#self-dx

[mamabearwonders]

doctors still use functioning and suggest ABA therapy (the most popular recommended & abusive therapy for autistic folks) which is rooted in the sense that autistic folks are only valid if they don't "inconvenience" others. and mask and conform into an uncomfortable world instead of meeting the needs of neurodivergent folks.

also, autism is a spectrum. doctors use rigid boxes to try and stuff human beings into. the very wording of traits of autism is very pathological and harmful like: "can't make connections", "plays with toys weirdly", "can't feel emotions". to me, neurodivergent folks are the "norm" in my world. what if we flipped the script and had symptoms of being neurotypical? to me, it's degrading. it makes me uncomfortable. we know who we are. the same people who diagnose us likely support "autism speaks".

[narcissisticpdcultureis]

questioning/self dx npd culture is wanting praises and compliments because youre trying really hard to recover from a crash but it just. doesnt hit the same when its non authentic. i shouldnt have to ask for this, it should be your second nature to praise me for any act as small it may be. it feels so pathetic and inferior to admit that i need help.

.

[mordcore]

OHH I GET IT NOW. "spreading misinformation" when used by anti-self-dx people and by sysmeds, they will claim that's what you do the second you self diagnose, just by existing. it doesn't make sense until you realize that they're using it as a synonym for "lying". they think u r lying if you self-dx adhd or call yourself an endogenic system or whatever. in retrospect its so obvious !

[oshidorifuufu]

*showing visible symptoms* oh my god i need help desperately

*symptoms go away for one day* what if im just faking it

[arian-archivist-11]

Help

What a lot of people think self-dxing is:

*sees a video of traits* I do that, so now I’m gonna call myself that

What it actually is:

*sees video or post about traits* oh hey I do that

*gets curious and looks it up* 

*denies having it cause “i don’t relate to this at all”* 

*realizes that they do, diagnostic criteria are just very ridged and don’t provide a lot of explanation* 

*maybe a breakdown or two*

*talks to friends who have it*

*laughing about this anxiety, only for the scary moment of “oh yeah no that sounds like *insert disorder here**

*talks to a therapist if able*

*talks to strangers who have it*

“Maybe it’s not this, maybe it’s this…”

*More research to try to prove themselves wrong*

*realizes all the childhood/teenage moments that should have been a red flag* 

“Well, all these other people have it like this, but mine is different, so I don’t have it!” “No, that’s still a trait/symptom, just less well know or less sensationalized”

*finally coming to terms that maybe you have it*

*depending on what the disorder is, fearing your social life is fucked*

And that’s that. I have never heard of a person going “haha I do that” and calling it a night. There’s always way more to it. 

[positivelyqueer]

friend asked recently how I knew I was autistic (late self dx) and after a joking answer of ‘five autistic people told me unprompted in the span of about two weeks, I settled on: I don’t.

I don’t Know that I’m autistic. What I do know is that my life makes more sense, and is easier to navigate, when I view it through the lens of being autistic.

I learnt what masking was, and started to undo the damage of 20+ years of it. I let myself stim for the first time out of joy and it was incredible. I recognised it as a regulation skill and started using it for coping. I stopped being cruel to myself about making ‘weird’ noises, I let myself ask for tone clarification from friends. I stopped thinking I was being rude by mimicking others (echolalia). I started respecting my own communication needs and differences. I started being able to communicate these with friends and loved ones, and had the language to do so. I recognised my sensory needs and was better at reducing shutdowns and meltdowns (which is also been confused by and blamed myself for in the past). I also could better identify things that were genuinely impeding on my life and ways to work with myself around them. (Social situations are easier now that I know what information I need before hand, and can prepare. I know what the difficulty involved in switching tasks is and can work with myself on it.)

Mostly I stopped bullying myself the way I’d been bullied growing up for everything that has made me ‘weird’. I stopped policing everything I did the way my parents had in an effort to ‘help’ me blend in. (I don’t resent them for this- I understand that what they did to me is likely what was done to them and they didn’t (and don’t) recognise it.)

Not a weird or broken horse, but a regular zebra.

