Hi, my name is flora and I am 20.
I finally got diagnosed at the end of last year after waiting 2 years in the public mental health system. My parents didn't have any idea about asd and I grew up knowing I didn't fit in but having no idea why, I developed alot of anxiety and depression trying to force myself into being neurotypical and self harmed for 5 or 6 years (doing better now thank god).
No one saw how much I was struggling until I needed help with my self harming at age 17, the mental health professionals helped a little but there was always something missing that no one knew how to deal with. I got so bad that I tried to overdose so I had to go to the cat team (crisis mental health team) and the psychiatrist saw that I was aspie but instead of helping he told me that I has aspergers and therefore didn't belong in the mental health system and that was it, no help no diagnosis and not even an explanation of this new scary label.
I went back into the public system under a different team to get a diagnosis because I couldn't afford a private psychologist, they focused in on my self harm and made me try group therapy(did not work at all) while waiting two years before getting to see the psychologist.
Since finally getting my diagnosis i understand myself alot better and understand that I am not broken I was just trying to fit into the wrong mold.
I am already part of some Facebook groups and follow blogs and hash tags on Instagram related to asd and that has helped I'm my journey so much, I just want to learn as much as I possibly can so I can advocate better for myself and teach people about my experience and that aspies and auties are human too. I would also love to have some more friends on the spectrum.
I finally got diagnosed at the end of last year after waiting 2 years in the public mental health system. My parents didn't have any idea about asd and I grew up knowing I didn't fit in but having no idea why, I developed alot of anxiety and depression trying to force myself into being neurotypical and self harmed for 5 or 6 years (doing better now thank god).
No one saw how much I was struggling until I needed help with my self harming at age 17, the mental health professionals helped a little but there was always something missing that no one knew how to deal with. I got so bad that I tried to overdose so I had to go to the cat team (crisis mental health team) and the psychiatrist saw that I was aspie but instead of helping he told me that I has aspergers and therefore didn't belong in the mental health system and that was it, no help no diagnosis and not even an explanation of this new scary label.
I went back into the public system under a different team to get a diagnosis because I couldn't afford a private psychologist, they focused in on my self harm and made me try group therapy(did not work at all) while waiting two years before getting to see the psychologist.
Since finally getting my diagnosis i understand myself alot better and understand that I am not broken I was just trying to fit into the wrong mold.
I am already part of some Facebook groups and follow blogs and hash tags on Instagram related to asd and that has helped I'm my journey so much, I just want to learn as much as I possibly can so I can advocate better for myself and teach people about my experience and that aspies and auties are human too. I would also love to have some more friends on the spectrum.
Welcome aboard!
