Two different psychiatrists, two different "diagnosis&a

Post Reply New Topic

Last year around this time of year I was attending to a psychiatrist to find out what might be "wrong" with me. This psychiatrist came to the conclusion that I had aspergers, which I dismissed at the time and kind of just stopped going.

The reason for my diagnosis was that I had a lot of common traits with the diagnosis Aspergers Syndrom. Special interests, no eye contact, stimming to stimulate myself, bad on the social front, you name it. Pretty much any little part of the diagnosis fit me perfectly apart from a few things. The things that did not compute was the fact I understand sarcasm pretty well and the fact that I was engaging in "play" with other children when I was younger, and could engage in role play to some extent. But the psychiatrist said that I didn't have to fill every criteria, which is true.

This year I decided to go back to get a full "exposure" of my true self, if I did have Aspergers or what not. This time I had been given a different psychiatrist, which I thought was good because I wanted a different point of view also. He asked me a few questions from a sheet of paper, and I answered them as good as I could. Some I could not fully answer. I could not find myself to answer stupid questions such as "do you notice patterns in things more than others?" simply because there is no way I could know such things. How would I know what other people think or do in their personal internal life boggles my mind. Am I right to think that such a question is stupid? Anyway, I answered as good as I could and I ended up with a score just right on the Aspergers scale, almost below.

Now the thing is. He asked me some more questions and such last time and I answered them truthfully and it ended up looking more like Aspergers. He even showed me some idioms and asked me if I could understand what they meant. I had always thought I understood idioms, but somehow I failed on most of the ones he mentioned (no idea if this had anything to do with how bad I am at them, or just bad luck with the ones he chose).

Last time I was there he asked me if he could call one of my parents to ask him/her some questions about my younger self. So before today's session he had a chat with my mother. What came back from that conversation was that as a child I engaged in play with other children and probably some role play (I think I did, though I was always myself in those games, but in a different environment). Now based on that he said that it was unlikely that I had aspergers, and he tried to go in more of a Schizoid Personality Disorder path. He didn't say that he totally dismissed the thought of me having Aspergers, but it seemed like he did. What I find weird is that he hasn't even mentioned anything about stimming, and doesn't seem to put any weight into special interest at all.

I can't see myself having a Schizoid Personality Disorder simply because I don't have a lot of the criteria for diagnosis. The ones who as Schizoid tend to not enjoy anything, and have few if any interests, and they don't enjoy other people at all. All which is not like me at all. I have interests, and those interest/s take up all my spare time, it's all I think about. And it has been that way all my life, I have always had special interests that I put an immense time into. I do enjoy being with other people, just not all the time. Just because I like to be alone most of the time, doesn't mean that I don't enjoy those few times I hang out with others. So for me Schizoid isn't likely at all.

But if I don't have Aspergers, and I am not Schizoid then what am I? There is certainly something different about me, but nothing else than Aspergers explains that in any way.

Am I not to have Aspergers just because I engaged in play with other kids when I was younger? Is that suppose to just dismiss everything else? He even said that some child service (no idea what it's called in English or whatever) had contacted my parents when I was in first grade (that freaking early, then there has to be something), but somehow everything was alright in fourth grade when I got a new teacher. I have no idea what this was all about, but he didn't seem to put much thought into it, which is weird.

I am beginning to doubt the authentication of psychiatrists, when one is 100% sure I have Aspergers, and the other one thinks I am Schizoid. It's like I am beginning to give up on getting a diagnosis. I don't want to be diagnosed with something that isn't true.

I am so CONFUSED right now.

Don't worry, lots of us have gone through something like this when trying to get a correct diagnosis! My experience was sort of the opposite of yours - the first doctor I saw thought I had generalized anxiety disorder because she deemed my other symptoms too mild. That diagnosis didn't cover nearly everything, so I went for a second opinion. That doctor said that Asperger's was a much better fit and that I actually scored very low on his anxiety tests.

