Critical of self diagnosis - you shouldn't be

Post Reply New Topic

Before I was professionally diagnosed, I knew something was amiss. After a lot of research, I suspected that I had Aspergers. Then, after even more research, I realized that who I am could be explained by a Personality Disorder (OCPD or Schizoid), some form of Anxiety Disorder (including Social Anxiety), or a combination thereof.

My question is as follows - How do folks have such confidence that they have self-diagnosed correctly (i.e. going from suspicion to certainty)? I wonder if those who self-diagnose are, as individuals, simply more self-confident than those who are unwilling to self-diagnose.

Please note, count me as someone who, as my psychologist wrote, is “paralyzed by ‘decision indecision’”.

@OP
i don't criticize those who self-dx.
they are only trying to understand themselves

My suspicions about B19's perspective on autism finally confirmed.

This:


Does not quite jibe with this:


Asperger's is an externally created and defined condition. You didn't create it, you don't define it, you don't refine what it means; therefore, it is external to you. Therefore, if your self-diagnosis of Asperger's gives you a sense of validation (as this paragraph seems to imply), then you are partaking of external validation, and the strong terms in which you describe it ("afraid of...losing that," "It makes me feel alright") suggest that perhaps you do feel the need for said validation.



If by "help ourselves" you mean seek treatments, official accomodations, disability, etc., then yes, the formal diagnosis of ASD is meant to help with those things. If you mean self-treatments, accomodations in your home or social circle, etc., then self-diagnosis is completely irrelevant. You figure out your symptoms, you find ways to treat them, you carry out those treatments, and refine things until they suit you: self-diagnosing has ZERO effect on that process and is therefore entirely unnecessary.

If, instead, you mean afford us an identity badge that shows we are members of club Aspie, give us a sense of validation, warm fuzzy feelings, or self-esteem, or act as a plaque commemorating our struggles in life (as B19 suggested in another thread), no, that's not really what the diagnosis, or just the term(s), is/are for.

I was hoping you wouldn't take that as the literal "you". I meant the general "you", as in, nobody should do it if they don't want 30 pages of argument about it.



That's all fair enough and perfectly reasonable.

I'm not 100% sure either, to be honest. I just have to trust that the autism asssessment team got it correct: yes, I trust their judgement more than mine on this particular issue. It's not because I'm a particularly trusting person; pretty much the opposite. It's just that they deal with people who have ASD every single day; I don't know a single person IRL with ASD apart from my dad (probably <_<). They know more about it than me, it's that simple.

Maybe in a few years' time I'll think differently. Read a few books; various pubmed papers - bang, instant autism expert who knows more than the experts themselves. I am a bit like that with Crohn's, tbh.



I'm the same, chap.

What happened to this thread? I'm confused.

I think this illustrates my problem with the validity of self-diagnosed. The problem isn't as much as they aren't evaluated by a professional (though that would be better than a layman), but that it's meant to be diagnosed from an outsiders perspective, not based on one's own perspective of themselves. People often have a very different view of themselves than other people do. Anyway, my problem with self-diagnosis isn't with people identifying as such or trying to receive support for such, it's when they are used as an example for the scope of autism. If we aren't sure they are autistic in the same sense, they can't be used as examples.

As I post this I have no gathered thoughts about self-diagnosis.

I naturally am wary of a self-diagnosis due to having interacted with many self-diagnosed individuals in the past that have incorrectly assessed themselves.

These three things are 'red flags' to me:

. A person, unprovoked, alluding to or mentioning characteristics relevant to a disorder
. A person communicating to others their self-diagnosis without logical reason
. A person parading their diagnoses as their identity

They show that the individual is seeking to fit the diagnosis, whether consciously or subconsciously. Diagnostic labels are necessary only when they can provide an individual with an understanding and support.

I believe self-diagnoses should not be assimilated into one's identity as other labels may (i.e. 'officer', 'husband'), but only used for personal understanding and/or gaining support from close friends/family.

This doesn't seem wrong to me. The purpose of this thread seems to be to convince others not to be critical of self-diagnosis. Btbnnyr has not attacked anybody nor expressed anything other than her own views.

If the goal of the thread truly is to convince others not to be critical of self-diagnosis, it shouldn't be a problem for a person who remains unconvinced to post their unprejudiced thoughts.

It is a support site, but not every thread is dedicated to supporting every individual, and that should already be familiar to any individual with over 500 posts. A personal attack, yes, would be too far, but simply expressing a controversial opinion should not be.

This is something that worries me about it too. Even if I did have an official diagnosis (the formal assessment rather than a therapist agreeing that I have it), I could never get up and represent the autistic population, say in public. I would have too many doubts. It's like there is no way I could ever be 100% sure, even if an experienced professional said I was.

