Intro post, and a little about myself...

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I've posted here a few times, but I figured I'm due for an "into" post. I have been to shrinks repeatedly throughout my life since I was old enough to take myself (after high school). I should have got help much sooner as I suffered intense bullying and periods of mental breakdown from anxiety since the 3rd grade. My whole life I've had difficulty at nearly every job and quit almost all of them because eventually everyone starts to realize I'm different and I become alienated. It's not a matter of if, but when. I'm almost 40 years old and still trying to be a productive member of society, but I find my condition to be getting worse with age. I don't think my body can handle the stress anymore and my condition is causing a lot of secondary issues like anxiety, depression, and neuropathic issues.

Just within the past month I came across the word Aspergers on Google when punching in symptoms and trying to figure out what's wrong with me for the umpteenth time in my life, and I can't believe I may finally have an answer at 40 years of age. I can't say I'm happy about it, because I understand there's no cure for autism, but at least I have an explanation and that's better then nothing. I really don't know what to do next. Should I get the "official" diagnoses from someone? Is there any benefit to doing that? What are people doing to improve their lives following diagnoses? Are there any success stories out there? Thanks

Congratulations on finding out! (if it's right). And welcome.

On your question about whether or not to get an official diagnosis you will find out that that's one of the most debated topics on this site. My personal opinion is that you can never know for sure if you're right until you get diagnosed, and there for I would try to do that regardless of other factors (like benefits, support or what not).

Welcome to WrongPlanet!

I, too, was well into adulthood before I was diagnosed.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

I also have been struggling with whether or not to seek an official diagnosis. I can see where there could be psychological benefits to getting an official "explanation" as to why you are the way you are, and a diagnosis could also help others, including co-workers, understand the reason for your differences.

In addition, there might well be legal benefits for you in terms of workplace protections and accommodations. In my career, I rarely work as an employee, so this has never really been a factor (as such legal protections don't extend to the self employed or the independent contractor). But for you, they might be very beneficial.

There are also some adult individual and group training and therapy sessions available out there which might help you learn ways to strengthen your interpersonal skills at work and in other situations.

For me, I just would like to understand myself better to improve how I relate to and communicate with others, from friends to family to people I work with. Due to my lack of ability to communicate with people, especially through non-verbal cues, I tend to be judged rather harshly by others, and, in turn, I tend to judge myself even more harshly. I have a feeling that receiving an "official" explanation my differences might help me waste less time judging myself and more time learning how to further develop my skills. Just coming to a self-diagnosis has been somewhat helpful, but such diagnoses tend to be shrugged off by others close to me, and this in turn can make me question them myself.

I can't say that I'm a post-diagnosis success story, since I have yet to be diagnosed. But I have been able to lead a mostly productive life and to reach a level of success in a profession that not many people tend to succeed at. It has not been easy, but I managed to do most of it without any real help so far. I can imagine that with proper guidance and training, an even greater level of success might be possible.