How did you accept or not accept your Mental health diagnosis?

[SimplyWandering]

Whether you were officially diagnosed with Autism or another mental health diagnosis, how have you accepted or not accepted the diagnosis?

 

[SDRSpark]

I was officially diagnosed with several mental health conditions at different times. I am self-identified autistic.

The mental health diagnoses, some of them just seem completely wrong (and I was told in no uncertain terms by later professionals that those diagnoses were in fact wrong) - so those were easily discounted.

I have two diagnoses - OCD and GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) which are a little different. Both seemed to fit at one point in time. The GAD diagnosis, I am certain was correct at the point in time when I was diagnosed. However I don't feel I would be given that diagnosis today. The OCD diagnosis...I feel that one was a stretch. The things that got me the OCD diagnosis, it turns out, are also autistic traits, and I don't fit any of the other criteria for OCD. So at first I accepted it, for want of a better explanation, but as I learned more about autism (and went from "I've always wondered if I'm autistic" to "I'm definitely autistic, how did professionals/school administrators etc never see this???!") I started to reject the OCD diagnosis. It's still in my medical records, and I am not trying to have it removed, but for me, personally, I feel I don't have OCD.

 

[ZebraAutismo]

I accept my mental health diagnosis because I know they are accurate.

 

[onlything]

I was diagnosed with Chronic Major Depressive Disorder, Generalised Anxiety Disorder and was shortly treated for anxiety. Then it turned out that I have Post-traumatic Stress Disorder with bouts of Dissociation, mostly Derealisation. Depression and anxiety I accepted easily, PTSD was more difficult - I was sure that I was fine and insisted that I'm not broken. It took time before I stopped seeing myself as a broken victim and started to consider myself a survivor. After some years of therapy my counsellor said that I am likely autistic. Initial shock turned to understanding and at the end I self-identify as an autistic person, though I never seeked an official diagnosis. I actually wondered if I may be autistic before the counsellor mentioned it, but considered it at the end of the day as a delusion since it wasn't that bad and not all classic symptoms fit (I compared myself to male symptoms at the time).

 

[clg114]

I accept my diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome. I was not diagnosed until I was 62, so I spent most of my life not knowing why I was so much different than everybody else. The diagnosis answered all the questions that I had about myself. It fit perfectly and I see it as a very good thing.

 

[Shamar]

Whether you were officially diagnosed with Autism or another mental health diagnosis, how have you accepted or not accepted the diagnosis?

When I was 27, I was diagnosed with depression due to social anxiety. The depression was obvious (I had just nearly tried to blow my brains out), but I was skeptical of social anxiety. It seemed more like a symptom rather than an explanation. When I was about 40, I was diagnosed with AD(no H)D and SAD (seasonal affective disorder). I thought this was the answer because it explained so much about my life and behaviors. Because it explained so much, I readily accepted it. However, I did not really accept the SAD diagnosis because the timing was wrong. My SAD was occurring two months before the standard explanation said it should.
It was not until age 60 that I was diagnosed with autism (Aspergers and PDD-NOS). As a side track learning about autism I encountered the term anthrophobia (fear of people). Now everything made sense. My social problems from autism and anthrophobia, my need to explore from ADD fighting with my need for routine, my SAD occurring not from lack of light in winter, but because of pressure to socialize starting near Halloween.
My acceptance of my diagnosis is not because I fit the criteria, but because all of my diagnosis explain so much of me and my life. I think that is the real point: a diagnosis should not be simply checking off a list of criteria, but should offer an explanation. If a diagnosis does not offer an explanation, it is probably wrong.

 

[Rasputin]

I was diagnosed at 61 with General Anxiety Disorder, ASD, and Depression. I accepted it because I had many of the same symptoms as other members of this forum. Additionally, my symptoms of anxiety and depression have improved with better understanding of myself.

 

[Rabscuttle]

The Asperger's diagnosis I sought out well into my adult life, and it was really just getting confirmation of what I already borderline knew; I had no problem there. Earlier events in my life, however, have left me more than a little mistrustful of this branch of medicine.

