What were you diagnosed with during the 80s?

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In Elementary School I was diagnosed with ADHD(much like a ton of little kids back in the early 80's/late 90's. Then when I turned 18, I got diagnosed with Aspergers.

I was diagnosed with autism when I was 5 in 1988. I just gave my age away!

I wasn't the '80s but the early 90s--but even then, Asperger's wasn't well known, even to clinical psychologists. At a younger age it was lactose intolerance; then ADD; then it was social anxiety; and then depression in my teens--all of which describe certain comorbid conditions of AS, but don't get to the root of the problem.

The 60's and 70's are probably more apropos to this discussion although I will discuss the 80’s also.

As mentioned it was sink or swim and there was a lot of sinking. I did see a child psychiatrist/psychologist? in 3rd and 4th grade and moved out of public school to a private school. What I was diagnosed for and why I was moved out of public school has been forgotten. As part of the diagnoses process I asked my mom about it and she does not remember as it was 5 decades ago. What she does remember is that private school was thought to be better because of smaller classes which was the correct idea.
Going back to public school might not have been such a good idea. 5th grade through my sophomore(second) year at college(1967-1977) were varying degrees of misery. In retrospect not seeing shrinks anymore was probably the best thing I ever did because of all the misdiagnoses discussed here everyday. As bad as those years were I did not have misdiagnoses pushing me backwards.

Starting from junior year in college through the 80’s I was mostly swimming I might have been shy or a little off but there was the quirky New Wave counterculture with spastic poging dancing part of which went into the mainstream so I was not really as different from the mainstream as I am today. I had a career, people seem to like me at work. I went out to clubs and bars etc. I was comfortable in my own skin and with my differences. As far as I was concerned I had “grown out” of my childhood and teenage troubles. Looking back now there were still indications I was not as allright as I thought I was. There were no relationships and while there were nights we all went bar hopping all Friday night after work I was mostly doing it alone. Knowing what I know now I am proud I was able to accomplish what I was able to with Aspergers and thankful that I stayed away from the mental health profession during that era.

I have been through more evaluations than I can count since first grade. Even in kindergarten I had issues, but nothing was done. My grandmother told me that my teachers told her and my mother that I was going to have problems in school. My mother denied it, saying my grandmother was lying. I missed the year after kindergarten because we did not live in the city schools jurisdiction, and the school my parents wanted me to attend was less than a mile from our home. As it was at the time, I would have to ride the bus to a school farther away, but my parents did not want that. Therefore, they kept me out for a year. During that time, I learned to read and learned basic math, but I was grossly deficit in social skills. I did not know how to play with kids, even in kindergarten I felt strangely out of place and I probably acted up--I don't remember much now since that was over 50 years ago and my teachers are now dead. What little I remember about first grade, I was also disruptive and didn't know how to act with the other kids. The truth is, no one knew what was wrong with me. All my parents did was deny, deny, deny. They were angry when they had to take me to these appointments, saying if I would just behave myself, it wouldn't be necessary. When I asked why I had to see all these doctors, no one told me anything. My parents said they didn't know--it was the school that wanted me to see them. All they knew how to do was lie and deny. When I asked my mother why they lied to me, she offered no explanation.

I have been diagnosed with Major Depression, Schizoid Personality Disorder, Avoidant Personality Disorder, Simple Schizophrenia, and Residual Schizophrenia. A pediatric neurologist in Atlanta said that I had "some peculiar neurological and emotional disturbance", and that I was "very odd".

Several years ago, when I was transferring my records to my current doctor, my mother read my file. She laughed at and made fun of my psychological reports, calling them a load of bull. What she does not realize is that doctors and teachers are trained to recognize disturbing behavior in children. Any child that does not get along with his/her peers, does not want to participate in extracurricular activities, and who prefers to be alone is not normal and needs to be evaluated. On my last visit, I told my doctor how much this bothered me. He said that he tried to tell my mother that I had serious issues, but that she just didn't understand--I don't think she wanted to. When I was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, she told me she didn't want to hear about it.

In later years, during my college and technical school years, my teachers suspected something was wrong with me when I could not find suitable employment. When they saw how I interacted with my peers, they told me that unless I got some type of treatment or intervention, I would never get a job in my field of study. And they were right--I never got a job in my field of study.
I have been fired from every job I have ever held since 1991. Every time I tried to get help, my mother stood in the way, saying I didn't need treatment. What was she thinking? The three times I tried to commit suicide, including my first one in 1978 while I was in college, I received no treatment or counseling. Why? Were my parents really trying to sabotage my life? Why did they not want anything done? My mother told me that psychologists and psychiatrists were not real doctors--but were quacks.

Years of therapy have failed to help me become employable. I am beginning to have doubts about psychiatry--first of all, because it is not an exact science. There are no medical tests to diagnose mental illness--X-Ray, blood tests, MRI, etc. It seems like using the DSM Manual to group behaviors and then guessing a diagnosis. I may be wrong, but that's the impression I get. I wish that I could just be a regular person and not need psychiatric drugs. These various diagnoses have ruined my life.

I don't know where to turn or what to do. True, the medicines keep me stable, but that's about it. I want to feel good about myself.
I am a complete social outcast. No one ever calls me or comes to see me. I want to get a seasonal job, but I don't know based on my work history.

