sneak attack diagnostic ninja strike

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I've finally come to a point in my life where I feel that though I have made significant progress on my own, there's nothing more I can do without professional help, so I am seeing a psychologist. During the intake interview I told him that I feel I may have some symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome, but that I'm not sure, and I am more interested in access to social skills training than in being diagnosed with a disability. I specifically asked him to get my OK before he recorded an official diagnosis and he implied he would not jump to conclusions or diagnose me without my permission. Well, a few weeks ago he announced out of nowhere that he has already diagnosed me with AS and "major depression." All this from a single 15-minute interview during which he had the DSM-IV sitting open on his knee like a cribsheet

The DSM-IV casts a VERY wide net with those lists of diagnostic criteria. I don't feel comfortable with a psychologist who will record an official diagnosis on the basis of a 15 minute intake interview.

I am very satisfied with all other aspects of my treatment, but does anyone else have a problem with being hastily diagnosed with a serious mental disability on the basis of a short, superficial interview?

I don't know how old you are, but my diagnosis took 2 hours....and I had to retrace my whole life. In addition, I had my parents back up of my childhood traits also.

27

I am not trying to get government benefits or anything, that's probably one of the reasons he was so quick to label me.

What kinds of questions were you asked, if you dont mind?

it tool 3 hour in my case, seriously that cant be done in 15 minutes

Please be careful with the Titling of your post. It sounds very hostile and in light of Cho the Virginia Tech killer being now labeled as autistic we don't need psychotic sounding hostile titles or topics on here. We don't want to be making autistics look dangerous. You might also not want to be so open in your town about being an Aspie in case there is a backlash.

I appreciate your concern, however I think the title of my post is clearly intended as humor and refers to the way my psychologist filed his diagnosis while i wasnt around. Quick and stealthy like a ninja. I am writing an essay about AS, cho and related topics that i may post here later.

If you are asking about what questions were asked in my diagnosis...I went because I suspected I had AS, but was also happy if I didn't have it. The reason I went because of an increase in extreme anxiety and huge communication problems at work...I had read about AS years ago and thought, that just sounds normal to me, I don't see why they would give it a name... (if you know what I mean??)....

Anyway, the diagnosis was me retracing all my whole life of behaviours which appeared to be AS...(a lot of behaviours can be pretty normal really, eg; like kids can have special interests without necessarily having AS) then I had to explain my thought processes that happen when I am in certain situations...well lots of situations...

It was two hours, so hard to remember a lot of it because I was in a bit of a 'zone out' if you know what I mean. I then received a full written report of the reasoning behind diagnosing me with AS...although I have managed to work out some coping skills as an adult (hence why it is difficult to diagnose sometimes in adults)...

I had my diagnosis in a specialist AS clinic.

Yeah I totally relate to that zoned out feeling you get from long conversations (if that's what you mean?).



Also: Retracing your whole childhood? Wow. Thorough