[raging-guanche]

friendly reminder you dont need a diagnosis to be in disability spaces, as an example im in constant pain and fatigue, have migraines every week and my joints hurts to a point I can't write, but since familiar gaslighting/medical trauma and the fact that im an indigenous, brown skin fat man a diagnosis is fucking hard (but im in my way! :)) , but i still deserve a safe space to talk about my experiences and to feel valuable and supported.

never feel like youre interrupting someone's space or that you shouldn't be here cause you dont have a diagnosis, disabilities existed before diagnosis

[doublxpresso]

stay strong, lan wangji

[paddysnuffles]

@petitesymphony

OOOOOR

1) I have a Master's degree on how to conduct textual research (including medical text research on behalf of doctors)

2) I have exensively read the exact same literature doctors would read in order to help make a diagnosis

3) I'm an immigrant in a country where officially diagnosed autistics were banned from immigrating to until 2018 and to get officially diagnosed could've got me deported

4) Getting an official diagnosis typically costs thousands of dollars where I live and I couldn't afford it

5) I'm from several minority groups that are well-known for being underdiagnosed due to doctor bias

6) I did end up getting a diagnosis since the OP and the doctor who diagnosed me said that I'm definitely autistic, that I'm the expert on myself, and that my reasoning for why I thought I was autistic was very well-researched and thought out.

People against self-dxing:

Me: That’s not how diagnostic medicine works, you pillock.

Me: If you get diagnosed as having something you don’t have that’s called a MISDIAGNOSIS you absolute turnip. 

Me: In order to be correctly diagnosed as having something you have to have that thing BEFORE you’re diagnosed, you limp noodle.

[giraffeautism]

The most common argument you'll hear against self diagnosis is that people will fake being [X] for attention. But every disabled person, physical or otherwise, knows this could only work in online spaces - the world was not made for us, and brandishing your disability as a badge of honor that gives you ~special privileges~ is such a funny idea.

Like, honey - that doesn't happen. No one gets anything from being disabled. Maybe extra accommodations if you're lucky - but nothing else. And the internet isn't as important as you seem to think - eventually it just feels hollow.

Ask disabled people how often they had to fight to get diagnosed so their medical needs could be met and their complaints would be heard. Doctors are just hardwired to delay this as much as possible.

I knew I was autistic since late 2018 - I got an official diagnosis 4 months ago. Knowing yourself and how you can make your own life easier is a lifesaver.

And this isn't even going into how many *cons* there are to a professional diagnosis, like being met with disdain at best and denied services at worst.

I don't care if a 16 year old who self diagnosed after taking 1 online quiz about autism is wrong. And honestly I think it's weird people treat this 'issue' with so much hatred.

[babyspacebatclone]

As a self-dx adult Autistic woman, thank you very much for welcoming me here! 😊

As a professionally diagnosed autistic person, I think if people self diagnose after doing research and they find the autistic community helpful, it's fine for them to identify as autistic.

[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.

[cattistic]

There is a difference between self diagnosis and self suspicion, and no they are not the same. You can't use them both interchangeably, either.

Self suspicion is basically you telling others that you think you have a condition, but in no way, shape, or form are you saying you claim to have said condition. That is self diagnosis.

Self diagnosis is claiming that you have a condition, with or without research, and joining communities meant for said condition. But i often do this after i have done research in various medias, such as social media and medical journals online or through books.

I talked about this online, on Instagram, and yet the person i was discussing this with refused to understand that they are two different terms. It really angered me so i had to give up.

But self diagnosis is valid, so is self suspicion. You do whatever you have to do to gain support, no matter if you self diagnose or self suspect.

[thescreamcorner]

Stop. Fearmongering. Mental Health Diagnosis.

In the majority of cases:

You cannot be forced into inpatient just for receiving a diagnosis.

You cannot be forced into any type of treatment just for receiving a diagnosis.

You cannot be deemed legally incompetent just for receiving a diagnosis.

You won't lose legal rights just for receiving a diagnosis.

You can't be denied life saving medical care just for receiving a diagnosis.

Diagnosis is time consuming and stressful, but its not a fucking death sentence. Its a gateway to proper treatment, and it's insanely dangerous to spread misinformation about health care to justify anti recovery sentiments.

Pushing people away from evaluations they need has the potential to KILL THEM.

Dont put that blood on your hands.

[astrangerthatlovesyou]

Having AvPD is like: I’m so open, everyone knows everything about me. That’s terrifying, everyone must hate how much I share. God I feel so exposed I feel sick. And the last time you opened up to someone was October of 2021 when you told your mom you were a little stressed.

[thatcontrolfangirl]

Did anyone else actually get the good at math/science autism? Geology is a science, it’s my special interest, and science in general has been what I’ve excelled at my whole life. Anyhow I’ve decided to make a poll about it.