At age... okay, I don't actually remember the first time, but I was probably around seven or so, I was first given the diagnosis of "learning disabled", since my grades were suffering, as I refused to do homework. This made absolutely no sense to me: I read the book, and thereafter, I knew what was in the book. My classmates read the book, and then needed constant reinforcement of its contents. Homework, as such, was a total waste of time, both for me, and for whoever had to grade it, so I stopped doing it. And yet somehow, I was the one who was disabled. None of the professionals my parents and schools had me talk to (and there were quite a few, over the years) could ever give me a real explanation; I eventually came to realize that "learning disability", in that time and place, just meant "we don't know what to do with you". Needless to say, I was much less accepting of that nonsense.

 

[Mush]

Having a professional diagnosis for ASD (Aspergers, but they no longer call it that. Apparently) was a good thing. It was only earlier this year so I’m still trying to make sense of it. However the more I learn and read and communicate with others with ASD I am finding a level place mentally.

Being able to understand why you do certain things (often against your will) helps to reduce anxiety and frustration. And knowing that this is me, that I’m not at fault for why my brain works the way it does, has been liberating.

At 44 years of age I feel like I have ‘found myself’. That is worth more than money and gold.

The frustration still exists, but the anxiety has gone to almost zero because I can now reason through my daily routine and plan to avoid certain situations that cause the anxiety.

For example, I hate going to shopping centres, so I pick the least busy time to go, which is usually as soon as they open at 9am. Get in, buy what you need, get out.

Same goes for any place with lots of people around. Just avoid them unless it’s absolutely necessary, which usually it isn’t.

 

[Giraffes]

I used to dislike my Autism and wished daily for a 'cure' yeah right not available, now partly due to this forum i'm growing in acceptance and learning to accept ME and the aspects of myself that is affected by my condition, it's been a life( till very recently) filled with anxiety, depression, self loathing and loneliness but now that's shifting, and i feel positive about now and the future.

 

[menander]

WHen I see how many doctors struggle with mental health disorders and addiction, it is something not to be ashamed of . I don't have many because the autism kind of trumps it all. BUt I see so many others with so many troubles. We are all human.............

 

[ExplosiveTMT]

My asperger's diagnosis happened at a very young age. And my mum did a good job of helping me accept that things were a bit more different for me than other kids my age. Although she always made sure to steer me on the course towards (whenever i was upset in later years) to not feel so much like my autism meant things were impossible or that i wouldn't be able to achieve what others could...it's just that i would go on a different path towards achieving things. I say later years because for most of my childhood i lived with my dad who completely contradicted everything i should've been taught from the beginning. He had a very negative outlook on me and schools i went to would always consult him as to why i would get upset and he was very much like well if you keep giving him detentions when he throws a tantrum and i can give talks to him when he and i got home to also try to help him (translation: yelling at me to try to get me to 'snap out of it'). These were very difficult years...and my sister wound up calling my mum behind dad's back when my dad went waaay over the top with his rage at me and mum decided to quit her job so she could be able to take care of my sister and I...and my mum spent a good portion of my teenage years doing her best to get me to unlearn everything my dad drilled into me. It took a very long time and as a young adult in 2016 I wound up seriously affected by depression and anxiety. It took many years of cbt (for depression and anxiety) and I saw many different mental health professionals wearing many different hats. Things started turning around in 2019 as I had learnt many different strategies to not just help calm down but maintain calm. As it turned out...when I dealt with depression and anxiety...it turns out i'm a lot more sociable than i used to think i was capable of. But yeah...accepting diagnoses wasn't so much a problem as it was getting out of my abusive household with my dad.

 

[ExplosiveTMT]

WHen I see how many doctors struggle with mental health disorders and addiction, it is something not to be ashamed of . I don't have many because the autism kind of trumps it all. BUt I see so many others with so many troubles. We are all human.............