It's the best explanation for the overall pattern of traits and symptoms that I have. Plus it seems to run on my mom's side of the family. What really made my mind up is I talked it over with my aunt and she thinks so too.

Re: the point that Sweetleaf made, I don't want to put it up for debate in this thread how I came to a decision, or what kind of process I went through, or whether my assessment is accurate or not. I might be more willing to share when there is not a debate going on.

Suffice it to say though that I've obsessed over it virtually continually since I came to this forum around 3 years ago. I did not just read a list of symptoms and decide just like that. I've run a list of different traits and symptoms through my mind in what must be hundreds of permutations and per Occum's razor, autism, plus dyspraxia and/or mild parkinsonism is the simplest explanation.

If I am wrong, what I would be facing is possibly having a different neurological disorder or brain abnormality, rather than a psychological disorder. I have lots of symptoms that would not be accounted for by anything like a mood disorder or personality disorder.

I think people who are focused on symptoms like social difficulties may have a harder time distinguishing those as autistic traits vs. psychological traits.

Consider everything I've said taken back - I was not aware your site was set up to accept self-diagnosis as valid (whether medically or otherwise).

And Alex I'm not expecting a reply, the comments below could be worthwhile for others here to consider.


What is truth? Is it only what we hold to believe?


Obvious to psychologists and psychiatrists - who are trained in many many conditions and are more capable of objectivity than an individual is with respect to themselves


But they do in order to give a medical diagnosis. And even then, the correct diagnostic procedure has to be undertaken.


Determine, but not confirm


Alex this isn't an attack on you so don't read it as such. Again, it's the language issue. You've written you can 'tell'. It depends on what you mean by this. You can 'suspect' someone is on the spectrum, but you can't 'confirm' it.


Is potentially misleading until a medical diagnosis is given.

Fair enough, but the debates about it surface here even in threads that are not designated as such. And in general some members are unable and/or unwilling to be sensitive to it when other members are not interested in a debate, whether due to mindblindness or perhaps just not caring to begin with how others feel.

A spammer was on the forum last night, and a mod accidentally deleted this thread while cleaning up the spam posts. Some of the posts were put back, but the majority are still missing.

I posted on here on and off for 7 years, as self diagnosed.
At the time, there was no option for me to get diagnosed officially, beyond paying money I did not have.
I had struggled for most of my life, and been diagnosed with all manner of things.
I found I fit in here, I could relate to the topics and most, back when I posted quite prolifically, could relate to the topics I posted.

Finally, this year, a diagnostic team has appeared locally, led by a very well qualified professional who has talked at conferences on Autism. And it was on the NHS, which meant no cost.
I was referred by another who believed my assertions that I was on the spectrum, and got my formal diagnosis earlier this month.
For me, I needed it to help me get some help as I do struggle a lot with living independently at times.
I also needed it to be able to start to unravel decades of feeling, and being told, that I am useless, selfish, thoughtless and all manner of other negative things, which I have now come to believe myself.

I have no issue with self diagnosis. I would be a hypocrite if I did.

They may have specific motivations to be autistic, while you did not.

Sounds like a conspiracy theory to me.

More often than not I think self confidence is one of the main factors when it comes to legitimate self diagnosing on the spectrum, after years of speculation and research. I say legitimate in the sense of someone truly interested in self discovery, not the outlier of a fraud who is merely researching it for the explicit purpose of fitting the mold.

People sometimes say on wp that they want to have autism and are afraid of not having with autism. There was a quote about that in this thread earlier. And a thread about it yesterday. And currently. These are things that people said themselves, I didn't make them up.

People can and will have doubt. For someone to genuinely spend years of studying/ self discovery and come to the conclusion that they are somewhere on the spectrum, it is only natural that they may continue to have doubts from time to time. Even folks with an official diagnosis sometimes doubt it.

I haven't seen anyone posting here about how they want autism so much as they want an explanation for the problems they've encountered in life. Perhaps being on the spectrum fits the bill better than anything else.

It really takes a lot of effort to examine your whole life and I commend anyone who has done that. I don't have issues with those who legitimately choose to self diagnose on the spectrum here on this forum and just want to chat with other people.

If we were talking about self diagnosing cancer or an STD, that's a separate issue. Also, I don't see anyone here trying to use a self diagnosis for the purpose of gaining benefits from the government. Obviously that is a whole other set of hoops to jump through that requires an official diagnosis.

In summation I don't think it's wrong to participate here, regardless of official or self diagnosis. I just don't see the harm when a person is open about being self diagnosed.