Is self-diagnosis reliable?

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I found out about Asperger's not too long ago, just right after the beginning of the new year, and I think that it describes me perfectly, but for various reasons I can't go see a doctor to get a formal diagnosis. I've had to rely on online material to help me self-diagnose, specifically online tests. I've found two of them, both of which tell me that I'm an aspie (one even gave me a results sheet in .pdf form), but how reliable are these tests? I wanted to show them to my aunt, who took up Psychology in college, but she didn't even look at them, saying, "They're only questionnaires, not real Psychologists looking at you".

At this point, the only reason I stick with this assumption is because it explains (perfectly, I might add), a lot of, if not all of, my quirks and strange habits. Nobody in my family knows about Asperger's and it's been really tough for me at times. I'm not sure if I'm making a big fuss over nothing, and I'd hate to tell them that it's true only to be wrong. Can anyone offer some advice?

I can tell you that even professionals mess up on diagnosis. It's harder to diagnose an older individual than it is to diagnose a child (the traits are more obvious when young). There are other conditions that look like asperger's, which makes for some sorting through.

I'd say it's pretty safe to say that if you think you have asperger's then you probably have a problem of some sort. Whether the problem is due to something recent or a life long problem is up to you to decide.

Really though, an official diagnosis is only for support that requires it. Try not to fret too much about what it is you have and just remember that you have something to work on instead!

I like to say, "Nobody knows what's wrong more than the patient."

A poor doctor does not listen to the patient. Not that patients are always right, but they know what they are feeling.

The problem with being formally diagnosed is that even if you live under circumstances where the means to have access to a doctor is available, there is no assurance that he/she will be competent in the matter of properly diagnosing AS or that the doctor won't be ignorant or biased against AS as a diagnosis.

There is a difference between feeling sad most of the time and being "depressed" in the sense of it being a serious problem. Some people are just sad most of the time and that is how they are, but in the wrong doctor's eyes, you get a label and a ton of meds that you neither want nor need because an "expert" deemed it necessary.

If you read about AS and realize, "My God, that's my whole life!" I'd say a self-diagnosis is pretty on the ball. You might have particular issues other than just AS going on, but you don't just identify with AS in part, you realize that you fit it almost perfectly. You see yourself mirrored in the list of symptoms.

Now, with family, I can't help you. Some people won't accept anything less than a letter from an MD (or similar credential) before they will take it seriously.

Consider what you would do with a diagnosis? You would read about non-verbal communication and social skills and see what you can use. You would consider whether you have any special interests with negative consequences. Eye contact, small talk. Considering other peoples hidden agendas. etc

Mostly things you could do without a diagnosis. So there's a lot you could do now that is accessable and non-desructive even if you dont have AS. A diagnosis wont lead to a magic solution anyway.

In my situation I have not told my family because they would not be supportive. And it takes time for me to understand things.

a self diagnosis of what? the term "asperger syndrome" has lost all scientific value (if it ever had any), everybody has his own definition of it, which means that it pretty much became something you choose to be. don't ask your self if you are it, ask your self if you wanna be it.

If you're not feeling terrible today, glance over at least the first two pages linked to below:

http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Asperger's_syndrome
http://www.cracked.com/article_16779_p2.html
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Assburger's_syndrome
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Asperger_Syndrome

There are hundreds more examples of people blowing off AS, many coming from 4chan. One of the main reasons for this is that the strict diagnostic criteria in the DSM IV isn't given nearly as much attention as it should have. As a result, "Asperger's" (the name) is going down the same road that ADD took and the internet is calling bs on everyone, including people who actually have it, which really hurts our cause.

So even if you're pretty sure that you're a good judge of it all, a self-diagnosis will not suffice. That being said, you need to consider whether or not you could benefit from being diagnosed. I, for example, have been told by my father (a doctor) and other professionals that I definitely have AS (without being diagnosed), but I worked hard to push away all accommodations in high school so that I could function as a typical student in college. That's just me, though -- we all need to find what works best. Just don't think that every Aspie requires something official in order to succeed.

I think so. You know yourself and how you act and if it matches, then your self diagnosis is probably correct.

If you don't feel too severely affected by the traits, self-diagnosis will probably do for now. BUT...

...part of the diagnosis process involves interviewing family/friends to find out symptoms you may not be aware of or are in denial about. There is also a differential aspect to diagnosis... what else might cause these symptoms? There are forms of mental illness (schizophrenia, Borderline Personality Disorder, OCD) that may mimic some aspects of AS/HFA, but might be treated differently.

Evaluation may also help pinpoint some disabilities that can be helped through various therapies, such as sensory scrambling, social dyslexia, and disorganized thinking.

At some point, I think you might find it helpful to be evaluated. I'm fortunate in that my therapist has a brother on the spectrum, so she is well-educated and normal about it. She is also highly regarded for her skills in the community, so when she says I'm not schizoid or bi-polar, I can believe her.

Thanks to self diagnosis, Asperger's is going the way of ADD. I remember back when ADD was a legitimate disorder, now every time someone forgets something even once, they self diagnose themselves with ADD. Every time someone finds out about a disorder where they show at least one of the symptoms, that disorder suddenly becomes an excuse.

Personally, I don't trust self diagnosis, I was diagnosed by a neurologist, and I trust his opinion a lot more than someone who glanced over the wikipedia article.

Self-diagnosis doesn't seem very reliable to me. It's like anyone who is nerdy, socially inept, weird, etc. can diagnose themselves with AS. It's just like labeling every as*hole as a psychopath. Both AS and psychopathy are way more extreme than the garden variety.

I just took that quiz and the result was "You have answered inconsistently on too many control questions". :/

I hope to get an official diagnosis soon, mostly because I think it will be fun to do the psychiatric test or whatever shape it will take. The psychological test I took a couple of weeks ago was fun, but that was because it consisted mainly of an IQ test.