I want to get rid of my diagnosis, but how?

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Long story short: I met the criteria for diagnosis as a child. I think that I no longer meet the criteria. Having an official diagnosis is not useful to me because I've never needed any accommodation in school and don't expect to need anything of the sort in the future. But having a diagnosis is harmful to me; it's an obstacle to getting certain jobs, like enlisting in the military--something I plan on doing.

So, my question is: how do I go about getting rid of my diagnosis? I know it's possible for to be "undiagnosed" as it were, if you no longer meet the criteria. But I don't have the first idea about where to start, and I don't really know anyone who's knowledgeable on the subject. Do you guys have any tips?

Edit: for the record, I am currently in Europe, but will be enlisting in the US military.

even if you do get undiagnosed the military will find that out when they ask for your medical records. You could lie and say you do not have a medical history, the recruiters will probably ask you to do that (they did for me). But it will probably come out and you would get a dishonorable discharge if you go that route. I don't know about getting undiagnosed but you are disqualified for having a diagnoses of aspergers or autism. BUT it is possible to get a waiver, pretty random if you would get it or not though

Well, Asperger's/ Autism is lifelong (or very definitely believed to be, by all the relevant authorities, at least), so I don't think you can get 'un diagnosed'. I didn't know it would, necessarily, prevent you getting any jobs, though?

One thing that could help is if you want a hard to get job such as navy nuke, if you qualify for that (the top job in the military smarts wise) then the recruiters will try to do anything to get you to join, bragging about you and just go the extra effort. Well add is considered disqualifying, but I also had sh***y grades. I am glad you are not going to lie, I had 2 different recruiters that told me to, I refused. And sadly it did not work out because of that (history of depression, I am not officially diagnosed with aspergers)

I sadly do not know.

But, my ex-boyfriend has Aspergers, and he's in the military.

It won't keep you from getting in.

You are not even considered if you are on meds. I ended up graduating with a 2.7 gpa and I got an F in precalculus, boring teacher. I got a waiver for the F in precalc

Just realized i am from the usa and it says you are in europe, so...I don't know how different some of the stuff is

I'm not on medication and never have been. My grades are above average, and I got them while being completely mainstreamed. I'll have a college degree by the time I can enlist. (I won't be able to become an officer, as I won't have citizenship.) Really, besides my lackluster phsyical fitness, I think I'd be a pretty solid recruit---if not for the diagnosis.

Edit: I'm in Europe for now, but I'll be enlisting in the US military, just to be clear.

If you really tried you can get in pretty good shape in as little as 2 months. I did wrestling my junior year. I stayed the same weight (skinny) but I looked much stronger. This was just in preseason, about 2 hours weekday. And as long as you are not overweight of what is allowed and are not flat footed or other things like that you are fine, they can deal with making you stronger.

Afternoon,

I can't help since you're not in the US. I'm only familiar with the US Military and the US Diagnostic rules. Europe has a different, though similar, set of rules. The medication rule you describe is the same in the US, for example.

In the US, it's not possible to "un-diagnose" a person. The closest you can get is to stop seeing Dr. Alpha and Start seeing Dr. Beta, then never mention Dr. Alpha again, anywhere. The investigation completed by the US military is re-initialized for every (undisclosed) promotion, which is why many people end up going months, or years into their tour before being exited. Having said that, the second best option is to have your current psychiatrist or psychologist label your diagnosis as "in remission" or "single episode". This gets tricky for the person doing the diagnostic review, however.

If you place "in remission" you need to add "partial", "sustained", or "full" - these suffixes are usually added to substance abuse diagnostics only, e.g. "Methamphetamine Dependence, Full Remission"

Normally you see "single episode" on a diagnosis that isn't chronic. For instance, "Psychotic Disorder, NOS, Single Episode"

If you're a pattern seer, like me, you should see why this can be "tricky" for the diagnostician, now. How on Buddha's Bulging Belly does a clinician endorse "Autism, Single Episode"? Their license is on the line!

The good news is, we often see "Major Depressive Disorder, In Full Remission" - treatment has been successful! It's also possible to get "Asperger's Syndrome, In Sustained Remission" - treatment is currently successful. This only means that you're longer experience significant impairment, and can manage most of the distress caused by the symptoms. It does not mean that you're cured, fixed, or that it in any way does not affect you; merely that you have learned to manage well!

The US military has a list of excluded diagnoses.

It's important to note that the US military will not take you if there is any functional impairment, no matter the diagnosis. Lastly, while we don't like you coming in with medication, you can be prescribed medication, short term, while IN service.

I hope this helps. If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me.

_Bloom

^how is it that you know this? I am not accusing you of making it up, but was just curious sense it it sounds like you really know what you are talking about.

I am in my early 50s. Back when I was growing up spectrum disorders were not recognized for what they are. Instead we were diagnosed as having emotional/behavior problems and/or discipline problems. I was taken to many different psych docs and therapists. Several different meds were proscribed at different times. I eventually took myself off the meds in my mid teens as they didn't help and had unpleasant side effects. I have not taken any meds for my undiagnosed Asperger's since then. I also didn't see any psych people from about then until several years ago, when I went to a therapist for about a year, to qualify for Medicaid under a depression diagnosis. Although I was depressed, my other health problems are more of a problem, but the state preferred the depression diagnosis for me to get my foot in the Medicaid door. Once I had Medicaid I managed to get some help for my other health problems. The medical records this provided helped me qualify for SS, which I need now, as my other health problems now make it impossible for me to work.

As for having a diagnosis or getting rid of one, spectrum disorders are chronic, and lifelong. However, we do sometimes get better at dealing with some of our traits, causing some of our problems to shrink down to normal NT levels. If enough of this happens in one person, I feel that this person can indeed be considered to be in remission. The problems are still there, but they are no longer at problem level. Because it is a lifelong condition you can't really say you are "cured" or get an undiagnosis, but "remission" does make sense.

Unless there is some benefit to be gained by it, I choose not to get an official diagnosis, as I can see possible problems with officialdom if they get me on record as having Asperger's. Too many people don't really know enough about it, and I don't want them thinking I am ret*d, or schizo or about to blow everyone away, or do some other nutty stuff, just because I happen to have Asperger's. For people with Aspie or Autie kids, there may be some benefits to having an official diagnosis, as there is help available for kids on the spectrum. Also, some working adults may benefit by accommodations help for an officially diagnosed disorder, but I am not a child, and am no longer able to work, so I don't see any benefit to my getting an official diagnosis. If that changes, then I will consider it.

I think each person needs to make the decision based on their own circumstances.

According to the medical forms I've seen, I'm required to provide documentation for every visit to a psychologist I ever made. That doesn't leave a lot of opportunity for it to be overlooked, at least not without me outright lying. While the fact I was mainstreamed and last saw a psychologist many years ago is going to work in my favor, I think it'd be better if I could get a psychologist to attest that I'm just fine, now---some pretty bad things were written about me when I got diagnosed, and I need something to contest that.

I'm already working on getting any mention of autism out of my school records; they've agreed to do it but it's not complete yet.

Undiagnosis is definitely possible, from the stuff I've read. This article for example, mentions "that between 3% and 25% of children reportedly lose their ASD diagnosis and enter the normal range of cognitive, adaptive and social skills." If I can lose my diagnosis, where do I sign up?

I'm kind of surprised that there's not more experience with this on Wrongplanet, though I suppose most people eager to lose their diagnosis don't frequent autism forums.