Former UK Health Secretary and over diagnosis

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Young people being ‘overdiagnosed’ with mental ill health – Hunt

I feel it's being overdiagnosed these days - even though there are a lot of genuine autistic people who can't get diagnosed, due to things like long waiting lists or not having enough evidence from childhood even though it's quite obvious they're autistic. But just because many people go without a diagnosis it doesn't mean it still isn't being overdiagnosed - in people who have other things such as bipolar or personality disorders or ADHD, etc.

There's a girl I used to work with who has recently been diagnosed with an ASD, but she was the last person I'd ever expect to have autism. She was a "queen bee" at work, automatically got invited out to social activities outside of work (while I was left out even though I was interested too), and seemed to attract people. Often other females at work who didn't work in the same department as us seemed to prefer her over me and would go rushing up to her for a chat while I often got ignored. She just seemed like an extroverted NT with some sort of personality disorder to me. I mean I know autistics aren't all the same, but I have atypical autism too (the type of autism where you don't really have any stereotypical behaviours of autism and don't really lack many social skills and just appear non-autistic) yet I was treated like how autistic people typically get treated - being left out of group activities that your coworkers arrange in front of you even though you get along with them at work and know you could have been invited. Yet this girl just seems like many NT women I've encountered in my life who were just normal but maybe have psychological disorders like depression or bipolar or PTSD.

So if people who have less symptoms than me are being diagnosed with autism then what chance do I have of getting reassessed in the hope that my autism was a misdiagnosis?

I don't like the way this is being said
It's completely invalidating people's genuine struggles

The only way they can solve overdiagnosing is to stop widening the spectrum to the size of the galaxy.

I think it’s important to talk about what a proper diagnosis of autism looks like, especially with how often the term gets thrown around these days.

Autism is not just a personality quirk, a preference, or a set of habits. It’s a neurodevelopmental condition that has a real impact on how a person perceives, processes, and interacts with the world. A proper diagnosis takes time, careful evaluation, and should ideally involve multiple professionals who understand the full range of presentations.

When everything gets casually labeled as “autistic traits,” it can water down the meaning and make it harder for people who are autistic to be taken seriously. Over-diagnosis (or self-diagnosis without proper context) can also blur the lines between personal identity and medical reality, which doesn’t really help anyone.

That being said, it’s equally important that people who genuinely need support get it — and that means accurate, thoughtful assessment rather than rushing to apply the label or dismissing concerns. Respecting the process is how we make sure those who are autistic get the recognition and accommodations they need without turning the word into a catch-all.

_________________
Good news, everyone! I've taught the toaster to feel love!
Planet of the Pudding Brains

I don't think I mask as good as other Aspies. The last time I tried to be someone I'm not, I failed in a humiliating way. So it's easier to just be myself.

Many people call Asperger's "high-masking autism" these days, but I'm not sure that is true. I'm Asperger's but I haven't got where I am today through masking, because I don't mask that much, only in public but I think that's due to my agoraphobia/social anxiety around strangers because of having bad experiences in public before due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

So just being myself (within reason), I still don't give off obvious autism. I can make eye contact naturally, and my facial expressions and tone of voice are normal (even though I can mumble sometimes but I think it's because of my teeth). I find conversation easy (considering I'm comfortable with the people I'm talking to) and I am interested in others and feel a connection. I can do all this without needing to make the conscious effort. Also I understand social rules (in fact I find social rules much easier to understand than written rules like health and safety and all that).

Contradictorily, I don't have many friends and have been excluded from groups of those of the same age as me. It might be because I can be quiet too if I'm unsure how I should be around those certain people, even though I am still social in my body language and can chat appropriately if they directly speak to me. But I think me being teetotal has been responsible of my social isolation, or not having the same interests as them.

I've become very good friends with an older woman at work, because we're both tomboys and she's never had children and we laugh at the same jokes and even share the same interests. She's not on the spectrum though, at all. But she's the sort of open-minded type of NT, and if we had more open-minded NTs about I think we (the autism/ADHD community) would be more accepted than what we are.

But I do have anxiety, so I do tend to worry about things too much. I know anxiety and autism is common together but I think the degree of my anxiety is enough to be a separate diagnosis from ASD, in my case. My mother was NT but had anxiety disorder and depression, and my anxiety and depression is the same as her's, if that makes sense.

I don't know if I mask or not

If I do do it all must blend in so that even I don't know

I think I'm clearly autistic but I think I may come off as eccentric and I think that's getting more and more as I get older

I don't know if I would get diagnosed if I got tested now or not

I'd hate to think it's being over diagnosed

I don't know the answer

You both wrote interesting things.
Tamaya: Yes.
Some research, following the publication of the DSM5, indicates that they are not the same thing.
Asperger's and HFA.
*Sorry, I'm having a hard time reading this now because I have a problem I wrote about: forgive me for not answering very much.
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ASPartOfMe: Yes.
An 18-year-old boy told me this in the emergency room.

He is autistic (I met him there).
Talking to you is different than talking to my parents.
I honestly didn't think about his age.

I don't struggle with older people.

Even though all interactions tire me out!

Postscript: anxiety and depression are often comorbid with autism.

I could give a technical example: it depends on amygdala function.

