Is it worth seeking a diagnosis as an adult?

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I know.
I only say, I WISH!- as I figure, that being the weird kid and later the intelligent adult who can´t hold down a job might have been easier, if there had been some sort of an explanation.

I have other mental health issues and they said that a diagnosis of autism would not change my treatment with them so they don't diagnose me with that. But my therapy group thinks I do have it and they will do treatment with or without a diagnosis, so they say it is not necessary.

The only reason I even went through the dx process at all was because of my mother.

After 18 months of research and introspection, I became convinced that I'm on the spectrum. But my mother was adamant that I get it made official, because she believes (incorrectly, if I'm reading it right) that this is progressive and that I will continue to get worse. (She doesn't accept my explanation that my worst time was in my teens and that I've improved immeasurably since then.) She thinks that I will eventually be afflicted enough in the future that I'll likely need to go on Disability.

She also believed that an official diagnosis would prove to my brother that all the things that he stayed mad at me over (stimming, lack of socializing, sensory issues) had a real cause and that I wasn't just doing all that just to irritate him. That part turned out to be on the money -- he has been MUCH more understanding of me since all this occurred, and we're getting along much better.

Other than the above items, I would have been happy to just accept what I knew in my heart and soul to be true.

It was totally worthwhile getting diagnosed...

I have a better framework to understand myself, my needs, and my co-morbid conditions. I am nourishing myself more appropriately, getting the alone time I need more often, minimising stressful situations and taking each day in a more steady manner. I no longer feel a need to perform the social roles that have been expected of me eg class clown, dopey stoner etc.

Others have a better framework to understand my needs.

And it has afforded me protection from further psychiatric mis-diagnosis and mis-treatment.

The diagnosis has changed the way I approach my life and it has mostly been for the better.

For all of my life, I simply felt out of place and awkward like I didn't belong and I was considered 'weird' and constantly ostracized by my peers. When I went to university and I was better able to verbalize my feelings, it was me versus a world I just didn't 'get' and had immense trouble integrating with in the seemingly seamless way that NTs do.

I've always pictured myself as some kind of alien, accidentally left behind here by my mothership when in reality, my home is somewhere up in the stars.

Stories of alien abductions fascinated me instead of terrifying me and I secretly wished that I would be abducted (back home). Related to that, I used to watch the stars (can't do it as much anymore because of where I now live) all the time and sometimes cry because I kept waiting and waiting and waiting to go 'home' because whatever 'home' I had here - a good family and all - still didn't feel like 'home' because I constantly felt so different.

After getting the official dX a year ago (early 30s), it isn't that I necessarily feel less like that left-behind alien, rather, I now can understand myself and those age-old feelings much better and can better accept the fact that I AM perhaps hardwired differently than what we would call NTs and so experience the world in a different way.

Not necessarily wrong (no matter how 'wrong' some people might want to say it is), but different.

In other words, feeling like E.T. is perhaps 'normal' for someone like me.

Additionally, I'm someone who likes solid reasons for things so having a reason/dX really helps me to understand and accept things on both a logical and emotional level.

For those who questioned:

Do I feel it has actually helped with others? Absolutely, especially with my husband. Although he has always been supportive, he never could understand why I have such a tough time with others, like his family. He understands now.

Now about the cost thing: my insurance paid for everything so it wasn't a problem.

As for the "condemning your life" thing: no one in the real world cares. The people who know you before once told will realize you haven't changed overnight. And you don't have to tell employers. If you already have a career, you obviously don't need special accommodations. The systems you have in place already work.

Best thing that happened to me after being diagnosed was a conversation with my husband:

Husband: Well, this explains why I hated all my other girlfriends; I needed to look for an autistic.

Me: Not a normal person?

Hus: F*** normal! I hate those people.