Wrong Asperger's Self-Diagnosis

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ominous
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02 Apr 2011, 11:28 pm

bergie wrote:

NotCrazy wrote:

First I'd like to admit upfront that I am what you would call a "normal" person.

After a friend told me he had aspergers I started researching it to find out what it was. Over the past few years of researching it I have to say I'm not sold on it. There may be legitimate cases of aspergers(Temple Grandin) but from everything I can find most who claim they suffer from aspergers are self diagnosed. As if that isn't bad enough I find this website and specifically this thread. I am shocked and disturbed by the lengths some will go to get officially diagnosed.

1) Most in this thread admit to being self diagnosed having never seen a professional. This is stupid for a number of reasons. If you believe you suffer from a mental disorder you can't possibly expect that you have the ability to see and evaluate things clearly.

2) Others have seen professionals but a diagnoses of aspergers was never given. The individual claims the doctor is wrong or an idiot and stands firm on their self diagnosis. You think you are more educated and experienced than the doctor because you read WebMD and Wikipedia.

3) Many admit to going to new doctors until they find one that will confirm their self diagnosis. You would think that one would be happy to find out that several doctors all agree you don't have a major mental disorder but for some reason they push on demanding that someone diagnose them. At this point the individual just wants an excuse for their behavior. You wouldn't see someone demand they be diagnosed and treated for cancer if a few doctors all said they didn't have it.

This is all very disturbing and if anything these individuals do suffer from a mental illness but it sure isn't aspergers. It is probably more like narcissism or egomania.

I think the real question is: Why do you think you are better qualified to diagnose your friend(and the others you have insulted on here) then he is?

It is lovely that you quoted all of this, bergie, thanks for that. "If you believe you suffer from a mental disorder you can't possibly expect that you have the ability to see and evaluate things clearly." is extremely troubling for WP. I think we need mods.

blue_bean
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03 Apr 2011, 12:22 am

Quote:

After a friend told me he had aspergers I started researching it to find out what it was. Over the past few years of researching it I have to say I'm not sold on it. There may be legitimate cases of aspergers(Temple Grandin) but from everything I can find most who claim they suffer from aspergers are self diagnosed. As if that isn't bad enough I find this website and specifically this thread. I am shocked and disturbed by the lengths some will go to get officially diagnosed.

Have you brought this up with your friend? Or did you just choose to go online to some random AS forum and rubbish him behind his back?

What sort of friend are you to doubt his issues?

Verdandi
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03 Apr 2011, 3:42 am

Louise8 wrote:

Verdandi : it sounds like you have autism. any way it is not that strangers decision to make or my decision to make. your autism is your autism. this is just a ignorant person. it is fustraiting to be reading ideas like not crazy has.

Yes, thank you.

l00p1n
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04 Apr 2011, 3:03 am

F5c_wZ3_414e_X5 wrote:

Imagine it.
One day you find an article about Asperger's in a newspaper/magazine/internet.
You read it and you are surprised, because it is all about you.
You search for more information on Internet, and it almost all fits you.
You become obsessed with Asperger's.
You go to wrongplanet, and read the topics. There are questions, that you have been trying to answer all your life. And most people here tell about themselves, and this is EXACTLY how you feel.
You were never able to fin in, anywhere. And you think, you FINALLY found people like you.
You think you're an aspie. But you don't have a diagnosis. You can't be sure, if you are or not. If you're not an aspie, that means that you're alone in the world, and you can't fit in anywhere. This thought bothers you, you have to find out if you're an aspie or not.
You go to the doctor. You tell him/her all about yourself, all your aspie traits, sure you don't use the word "aspergers". He/she examines you. And he/she says:
- You have mild form of depression/anxiety/psychological problems (something that can be cured or smth that you can overcome, and isn't a part of you).
And doctor doesn't mention Aspergers.
Thats all.
You're not an aspie anymore. And your obsessions doesn't make sense anymore.

How would you feel? What would you think? What would you do?

i found out about the depression first and get treated for it...
then later i found out about asperger(after watching max and mary movie).... i can't get diagnosed, but because of the theraphy now my life is managable, so i think, aspie or not, you don't need a label get help for yourself to be able to live better(um, english is not my 1st language so i hope you get the meaning :p)

MindBlind
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04 Apr 2011, 7:30 am

So, I guess if I was in that situation, I'd just be glad that I got the right diagnosis (but then again, I don't know if this hypothetical situation could ever occur for me because I was diagnosed from infancy).

But if anybody here feels this way, I still think you should post here. This is not an aspie ghetto - it's for anyone and everyone.

Surreal
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04 Apr 2011, 9:42 am

F5c_wZ3_414e_X5 wrote:

Actually, I would expect this as most professionals are in a position where their goal is to diagnose people with something at which they can THROW A PILL! Or SEVERAL pills even! You couldn't throw a handful of pills at Asperger's if you tried!

UnLESS!

Unless you have some comorbid conditions, such as ANXIETY or DEPRESSION! It just seems natural and LOGICAL that this is what a "doctor" would look for first!

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littlelily613
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04 Apr 2011, 10:00 am

I think it is quite ridiculous that just because someone is in disagreement they are labeled as a troll and reported to the moderators. I haven't seen anything that is considered harrassment in his or her posts.

Also, I can kind of see their point. I mean I was self-diagnosed for 6 to 7 years before getting diagnosed officially; however, there were only very few people I told. I didn't feel I had the right to call myself autistic unless I knew for sure. It is a fact that there ARE some self-diagnosed people that have diagnosed themselves incorrectly. It is not as though that never happens. I know one who was CERTAIN he had AS, found out he had another disorder and learned that indeed, the psychologist knew what he was talking about as the new label was what truly fit him (rather than him trying to fit his symptoms into the ASD label).

