Official diagnosis

[CalDomine]

Okay, so, in a few days, I start the process of official diagnosis with my screening test.
I'm nervous beyond belief and it's causing me a lot of anxiety.
Since I started researching ASD, it has answered so many mysteries of my life, and has brought me a lot of comfort because I finally have a reason for the unexplained miseries and complications I have faced.
In my own head, I know that this is the answer, the diagnosis is for my own peace of mind and certainty.
But I'm scared.
I'm scared that I won't receive the answer I think I'll receive, and I'll be back to square one of confusion.
What experiences have you had with this and do you have any honest words of comfort?
Or any words at all?

 

[Jendellian]

It can be nervewracking when you go through the process of getting an official diagnosis. Just try to relax and remember that everyone involved is there to help you out, not hurt you. You'll do fine.

 

[clg114]

I was not diagnosed until I was in my sixties, so for me it just answered a lot of questions about why I am the way that I am. It did not change my life much. Even if you do not get the diagnosis that you expect, you will still be you. Look at it as a adventure and take it easy.

 

[On the Inside]

I felt a great deal of anxiety as well, I even considered bailing on the whole thing. But the fear of not knowing outweighed the fear of going through with it. I was still afraid that it wouldn't be autism, but some other, more fear inducing form of madness. In some ways the anxiety helped, in that it caused me to drop my usual veil of coolness which normally hides my Aspie symptoms.

It exposed parts of me that a couple of years of therapy didn't uncover. It helped me be honest, because I was not engaging with another human, in a conversational way, I was being assessed by a couple of clinicians who were administering an evaluation.

Good luck, I hope you find the answers and get the help you are hoping for.

 

[Progster]

Yes, I felt like this before I went to my assessment, and I know that many other people do to. It's normal to feel anxiety. In my experience of being on ASD forums for a couple of years, usually those who spend a lot of time obsessively researching ASD, take the trouble to join forums, and have that level of anxiety, do indeed have ASD

 

[NothingToSeeHere]

I felt the same when I had my diagnostic assessments last year. I was incredibly anxious, and scared that the results would invalidate my new found understanding of myself. I don't really have any advise, I assume you know best what helps you with dealing with anxiety, but if your assessors have experience diagnosing adults on the spectrum they will probably be expecting a certain amount of anxiety, and will be sympathetic and understanding of what you are experiencing. So, don't be anxious about being anxious.

Also, keep in mind that you are the one who has been living with your issues, you are the one who knows yourself best! The fact that you have enough problems to have made the effort to research them, and that you relate to enough autistic spectrum symptoms to make the effort to get an official diagnosis, strongly suggests that it's likely that you have ASD (duh ) I'm not really making my point well here... in fact I've lost track of what I was trying to say ... anyway, good luck!

 

[watersprite]

I became terribly anxious for my testing day. The person who did the testing made it much worse. I came down with the flu due to the stress crashing my immune system. I know, I shouldn't have got so scared, but the more I thought I shouldn't, the worse it got, and then the woman had on painful smelling perfume (!) and really weird clothes and wouldn't stop talking to me during my tests, and, well, I was a wreck after.

But I recovered in a few days. Now, I am very happy about being tested and finally finding out why I am the way I am.

Best to you. The good thing is, you can come back here later and find support.