What your first doctor said about not having to fit all the criteria is absolutely right. I think the important thing to remember is that autism is a BIG spectrum. To me it sounds like Asperger's was the correct diagnosis; I don't think that lacking one symptom like that should be enough to exclude you. I could be wrong, but I think most of us did play with other kids when we were young.

I hope you can find the answer you're looking for. I'm sure some others on here will have good advice!

Does it matter to you what you are or what the label is? Do you even need to get diagnosed? Only you can tell.

Nobody fits the cliché or textbook case (even if those writing the manuals could agree what exactly that may be).

Anyway, you've just discovered like so many others, just how useless the professionals are. Not because they are stupid (though some are) but because everyone is a unique case and the is no definitive assessment (the nearest apparently being the MRI scans). Ultimately it all comes down to opinion, preconceptions and what the professional has encountered before which somewhat colours their view. I expect any moment to be branded a heretic for suggesting that professionals are fallible; many round here seem to have a baffling confidence in their abilities.

I was amused by the way, by your reaction to the questions. I agree that many are quite ridiculous in that to answer them you have to know how others think.

I was also thinking to write that I doubt if psychiatrists even know what they are talking about most of the time, but I didn't want to seem like a douche, hehe.

Well it's not about the lable, it's more about what an official diagnosis can give me. In the country I live in people who have "disabilities" that comes in the way of their advancements in life gives them certain privileges that are nice to have, thus a diagnosis would be helpful to my life if I do have Aspergers.

I come to think of something that happened a few times when I was younger, which is about stimming. I know that nevrotypicals stim from time to time, but those with aspergers do it more frequently and might do it more blatantly.
Well here is the scenario that happened a few times when I was younger: I was really hooked on World of Warcraft for quite a while when I was younger, it was pretty much my special interest, but others thought it was an addiction (which it was not). Because I liked the game so much I played it whenever I could. I had to be in bed by eleven, so after my parents went to bed I would sneak out of my bed and over to my computer in the other room to play some more. What happened some times was that they would find out (or almost find out) and went out of bed to check. I would then find a place to hide out so that I was not to be found out. When I was hiding out I would rock back and forth with a force while standing to stimulate myself because of the situation. Now what I wonder is, would a person without Aspergers do such a thing? Rocking back and forth like that because of a stressful situation that is.

Also, throughout my life I have always been the one who stimmed with his foot under the table at dinner, so that eventually the table started shaking without noticing. My brother never did this.

One of the difficult (or ridiculous) questions during my evaluation was "What do bother others around me?". How do I know if they don't tell me? Anyway, try to write down your experiences and symptoms that can indicate you have some kind of ASD (Asperger's is only one of them, even though it's the most likely given to people considered high functioning). I did that, handed it over, and I think it helped them significantly. I wrote about previously asked questions too, because at the time I couldn't come up with satisfying answers for them, imo. I remember they asked me about my free-time and what I like to do, what makes me happy and such things. I could explain them some of my special interest along these questions. Hope I could help.

What's your native language?

I wonder how many psychiatrists even think of Asperger's when they diagnose? I bet no ttoo many. I am always labeld as beig depressed. I took a sleftest and got a relatively high score. I am waitign to tell my therapist.

One thing I might speculate on is that Schizoid Personality Disorder is something that can be treated with medication, and there really aren't meds for apergers. I don't really trust psychiatrists because many function as pill pushers. Also, many psychiatrists really don't know what they are talking about most of the time, I don't think you would sound like a douche if you brought that up. Too many people blindly trust whatever a psychiatrist says just because they are a doctor. Doctors are human just like everyone else and are nowhere near perfect.

Are you talking about the "idea" part? Because that was just an error, I have no idea how I wrote that. I wrote it in a hurry I guess.

I know what you mean by the "stupid" questions. How the heck should I know what others think? If I think I'm a mind reader then something is seriously wrong.

All psychiatrists have different diagnostics for you. It's so much fun. Like going to a witch for reading in your palm