#anti self-dx

[chimeraaas]

I wish nothing but the worst for ‘transabled’ and/or ‘transintersex’ idiots. Fall into a ditch already, you dense, revolting fucks.

[adhbabey]

Let's talk about some lesser known symptoms of autism! Maybe this will help some of you get a broader perspective on what this can be like. There is a whole grab bag of symptoms of autism, but here are some ones you may not know that you have.

Focus on truth

What does this mean? Well glad you asked. This is the focus on facts and logic rather than anything else. People have shown this as autistic people may refusing to lie because it goes against what they find as true. But that's not always the case.

Have you ever used logic to try and figure out your emotions?

Are you someone who doesn't understand why others may speculate when the current knowledge is right there? (such as subtext versus canon knowledge or theoretical arguments)

Do you find it frustrating when others avoid their problems as a way to avoid figuring out negative things? (such as avoiding conflict in a friend group)

Is it easy for you to talk about your strengths and flaws? Do you know your likes, dislikes and limits pretty well?

High context communication

This is preference on details and the full context of any situation. Often going into great detail and backstory to anything.

Do you feel as though you need to overexplain to give the person everything they need to know?

Have you ever apologized to someone by explaining the deep and meaningful reasons of why you did it, before you said you were sorry? And maybe even felt upset or confused why they reacted badly?

Have you ever felt stressed out because you wanted to give others full detail but they either interrupted you or cut you off?

Are you stressed out by people who tell you what to do and not why they want you to do it?

Are you ever told that you talk back a lot?

Do you prefer recipes versus verbal/vague instructions? (All the things that you need such as ingredients, measurements, prep time, etc.)

Do you really like watching deep dives and knowing about the whole history of something you're even vaguely interested in?

Identity diffusion

This is not everyone's experience, and it is common in a variety of other disorders such as DID and BPD. However, it is when you do not know who you are in regards to others. This is also known as identity disturbance.

Have you ever felt like an outsider without knowing why?

Are you deeply interested on what other people think of you? Especially if it's all the time?

Do you really like taking personality tests and quizzes? Are you interested in horoscopes?

Do you feel like you don't fit in any one specific group? Either being a loner, or hopping in between many different groups?

Do you ever feel weirder than the "weird kids" group? Do you not really get along or feel like you belong with them?

Do you have low self esteem when it comes to comparing yourself to your friends? Do you feel like they're better or more capable than you?

Do you feel drastically unimportant and not as interesting or cool as everyone else?

Have you ever related to narratives surrounding a character that is the last of their kind?

Do you feel like your identity is a vast and gaping void, that even if you learn a little bit, that you'll never know everything?

Internalized repetition

This is one of those traits that not every autistic person experiences, but that some might. You could say that for all autistic traits, but hey, good to know regardless. Because of internalized repetition, you may not do many external stims, besides vocal.

Do you listen to a song over and over again? Perhaps having a playlist on repeat?

When stressed out, do you type the same word or phrase over and over again?

Do you like looking at the same things, such as the same color or the same artist's works?

Do you really like certain patterns, crystals or aesthetics?

Do you enjoy games with recognizable fighting patterns? (Such as character rotation, boss battle rotation, etc.)

Struggling to connect to others *

This is something that's been characterized by struggling to connect to others through their emotions, but the opposite is actually true for many autistic people. *I will be talking about those who struggle to connect to others who are emotionally distant or unavailable. Being emotionally distant or not showing emotions externally is a trait that many autistic people share, but for those without alexithymia, they may struggle to understand why anyone wouldn't like to talk about their emotions. I don't know the specific symptom term for this, so please bare with me. If anyone would like to inform me about what this is called, please tell me.

Do you struggle to talk with dry texters, or tend to over-examine people's tone through text?

Do you have anxious attachment?

Do you feel disconnected with many other autistic people and struggle to make friends or talk to them?

Do you feel embarrassment or shame with being emotionally sensitive?

Have you fallen down the rabbit hole of things like starseeds, star children or empaths?

Do you want to talk about serious emotions a lot, even when its not appropriate?

Do you trauma dump or wish people would become more emotionally intimate with you? Do you enjoy it when people share their deep traumas with you, even if it's triggering?

Are you constantly reassurance seeking?