Anyone out there have any ideas?

Graduated high school in 1983. No diagnosis, the autism diagnosis was only given to the severe non-verbal autistics and asperger's didn't exist. I was just considered weird, strange, outcast, bullied and generally rejected by my peers. I just learned to function and survive by myself, for myself, with myself.

Dyslexia & ADHD

In 1989 at the age of 8, doctors said I was a sociopath and I could become a psychopath if I wasn't cured and I was locked up for 1 year... How that possible? Because I live in France, the most ret*d country in the world when it comes to mental issues, France rejects DSM 1,2,3,4 and 5 and has it's own a unique manual based mostly on Freudian BS.
Anyway, I was eventually officially diagnose with Asperger's in the US in 2003.

Clinical depression in 1988 when I was 13.

in the 80's- depression mainly. I was hyperlexic so autism was in no way in the picture. The dx wasn't really heard of out here in the country/mountains. in the 90's I was dx ADD. In the 2000's I was dx bipolar, bpd, clinically depressed.

Now working on dx for autism/asp. It's taking a long time but I know why none of the other things fit, so there's that. Still debating getting a 'real' dx anyway. I'm old, don't go to school, don't work outside the home. What exactly would be the point? Family won't believe a doctor anyway :p

I first went to a therapist in the late 1970s -- that's close to the 80s. Anyway, all they could come up with for me was low self-esteem. And my family doctor checked me out and just said I was bored.

I had many troubles as a young child but did not receive a diagnosis back then.

My only official diagnoses were congenital strabismus and nystagmus. Doctors also said I most likely had epilepsy.

have been through more evaluations than I can count since first grade. Even in kindergarten I had issues, but nothing was done. My grandmother told me that my teachers told her and my mother that I was going to have problems in school. My mother denied it, saying my grandmother was lying. I missed the year after kindergarten because we did not live in the city schools jurisdiction, and the school my parents wanted me to attend was less than a mile from our home. As it was at the time, I would have to ride the bus to a school farther away, but my parents did not want that. Therefore, they kept me out for a year. During that time, I learned to read and learned basic math, but I was grossly deficit in social skills. I did not know how to play with kids, even in kindergarten I felt strangely out of place and I probably acted up--I don't remember much now since that was over 50 years ago and my teachers are now dead. What little I remember about first grade, I was also disruptive and didn't know how to act with the other kids. The truth is, no one knew what was wrong with me. All my parents did was deny, deny, deny. They were angry when they had to take me to these appointments, saying if I would just behave myself, it wouldn't be necessary. When I asked why I had to see all these doctors, no one told me anything. My parents said they didn't know--it was the school that wanted me to see them. All they knew how to do was lie and deny. When I asked my mother why they lied to me, she offered no explanation.

I have been diagnosed with Major Depression, Schizoid Personality Disorder, Avoidant Personality Disorder, Simple Schizophrenia, and Residual Schizophrenia. A pediatric neurologist in Atlanta said that I had "some peculiar neurological and emotional disturbance", and that I was "very odd".

Several years ago, when I was transferring my records to my current doctor, my mother read my file. She laughed at and made fun of my psychological reports, calling them a load of bull. What she does not realize is that doctors and teachers are trained to recognize disturbing behavior in children. Any child that does not get along with his/her peers, does not want to participate in extracurricular activities, and who prefers to be alone is not normal and needs to be evaluated. On my last visit, I told my doctor how much this bothered me. He said that he tried to tell my mother that I had serious issues, but that she just didn't understand--I don't think she wanted to. When I was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, she told me she didn't want to hear about it.

In later years, during my college and technical school years, my teachers suspected something was wrong with me when I could not find suitable employment. When they saw how I interacted with my peers, they told me that unless I got some type of treatment or intervention, I would never get a job in my field of study. And they were right--I never got a job in my field of study. I have been fired from every job I have ever held since 1991. Every time I tried to get help, my mother stood in the way, saying I didn't need treatment. What was she thinking? The three times I tried to commit suicide, including my first one in 1978 while I was in college, I received no treatment or counseling. Why? Were my parents really trying to sabotage my life? Why did they not want anything done? My mother told me that psychologists and psychiatrists were not real doctors--but were quacks.

Years of therapy have failed to help me become employable. I am beginning to have doubts about psychiatry--first of all, because it is not an exact science. There are no medical tests to diagnose mental illness--X-Ray, blood tests, MRI, etc. It seems like using the DSM Manual to group behaviors and then guessing a diagnosis. I may be wrong, but that's the impression I get. I wish that I could just be a regular person and not need psychiatric drugs. These various diagnoses have ruined my life.

I don't know where to turn or what to do. True, the medicines keep me stable, but that's about it. I want to feel good about myself. I am a complete social outcast. No one ever calls me or comes to see me. I want to get a seasonal job, but I don't know based on my work history.

Anyone out there have any ideas?

I was 12 1/2 when the 80's ended, and I hadn't been diagnosed with anything (unless you count eye and ear infections).

Life, I was born in 1989 thus diagnosed with life in the 80's.

I heard that's idiopathic and incurable. Might as well have fun with it!