Sublyme wrote:
I am sort of thinking of doing the same thing. I have actually attempted to get my dx updated in the past a few times, and I just end up with a laundry list of mental illnesses and a bunch of prescriptions.
I had a clear diagnosis of classic autism when I was three. I didn't speak a word until I was five, and when I did it was only to read out loud out the favorite line of my of my favorite book...."goodnight mouse." I was in special ed in school and had to work with a speech therapist and occupational therapist. I guess they did a pretty good job, because I was able to be mainstreamed in high school with an IEP. By the time I was a teenager I learned how to fake being NT so well, that a lot of people didn't even know I was autistic (unless I happened to have a meltdown). All the faking though started to take it's toll on me, and I began having psychotic episodes....later dx'ed as bipolar 1.
Now I don't think I really had classic autism as a child, but rather PDD-NOS, or possibly multiplex developmental disorder (a subtype of PDD-NOS, currently not in the DSM-IV).
When I've tried to update my dx, I've been re dx'ed with Bipolar 1, dx'ed with ADHD, OCD, and stuff like schizo-affective disorder, schizoid personality disorder, avoidant personality disorder, and borderline personality disorder were suggested to be looked into further....with a traumatic childhood or hyperlexia to explain the speech delay.
Maybe in all actuality I was a hyperlexic child that had a traumatic childhood and I really do have ADHD, OCD, Bipolar, several personality disorders, and maybe even schizophrenia or schizo-affective something-or-other......or maybe the last three shrinks I saw don't have experience with autistic adults....especially autistic women.
My therapist now does think I really am autistic (even before I mentioned my childhood dx) but the psychiatrist she referred me to thinks I have ADHD, OCD, and bipolar disorder....and maybe early schizophrenia....so here we go again....
Something similar here. I tried to get an updated diagnosis as I had a laundry list of diagnoses as a child, Autism being among them (one of them "exhibits many signs of autism", the other one "semi autistic"), but I realized that Autism was the only reasonable diagnosis when I was younger, but instead, I got yet another laundry list of possible disorders other than Autism. Since then, I have no ambition to end up in another mental health professional's office on my own recognizance. Honestly, I've learned more about myself studying Autism on my own and browsing through the struggles faced by people on these forums than I've ever learned in a psychologist's / psychiatrist's office.