There is plenty more symptoms out there, and these are just a few that stood out to me, because I think I may be autistic. I've always related somewhat, but never connected the dots. But there are reasons for that, such as identity diffusion and thinking I'm different from everyone else no matter what. I struggled because I didn't seem to have a lot of the outward and visible symptoms that were often talked about. I thought every autistic person had alexithymia, when that's just not true. My best friend, who has similar symptoms to me, along with another close friend of mine, have a similar presentation of autism. And it's taken quite a bit for me to accept or process. I feel like I'm faking my experiences just because I've self diagnosed before. And I'm angry that ADHD isn't given enough significance.

But I think I might be autistic, and this article that I based this post off of, confirmed it. So here's my post informing and coming out on that. You can be autistic and highly masking without actually knowing what's going on is masking. You can be autistic and have a spectrum of verbality, you can be autistic and struggle to connect to anyone who isn't immediately emotionally intimate with you. You can be autistic and not relate at all to other autistic people.

You're not alone.

[august-zip]

Unpopular opinion

You can't self diagnose yourself with a mental disorder.

- Steven

[syscoursing-doll]

There are very few cases that i accept "medically recognized" to be remotely equivalent to a diagnosis. Some of yall think a random untrained therapist not stating day one that you're full of shit is the same as getting professional evaluations and it shows 😳

[testiculartorsionlover]

there is no point to 'self diagnose' yourself with anything if you have no incentive to seek medical assistance or atleast do any other forms of self help and inner healing. at that point you're simply looking for a label to identify yourself with as if it's a personality trait, and not an actual disability. it's trashy at best, anti recovery at worst.

[postmoderntongues]

Self investigation is valid. Self Diagnosis is not.

[the-siberian-wolf]

Self-diagnosis isn't valid

I'd also like to make something clear about neurodivergent online spaces: self-diagnosing doesn't exist. You can't self-diagnose, you lack the medical and psychological knowledge to properly evaluate yourself. Not even medics are allowed to self-diagnosed themselves.

Yes, I'm aware of all the arguments in favour, but they're meaningless. I recognize not everyone can afford it, but that's not excuse to go around saying you have autism, ADHD, bipolar...etc.

If anything, you may say 'I suspect I have x thing', and even then it shouldn't be taken as an affirmation.

I'm talking about all online communities, not only tiktok. They all have that hurtful conception of 'self-diagnosis'. And no, it isn't valid.

Suspecting and self-diagnosing are two different things. And as I already said, a random person can't diagnose themselves, no matter how many online quizzes they did, how many articles they've read, how many people they relate to (sometimes, to other 'self-diagnosers, which only makes it worse, creating an echo chamber of self-validation) or whatever.

[self-chiller]

I am pro-self-dx for a number of reasons however I am very tired of hearing from self-dx'd autistic people about how autistic people aren't oppressed and how neurotypicals are actually super niceys about our differences. You're self-dx'd, which means you have most likely never received professional autism-oriented behavioral intervention. If you were to receive such intervention, the oppression would be laid bare to you. Stay in your damn lane.

[ocpder]

If you're diagnosed or not, telling undiagnosed people that they are not disabled unless they receive diagnosis, you are being ableist. A disability does not become real once it's written on a piece of paper, disabled people are disabled regardless of if they are diagnosed or not.

[august-zip]

"We're self diagnosed because-"

No. If you are not a trained psychologist or psychiatrist you should not be diagnosing yourself. (Psych's and psychologists can't even diagnose themselves) Yes, I understand money can be an issue and that some cannot afford to see a specialist to be diagnosed. But that comes to the point where you shouldn't be saying "oh I have DID" or "I have OSDD" when in reality you might actually not and shouldn't go around saying such.

"Oh but you can self diagnose a cold! That's how you know!"

Yep. You can self-dx a cold. You cannot however self-dx a complex dissociative disorder. (The difference is one is physical and something you get countless times throughout your life.)

- Vayu

[nabbit-unmasked]

Blech, I feel icky from all the shaming and gatekeeping I've seen today.

Another quick reminder that this blog welcomes:

• endos and mixed-origin systems/pluralities/multiplicities

• factkin and factives

• therians/otherkin/fictionkin/etc. who chose their identity

• placekin who are societally controversial places

• fans from any fandom

• identity and pronoun hoarders

• self diagnosis

• mspec gays and lesbians

This does not mean that all of these apply to me. In fact, only 3 of them do (the first, fourth, and seventh). This also does not mean that I exclusively support the groups listed here.

