what do i do if i feel i have been misdiagnosed?

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hello,

i was diagnosed with schizoid personality disorder in 2008 after going for an autism diagnosis attempt. i have disagreed with this since i first received it but i never said anything at the time. i didnt know i could. i have recently been trying to get a diagnosis again, which i got. i went and spoke to a doctor and had a four hour session at the end saying that i have mild form of autism. i felt some releaf. then he contacted me some time later saying that because i had a diagnosis before that i didnt tell him about he said that he would have to rethink it as he couldnt go against what the others diagnosed with out a good reason. i said that i would provide some video proof if i can. he wants to speak to a relative, which i dont want. my dad spoke for me in 2008 and said that he couldnt remember much of anything from when i was a kid (im 36, he is 78). so getting a family member to talk for me this time would be a waste. in 2008 i was given an iq test that lasted a day and then a conversation that lasted about 20 minutes. in the conversation i became a little emotional and instead of answering the questions properly i ranted about my problems at work and social life. i did this too recently with this other doctor, he kept reminding me to forget that as it is not important.
i dont like the fact that the 2008 diagnosis was in my opinion poorly executed and now i can not do anything because of that. i have been labelled in correctly. which i believe is worse than being labelled. i would like a diagnosis because it is important to me.
is there anything i can do about this misdiagnosis?
i have sent an email to one of the original doctors from 2008 and heard nothing back. what else could i do. the current doctor wants to speak to a parent but i dont feel that will help.
any advice would be great.

You should try and find a specialist well versed in adult autism that is affordable which is often very difficult. Sometimes universities diagnose you for free, if you agree to be part of a research project. You could use siblings to describe your childhood.

A lot of people seek second opinions for all sorts of conditions.

the problem i have is that my siblings dont remember what i was like as a child and they say that i was a normal child. they tend to rationalize things by saying that all kids are like that. i dont think universities in the uk can diagnose for free. though i will investigate. thanks

I had the opposite problem, but the method should still be relevant.

You should see an Autism specialist and avoid individuals who don't specialise that field. It sucks, but there are still a lot of misconceptions. It's not unheard of for the average psychologist or paediatrician to not knowing what they're talking about.

In my case, I was trying to remove my Autism diagnosis because the paediatrician who diagnosed me was a moron.

My suggestion is to learn as much about the condition as possible and identify the symptoms that you can relate to. Create a list of examples that show the specialist how those symptoms apply to you, and how they impact your ability to function normally.

Similarly, learn about Schizoid Personality Disorder and identify the symptoms that you cannot relate to. Explain to the specialist why you aren't Schizoid and give examples showing how the condition does not apply to you.

Best of luck

Well, you can look for a second assessment, but it may not be worth your time unless you can afford a private specialist. Shrinks probably typically trust other shrinks' judgement more than they trust their clients' judgement.

Another thing you can try is long-term therapy. Someone who sees you on a regular basis will be the most able to ascertain who you truly are. In addition, if you simply reveal yourself to this person through interaction rather than going in to be assessed for a specific condition, you may avoid the "wannabe autistic" label that shrinks are dismissing people with.

If you don't need an official diagnosis, you may have to simply let this go and make your peace with the limits of psychology to avoid going crazy over their mistakes, although that may be difficult. I was told that I'm a schizoid three different times, and I still think it is a misdiagnosis and can identify errors they made in the assessment processes. For a long time, I have been feeling very frustrated, mistreated, and foolish for even going for assessments. All of that would end if I could just get over the facts that some aspects of psychology are BS, shrinks are flawed, and the misdiagnoses didn't ruin my life. And psychology, of course, is not an exact science.

Even if you do need an official diagnosis, a technically incorrect diagnosis may still get you the accommodations you need. You just have to be comfortable with officials possibly thinking of you as having the wrong condition.