Increased by 20% in autistic people: above normal.

*For diagnoses: some can be requested again.
*It's unlikely they'll get them wrong, if they're well-experienced.
Then regarding written tests: impossible if detailed by experts.

ASPartOfMe...
You've written a lot of useful things.
Really a lot.

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On the topic of the thread: I think there are diagnoses.
But is the problem for that Minister the money the UK government has to pay for people, or is there too much diagnosis?

It seems to me that the fear of default, if anything, is what's contributing to the story.

He really doesn't care about people.

A child can be diagnosed at two years old.

And in many cases, it can help them enormously.

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An autistic person doesn't aspire to a pension.

In our country, it's minimal and takes many years.

The point is:
Does he care that his fellow citizens live a happy life, or is money more important to him?

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Is this Ex-Minister competent in this matter?

I'm writing this because a health minister here once said in response to a question that he wasn't competent.

I wondered (and I'm not the only one) what he's doing in that role?

He was in a government previous to this one.

The current one will overhaul the entire Social Security system.

(I sincerely hope he doesn't make any crazy mistakes: these are human beings from whom everything would be taken away.)

Honestly, reading this article made my brain hurt. Jeremy Hunt talking about “overdiagnosis” and “medicalizing the routine” is peak pudding-brain energy. Let’s get real: he doesn’t have to live with autism or any of the neurodivergent realities he’s pontificating about.

Autistic people are not problems to be solved, and we are not failures of “grit and resilience.” Many of us are happy exactly the way we are. Diagnoses aren’t some harmful label—they’re validation, access to support, and a roadmap to understanding ourselves.

Limiting EHCPs, doubling the PIP eligibility time, and treating our existence as a financial burden is not reform—it’s punishment for existing differently. The people he’s trying to “help” don’t need to be fixed; they need support, respect, and acknowledgement that their lives are valid.

Newsflash, Jeremy: being neurodivergent isn’t a tragedy. It’s a way of being in the world, and many of us are thriving despite a system that constantly misunderstands us. Maybe instead of whining about money and “overdiagnosis,” the government could actually listen to autistic people and stop treating us like a problem.

Pudding brains don’t get to dictate what makes us happy.

_________________
Good news, everyone! I've taught the toaster to feel love!
Planet of the Pudding Brains

I like your post.

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I've studied logic and electronic logic for so many years...
Honestly: the construct of the former Minister doesn't meet logical criteria.

Let's start from the assumption that more diagnoses are a good thing, not a bad thing.

If anything: they should be made at an early age, at least around 2 years of age.

We're not all the same: autism spectrum.

Some will need medium or significant support.

*The point (sensible in my opinion) would be to make the subsequent state intervention close to 2-10%.

This is for a very serious level.

The others, if diagnosed early, are a resource.

And so are those with low functioning.

1) Diagnose early
2) Establish inclusive and operational systems to reduce the post-diagnosis, which is precisely the inverse of disabilities.

If you work well (perhaps he's not familiar with this topic), you help both families (where mothers are often left completely alone, which is a serious problem) and parents.

You create only opportunities, not disabilities.

If you do it logically and precisely.

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*Autistic = disabled is a logical statement, precisely because they haven't done a damn thing before, if anything.

The entire early assessment system needs to be redesigned, along with support for families from specialized centers, and the inclusion of children: special needs, those with disabilities, and others.
So as to eliminate these difficulties almost entirely.

Create citizens who can be integrated into the social fabric.

This is never done.

Because the previous work is completely lacking.

Now, don't tell me that parents shouldn't take their children to the pediatrician because it's illogical.

Pediatricians must do their job well.

If anything, this is missing.

Then report to the competent doctors those who have difficulties or fall under appropriate diagnoses.

Then we need to work on this later!

But the before is up to the State.
The during is up to the State and parents.

The aftermath: we will have people suited to living and working in a properly informed society.

Blaming too many diagnoses is illogical.

If anything, this is a huge opportunity. It must be focused on other perspectives.

Let it be clear to any government in the world: a disabled person, if they have exhausted all options and have no room for improvement, must absolutely be helped in every way possible.

We are not a problem, they are making us a problem.

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Another thing: diagnosis = retirement.

Diagnosis = preventing a child from being terribly ill due to bad governments.

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Let one thing be clear, very clear: at least in our country, the classification of autism as not very severe is not only extremely difficult to obtain as an early diagnosis.

But this is because of inept governments.

Anyone who makes a speech like that is inept and should be removed from any social role, be it Sir or Non-Sir, with all due respect for their institutional position.

People like that should be removed.

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A diagnosis of depression or psychopathology, and if anything, a very serious one, much less autism!

My wife and a friend who was doing an internship at the mental health place where they lock people up both thought I had autism. After she passed from ALS I realized that she was in denial and while I had a lot of autistic traits, my real issue was being transgender! I socialize just fine presenting as female! When I try to present as a guy, even though I'm AMAB, I fall into that uncanny valley between male and female that makes people's gender calculators go into an endless loop of "does not compute, does not compute, does not compute."

I've walked up to the customer service at Walmart when it wasn't busy so they could clearly see me walk and ask where the restrooms were located and been directed to use the female restrooms. My walk, talk, and mannerisms are quite feminine.