This was same for me and realizing how many friends in high school as well as classmates there had depression and anxiety...it was a lot. I came to this realization after i left...cos that was when i was getting seen by mental health professionals and learning how depression and anxiety affects me. So it was thinking in hindsight as well as through talking to my friends on fb... but it helped me feel better about myself. We all have hardships it's just that for autism the trail towards helping ourselves as well as getting help may take a different route...but it leads to the same outcome towards good mental welbeing. It might even seem slower but it's not impossible

 

[Aspychata]

Think it's made me a more understanding, more compassionate person. I also actively manage my anxiety, stress, emotions daily since this seems to be the giant pass into the stability zone. Before l just sorta rolled with things, not knowing why l would take breaks from *life*. I have always allowed myself to cry, so that is still a coping tactic. But l have always isolated, especially high school, l spent a lot of time at home which didn't make my parents happy.

 

[SusanLR]

I was not surprised when diagnosed with what was then called Asperger's.
It didn't happen until I was in my mid fifties, but, the social worker who noticed the traits
and said I should see a psychologist in this specialty really opened my eyes to understanding
the reasons I had always been different and didn't fit with society.

Then I joined this forum where I learned even more about others and how much it was like reading
about myself in many cases. I had never heard the term Asperger's, but, to find it explained
myself to me was liberating really.

I had also been diagnosed at age 13 with anxiety disorder with panic attacks.
Well, I pretty well knew that!

 

[Bolletje]

It mostly took time.

 

[Sarah S]

What else can i do ? Im used to being added new diagnosis for pretty much every evaluation i have done since i was 4 and up to my laitest (when they also find my ASD 3) I should also add i havent payed mush attention to my journals up to roughly when i find out i had been diagnosed with ASD when i finaly began reading thru my documents (and shorly after joined here )

+ in my papers they have tossed the towel in with trying to evaluate me further on the grounds that they have accepted and concluded that i have multible yet un diagnosed diagnosis yet to find. BUT the posibilitys of finding them all is more or less non existing so the effort is not worth it (and i agree 101 % )

Trying to fight against all my diagnosis is a NON winning battle (belive ive tried for MANY MANY MANY years ) the best one can do is to try to accept ,Adapt and move on and make the best of what you got to work with and above all LEARN as much as you can about youre diagnosis so that you can better understand youre self what this means for YOU

 

[menander]

What else can i do ? Im used to being added new diagnosis for pretty much every evaluation i have done since i was 4 and up to my laitest (when they also find my ASD 3) I should also add i havent payed mush attention to my journals up to roughly when i find out i had been diagnosed with ASD when i finaly began reading thru my documents (and shorly after joined here )

+ in my papers they have tossed the towel in with trying to evaluate me further on the grounds that they have accepted and concluded that i have multible yet un diagnosed diagnosis yet to find. BUT the posibilitys of finding them all is more or less non existing so the effort is not worth it (and i agree 101 % )

Trying to fight against all my diagnosis is a NON winning battle (belive ive tried for MANY MANY MANY years ) the best one can do is to try to accept ,Adapt and move on and make the best of what you got to work with and above all LEARN as much as you can about youre diagnosis so that you can better understand youre self what this means for YOU

Have yu ever been enrolled in Rare Diseases Studies? They may help you find answers.

 

[Sarah S]

Have yu ever been enrolled in Rare Diseases Studies? They may help you find answers.

Not aware that we have that over here . and either way im fine with were im att i have no need to add even more diagnosis on my ever growing list. But thanks anyway

And further more i dont have any rare diseases or diagnosis. All my diagnosis comes from SEVERE birth comlications which caused minimal brain damage who then caused all my diagnosis

 

[Magna]

One of the best things I ever did was seek out and receive my diagnoses of ASD Level 1 without cognitive impairment. I receive that diagnosis at 48. It was like the last piece of a missing puzzle that I was able to fit into place. The rest of the "puzzle" finally made sense after a lifetime of wondering why I wasn't like other people and why I had such difficulties with certain things that others didn't even have to think about in order to do them. It allowed me to start living my life in ways that I never had before. It's been liberating and I've also accepted myself in a positive way that I never did before.