Also, reminder that I also do not have a DNI. Although, I do block accounts I'm uncomfortable with!

[testiculartorsionlover]

Tips for people who aren't diagnosed with stuff but wanna get somewhere with it

gather a support system. friends, family, your school, etc. all of that is really important

AVOID USING MEDICAL TERMS WHEN TALKING TO YOUR THERAPIST OR PSYCHIATRIST. they usually hate that and won't take you as seriously because they think you're self diagnosing. find other ways to describe what you're going through.

avoid mental health spaces that revolve around the disorder you suspect you have. yes, i know its tempting to join DID or other mental health spaces when you're self diagnosed but these spaces can worsen your symptoms or give you placebo symptoms. if you do join mental health spaces, do it at a time where you're mentally stable. generally though, it might be a bad idea because you're partially speaking over diagnosed individuals.

be open to other possibilities. you can do as much research as possible and still be wrong. and that is okay! lots of mental illnesses have overlap. i previously thought i had ADHD for years, it turned out that it was my BPD and Bipolar.

when you're at the doctor's, make sure to open up about your concerns so you can get referrals.

if you're scared about your parents finding out about your disorders, they likely won't find out. ive had my mental illnesses kept as a secret for years, since i was 12-13. generally due to hippa they can't give out that type of information.

some therapists offer free consultations. maybe you could call them and ask for advice on what to do from there!

let me know if i missed anything! ❤️ random tags lol

[prophet-eering]

medical diagnoses are only useful in a medical context. there is no utility to saying and believing you have asthma unless you intend to get treatment for asthma.

the same applies to mental disorders. if you self diagnose mental disorders you are basically making it a personality trait and annihilating your own recovery.

[subterra-rose]

Ppl will be like “did you know farting so hard it shakes the room is a sign of adhd/autism” and Tumblr users will go “omg I do that 😳” without a lick of research past that

[thickramen]

I understand diagnoses aren't accessible to everyone. I get that, I really do - but i really don't think people should say they have a disorder if they've not been diagnosed with it. especially something as complex as DID.

it's okay to suspect, it's okay to say you think you have or you probably have DID. But don't go around talking about your experiences saying that you definitely have DID when in reality you don't know for sure.

before you come at me screaming classism or ableism or whatever, I completely understand that professional diagnosis is inaccessible to many. To those people I recommend they focus on what symptoms they have, finding coping skills that help those symptoms, and working towards getting professional help. Don't focus on the label, it doesn't help anything.

[foxglove-garden]

Apparently I have to say again that I don't consent to interacting with people, especially unhinged people, who claim to have a self diagnosed dissociative disorder like DID or self diagnosed systems.

I don't have any issue with people who have actual mental illnesses with a diagnosis, obviously. But if you're an adult, you have the ability to get diagnosed. It's not that hard to find a psychiatrist who offers good faith estimates for the uninsured (my psychiatrist appointments were $4 each when I lost my insurance, you can afford $4-10 a month) and it's not that hard to apply for medical assistance or insurance through what used to be Obamacare (also $5-20 a month for low income people, and that covers your prescriptions too)

My main reason for this is because I was that "annoying self diagnosed DID system" kid in highschool and when I actually got help I realized that I actually was going through manic psychosis due to bipolar and CPTSD with dissociation. I was an unstable monster during that period of my life and I don't want to deal with people like that now that I'm stable and recovered.

Plus, I'm kinda tired of watching people mock mental illnesses that actually cause people real problems just for the chance of tiktok fame or because it's trendy. I'm tired of people running obvious roleplay accounts attacking me for saying "that's factually not how mental illnesses work" when they say their alters make them change eye color or their alters have physical disabilities that the actual physical person doesn't.

"my alter makes my eyes purple" they're still brown babe

"my alter gives me demonic abilities" that's a classic delusion babe

"I have an alter that's always happy and excited and one that's always depressed" that just sounds like a mood disorder babe

Like I'm sorry but I actually put the years of work in to get rid of my own mental health symptoms including psychosis and delusions, and as someone who's been living in the real world, stable and medicated, for almost a decade, I want nothing to do with people who are too focused on using their mental health issues as a marketing tactic to get help. Y'all drag me down and I don't have time to indulge you.

And anyone who wants to argue is gonna be blocked. I don't have the time to argue with people who are delusional and anti recovery.