever I told someone I were autistic and they didn't believe me (probably because of that I still haven't told almost anyone that I'm autistic even now having a diagnosis). Because I know how difficult it is to navigate life being a non-diagnosed autistic person.

Your post is very subjective. I don't see many people having any lack of empathy other than doubting which is comlpetely reasonable your welcome to point to threads where it happens, you're also confusing a lack of empathy (ie cognitive empathy) from sympathy (expression of empathy) Most people on the spectrum aren't able to express it well. Just food for thought

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20 Nov 2018, 5:17 pm

My problem with the idea of self-diagnosed autism is that when the person goes on about autism it's usually about what their traits are, their sensory issues, and other things about themselves. The problem with that is that when a doctor diagnoses you for mental health conditions IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU! IT'S ABOUT WHAT OTHERS CAN DO TO YOU AND HOW THEY INTERACT WITH YOU!

Again and again I see people with self-diagnosed conditions mention things about themselves which means they missed the whole point of a diagnosis.

So when people list things about autism they need to list things about interactions with others and not a long list of traits and other things that affect you, because it's about how YOU affect EVERYONE ELSE!

I will apologize for raising my voice but, it irritates me that many seem to miss that concept when it comes to mental-health conditions.

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ASPartOfMe
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20 Nov 2018, 7:27 pm

A mental health diagnosis is not necessarily about how it affects anybody else. If you have a condition that forces you to completely withdraw from society and makes you unable to care for yourself you will suffer and die without affecting anybody else.

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SplendidSnail
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20 Nov 2018, 8:30 pm

Fnord wrote:

It is not the issue of "self-diagnosis" that is objectionable. It is the motivation behind diagnosing oneself that is often repugnant.

Do you think that this repugnant motivation is exclusive to those who self-diagnose? Or do you think there are some people who get a professional diagnosis, as well, who might also have the same repugnant motivation?

Having a professional ASD diagnosis doesn't mean that one is completely incapable of anything. I would have the same repugnant thoughts about someone who gets a professional diagnosis and then does less than they are capable of as someone who self-diagnoses and then does less than they are capable of.

Of course, the real difficulty is defining "what one is capable of", and just how hard one should push one's self to do things that are difficult, stressful, and exhausting.

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starcats
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20 Nov 2018, 9:56 pm

I really like the idea of calling it self identification. Whoever equated it to being deaf, yes. Diagnosis would help to get treatment (hearing aids), but you'd still be deaf even if you didn't have a doctor. The analogy that popped into my head was lgbtq. You would just know that about yourself and seek support as needed. You might have to fight to assert yourself against mainstream society, but that doesn't mean a doctor has to evaluate you for you to know yourself.

The equating it to cancer, no. That is a disease that needs treatment or it will kill you. Using a mental health disorder as an analogy, yes, but autism isn't its self a mental health condition, even though many of us have those, too.

I don't really like the term autistic-like. I'm autistic. And I'm a lot of other things, but autism is definitely one of my traits. I wouldn't mind if there were different categories made for it other than just severity, but that's for other threads.

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21 Nov 2018, 12:04 am

ASPartOfMe wrote:

Probably better if I said "it isn't just about yourself, and that it's also about how others interact with you", I didn't say what I thought exactly right. When talking about self-diagnosis it riles me up a little because of some things I read or what others have said to my mother talking about autism, some just do it for the wrong reasons which make it harder for those that need the help.

Pieplup
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21 Nov 2018, 2:17 pm

AquaineBay wrote:

Coudnl't disagree more it's about both.

Pieplup
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21 Nov 2018, 2:18 pm

starcats wrote:

My point is you can think you have something without having it. Like i can diagnose myself with some super rare disorder doesn't mean i have it. My opinion means didly squat

Canadian Penguin
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21 Nov 2018, 3:44 pm

A problem that can occur if we accept people calling themselves Autistic when they've not being diagnosed as such is that it weakens the meaning, it alters the threshold. If individuals are deciding that they are Autistic because they may have a trait starts it begins to encompass a greater group of people. This can begin to cause issues with those who are looking to obtain the proper support that they may require, such as different work allowances.

If it becomes too common, it carries less weight. You lose those allowances that you may need. It can negatively impact those who truly need the assistance as people no longer see it as a unique or worthy of that assistance. If they've been meeting people who claim to have Autism, but actually do not, their perception of Autism becomes that it's not really a big deal and isn't deserving of anything like a modified work environment (for example). It can do a disservice to allow individuals to define it as they see fit. I'm not saying that anyone here would be guilty of that, but once you start to open it up...

I fully understand that for one reason or another some cannot get an official diagnosis so we must find a way to provide better services overall.

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21 Nov 2018, 5:25 pm

Canadian Penguin wrote:

One cannot usually get supports or benefits without a diagnostic report being written by a professional.

You used the word perception I think that is important but in a somewhat different way then you look at that. There is no scientific way of proving it but I think the perception there is a lot of autistic wannabees is bigger than the actual amount of NT's faking autism or calling themselves autistic because it is perceived as trendy, or a convenient way to excuse bad behavior.

Real or not the perception of this horde of Autism wannabes is harmful because as you said it creating suspicion in clinicians examining autistic people who are not obvious. I have noticed an increasing number of professionally diagnosed people wondering if they are a jerk NT who have fooled themselves and their clinician. Nearly every person that comes on here wondering if they are autistic starts off by saying I know you can't diagnose me, or I am probably fooling myself etc. That defensiveness right off the bat should not be necessary but because of the perceptions and suspicions, people feel that it is. I wonder how many people who correctly suspect they are Autistic do not even bother to check it out because they figure they will not be believed or the constant talk about Autism being overdiagnosed/trendy have them believing they are a wannabe?

There is a healthy level of skepticism and a paranoid level of skepticism.

Rant:
This whole idea of Aspergers/Autism being something people want because they think it is cool baffles me. Outside of a few social media circles where it is thought as cool and Aspie/Autistic supremacism reigns, IRL Autistic is replacing ret*d as the go to insult. There are all sorts of negative stigmas and negative misconceptions including spree killer and disease of the month. If a person wants to be autistic to be hipster cool they would soon be dissuaded of that notion.

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21 Nov 2018, 5:40 pm

There aren't any services where I live for older adults with autism, so nobody can be deprived of benefits that are available for none.

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21 Nov 2018, 5:49 pm

I wonder how many people have been diagnosed by a professional with schizophrenia when they really have autism. Or diagnosed with autism when they're really bipolar. Or diagnosed with ADHD when it's really dyslexia. Or depression when it's really PTSD. I could go on for a while.

I'm all for getting a valid diagnosis either for self-affirming confirmation, or for getting services. I just think getting a diagnosis doesn't change your identity if you are autistic and know it. Faking something to get disability benefits is unfortunately not unique to autism. That kind of corruption is really annoying because it makes it really difficult for those that need it to get it.

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