Misdiagnosis before ASD

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Were you misdiagnosed before mental health services realised you are on the spectrum? I'm currently in the process of assessment under the NHS and was told 6 years ago by a private child psychologist that I have Asperger's. The assessment is gruelling and there's a chance I might not be diagnosed as I have no one who can confirm my childhood behaviours pre-trauma. That's a different story, though. I've always been different and saw a psychologist / psychiatrist (what is difference?!) when I was 11 for anger management problems. I had a nervous breakdown at 17 and was made inpatient at the private hospital I was told I have Asperger's in. While there I was diagnosed with an eating disorder (this changes from Bulimia to Anorexia periodically), and Borderline Personality Disorder, with signs of PTSD. I was later also diagnosed with Bipolar Type II. I also have depression and some kind of anxiety disorder. My personal opinion is I have an eating disorder, depression, anxiety and Asperger's which form together to look like BPD and Bipolar to the observer. If my assessment concludes I do have Asperger's (which I do...) then I will be looking for a reassessment of all my other diagnoses. My assessor told me "they don't know what you've got" referring to the mental health services diagnoses of me.

I'm a 24 year old female, if that has any bearing...

Thanks for your response Voxish. I had read there was a comorbidity between EDs and ASD. Thankfully I am nearly done with my assessment. I have had about 5hrs of conversation and am doing the ADOS mod 4 (I presume) on the 19th September. I have been under MH services for years and have been telling everyone I'm on the spectrum since I believed my diagnosis when private was concrete, but I learned 2 months ago it wasn't. My care-coordinator has a son who's got Asperger's so she has been a good support. There was no reluctance from the Autism services to see me; I actually missed my first appointment as I wrote it down incorrectly in my diary. My GP wrote a letter explaining my life circumstances at the time and they offered me another appointment. They have been very kind so far. I am hoping they are able to diagnose. My husband asked the Autism dude what his personal opinion was and he says he doesn't know yet, but I *definitely* have strong traits. Duh.

I got diagnosed with BPD when I was in my early twenties. Other clinicians that I met said that it doesn't really fit me. For a little bit they were like maybe bi-polar but eh, that did not fit either. Finally, I put the pieces together and got my autism diagnosis.

There was very little autism diagnosis unless you were very severe (even severe autistics were oftem misdiagnosed. That does not mean I didn't get labled, "Spazz", "strange", "homo","painfully shy", "underachiever".

That list can be seen as side effects of ASD. In any case, they are not things that can be treated separately, so such labels are mostly a temptation for therapists to think they know what they are doing when they have no real clue. A combination of just two disorders is enough to confound most professionals, and three are overwhelming. This is why there are so many therapies that seem to be based on a system, but can only be used effectively by the originator, and perhaps a few close apprentices.

I never had a formal Asperger's diagnosis, but I was described as hyperactive as a child. I believe that diagnosis was erroneous because, even though I was energetic, I also had a good attention span and was super focused when it came to academics.

I found a book in my parents' basement called "Raising a hyperactive child".

As I have written elsewhere on WrongPlanet.net, I was (mis)diagnosed with three different depression diagnoses by five various clinicians over five years between ages 15 at 20 years. I disagreed with the diagnoses then (and now) because I knew I wasn't depressed.

The conversation with my initial clinician went something like this: "Do you have any friends?" "Yeah, one." "Just one?" "Yes." "Any friends at school?" "Yeah, the same one." "What do you do for fun?" "I read books; nonfiction." "So, you read nonfiction books alone?" "Yes." "Hmm. It appears that you are depressed." "No, I am not." "I really believe you are, so I am going to diagnose you as depressed until 'we' can sort it out."

The conversations with my subsequent clinicians went something like this: "Have you been diagnosed with anything before?" "Yeah, depression. But, I disagree with it...." "Well, 'we' will confirm your diagnosis until we know better."

And so on, and so on.

Of course, this was in the late 1970s, so these diagnosticians knew little or nothing about autism apart from Kanner autism. The next best diagnosis based on my "symptoms" would have been depression. I imagine many autists my age were misdiagnosed similarly.

Hi, I've struggled with bouts have depression, have never tried anti-depressants, but am much more open to them than I used to be.

What I've read is that anti-depressants are trial and error in a respectful sense. Just that everyone's biochem is a little different. That it typically takes about 8 weeks to tell if a particular medicine is going to work. And if and when you're going to stop a medication, don't do it cold turkey, but rather phase down in steps.

I think we're probably prone to misdiagnosis, being female. My first diagnosis was depression with "anger management issues" (which is what the CPN took my meltdowns to be). I don't dispute that I was depressed, but in all likelihood it was because I was living with undiagnosed ASD!

Like Voxish mentioned, trying to get a proper diagnosis as an adult through the NHS was just painful. I went private.

Thanks for all of your responses. Very insightful. I take Lithium and Lamotrigine. My head is a muddle at the best if times.

I have been described as anxious and a worrier. I think I have had an uptick in anxiety because there is a lot more at stake now. I believe I am anxious in an anticipatory way. When I have completed my day successfully, I relax.

1968 - Hyperactive
1977 - Anxiety and Depression (ongoing)
1983 - Borderline Personality Disorder
1999 - ASD

From 1965 onwards variously "over-sensitive", "anxious", "behavioural problems", "drug problems", "dangerous", "lazy" (a lot!), "stupid", "immature", "out of touch" etc etc...