Before everyone gets all bent out of shape and starts calling me a troll, I am not saying all self-diagnosed people are wrong (I also don't think that is what Not Crazy is saying either--I think people are missing the point entirely!) but that self-diagnoses are not professional, not always correct, so for some an official diagnosis carries a bit more weight. Whether you agree with it or not, it is still a valid point... one that doesn't need to be reported to the moderator.

NotCrazy
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04 Apr 2011, 11:18 am

Verdandi wrote:

Have you been paying attention? It's not strictly a self-diagnosis at this point - family, friends, my therapist, and my PCP all agree with this with minimal (actually, practically non-existent) convincing. My therapist has written that she is certain I have Asperger's Syndrome on my diagnostic referral.

I have been paying attention. Your family and friends are not professionals so their opinion is just as useless as yours. What I get out of all of this is that your therapist thinks you have aspergers but you still need to be referred to a psych for evaluation and diagnosis. So like I said to this point you still aren't officially diagnosed. If the mental health industry accepted the opinions of friends, family and therapists you wouldn't have to see a psych to receive the diagnosis.

Verdandi wrote:

My diagnosis will not find that I am not autistic, because I am autistic. The psych may tell me that I am not autistic, but the psych would be mistaken.

Of course they would be wrong. You have already decided you have the syndrome and will accept nothing else. You will doctor shop until you find one that will agree with you. I'm finding this is the pattern with many that self diagnose.

another_1
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04 Apr 2011, 1:14 pm

littlelily613 wrote:

I did not ask the mods to look at his behavior because he was posting something controversial. I did so because, IMHO, his posts appeared to be an attempt to incite a flame war. On most moderated boards I have been on, that is considered trolling. I asked the mods to look. They did, and said it wasn't trolling. I thanked them for the clarification, and apologized for inconveniencing them. I do not find that to be ridiculous.

littlelily613 wrote:

Also, I can kind of see their point. I mean I was self-diagnosed for 6 to 7 years before getting diagnosed officially; however, there were only very few people I told. I didn't feel I had the right to call myself autistic unless I knew for sure. It is a fact that there ARE some self-diagnosed people that have diagnosed themselves incorrectly. It is not as though that never happens. I know one who was CERTAIN he had AS, found out he had another disorder and learned that indeed, the psychologist knew what he was talking about as the new label was what truly fit him (rather than him trying to fit his symptoms into the ASD label).

And I agree on this point. For my part, I try to be careful to say that I think there is a high probability that I have AS, but that I'm not sure. The other day my brother (one of 3 people I have mentioned this possibility to IRL) said something about "your [my] Asperger's." I interrupted him to say, "my presumed Asperger's. I'm not a shrink - I could be wrong." I'm glad your friend found out what was actually going on, and hope he is getting help for his issues.

Verdandi
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04 Apr 2011, 2:39 pm

another_1 wrote:

littlelily613 wrote:

After said person made a second thread, the mods took a second look and gave him a warning.

I believe you are correct that he is attempting to incite a flame war.

another_1 wrote:

The only reason I have moved from probability to certainty is the sheer weight of agreement that I have it in real life, not just on the internet. As far as I am concerned, real life trumps random angry guy on the internet, especially when real life includes professional opinions.

Meow101
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04 Apr 2011, 2:40 pm

NotCrazy wrote:

I'm about to burst your judgmental bubble. I was self-diagnosed for years, saw a psychologist last summer for something else, and she evaluated me for the AS too and diagnosed me with AS as well. No doctor shopping, no BS.

Sometimes people do know more than you give them credit for. Especially about themselves. "Excuse for their behavior"...what a crock.

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littlelily613
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04 Apr 2011, 4:15 pm

I still stand by my, "only an official diagnosis should be *officially* recognized" theory; however, after looking more in depth at this guy's posts, it appears as though I have misinterpreted someone again. I didn't read enough to begin with I suppose, and he is not saying what I originally thought he was saying, so I'm through defending him.

**Respectfully backing out**

anbuend
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04 Apr 2011, 4:46 pm

NotCrazy wrote:

I find it very disturbing that so many defend a self diagnosis simply because the individual spent a lot of time researching the disorder. Did this individual go to medical school? Do they have experience treating patients? The answer is no. But of course that doesn't really matter to you since you make the entire mental health industry out to be ignorant fools who can't ever properly diagnose someone. Instead the only people that can diagnose aspergers are "aspies".

As it happens, as I mentioned (and you ignored), Simon Baron-Cohen, who does have all those qualifications, and has been diagnosing autistic people for a very long time, endorses self-diagnosis and says that the overwhelming majority of self-diagnosed people are correct. It's very hard to come up with the idea of having autism if you don't have it. I would think you'd actually care that such an internationally renowned autism expert believes that you don't need medical school and all that to figure out if you're autistic or not, but obviously it interferes with your whole "Non-professionals know nothing theory", so you'll ignore it, even when it comes from a professional with more experience diagnosing than any of us. And yet you've got a problem with other people ignoring professionals... hmm.

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Verdandi
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04 Apr 2011, 4:47 pm

I believe Tony Attwood has also said the same thing.

I imagine there might be others.

ominous
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04 Apr 2011, 6:35 pm

littlelily613 wrote:

NotCrazy might suggest-

[quote=NotCrazy] you suffer from a mental disorder you can't possibly expect that you have the ability to see and evaluate things clearly.[/quote]

Obviously.

ominous
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04 Apr 2011, 6:36 pm

littlelily613 wrote:

NotCrazy might suggest-

NotCrazy wrote:

you suffer from a mental disorder you can't possibly expect that you have the ability to see and evaluate things clearly.

Obviously.

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