Doctors always make a point to ask me about depression and anxiety, and latch onto it (I think because it’s something they can Actually treat, unlike most of my problems.) And I totally get that, and It’s good that mental health is on their radar.

However! Every time they ask, in that Concerned Authority Figure voice, if I experience depression or anxiety, I’m just like…..uh, yeah! But just like, the usual amount, you know? Considering *gestures vaguely at my entire body*

Like, can you imagine if I was in pain all the time and exhausted and etc. —and I WASN’T a little fucked up about it? If I seemed just Completely Fine? Now THAT would be cause for concern, psychologically speaking. Big red flag.

I think it’s a completely reasonable and expected response to be a little depressed and anxious, given both the physical misery I experience on a daily basis and the sharp left turn my life took because of my health.

That’s not to say that my mental health isn’t a concern—far from it. But I see a specialist for that, and I refuse to let my Other specialists try and treat my secondary conditions as though they were primary, instead of focusing on the issues I actually came to them to treat. Been there, done that, at the beginning of my diagnoses journey, and it set me back years barking up the wrong tree.

I think you're very much over estimating how much professionals know about autism. Especially the average professional tasked with making diagnoses. They don't know shit dude

I definitely have the impression that your average run-of-the-mill psychiatrist or neurologist without a very specialized background in autism doesn't actually know that much about it or the intricacies of how to detect it, let alone (say) a therapist. I'm not sure if they're the ones who are even able to give diagnoses in the first place, given that the usual claim (which I've always understood to be correct) given by advocates of autism self-diagnosis is that getting diagnosed for autism requires spending thousands of dollars and many hours of time to be put through very involved tests as specialized autism centers that may be geographically unfeasible. (The only reason I'm entertaining the idea that autism could be diagnosed by non-specialists with far less trouble is that I do hear of various conditions being diagnosed that way despite the existence of rigorous tests in specialized clinics: I took a 15-minute ADHD test at a regular psychiatric clinic for instance*, and the ex I mentioned recently elsewhere got a Borderline Personality Disorder diagnosis from her therapist by request via what sounds to me like 10 minutes of the therapist asking her questions about herself during their therapy session.)

If we're talking about going to a clinic / testing center specializing in autism and going through a rigorous test evaluating whether the patient conforms to what the American Psychological Association has laid out as an intricate set of criteria for autism, then I have one question, which is probably going to sound naive, and which relates to the "diagnosis criteria is a poor checklist of stereotypes" part of the meme we were arguing over. Which is, isn't this then just tautologically the correct way to diagnose autism? Or in other words, isn't autism just defined according to a scientific model for which psychologists and neurologists have created their most official tests following their most precisely-set-out criteria? Of course, what is deemed "autism" could be modified by said scientists, which after all is the nature of science. Of course, people can argue over whether the current criteria cut autism poorly out of thingspace in ways that are biased due to differences in how autism presents across genders and ethnic/cultural backgrounds. Probably it is. But I would think that deciding that the formal diagnostic criteria for autism doesn't align with what autism Actually Is requires some delicate semantic heavy lifting, no?

And then, arguing that the larger swaths of non-professionals who are trying to determine if they have autism are still not on average even worse placed than the professionals with their perhaps flawed diagnostic criteria, in a world where the most common cultural conception of autism is still probably pretty close to "socially awkward, doesn't feel like they fit in, intense nerdy interests, personality of Sheldon Cooper", is another thing.

(I notice, by the way, that self-diagnosis advocates don't seem to mention whether the faultiness in professional diagnoses include a substantial number of people without autism being diagnosed as having autism, but it seems that should be a thing too if the professionals really "don't know shit"?)

I'm genuinely open to the idea that the dynamics around diagnoses and diagnostic criteria and how they're formed, etc., even on a philosophical level, is something I haven't understood or thought out well enough, though.

*and came out of the experience rather skeptical that the 15-minute test way of determining ADHD isn't BS

shoutout to the people with memory issues who’re trying to get diagnosed for other things but can’t remember if they’ve experienced listed symptoms, i get u

!!Important question!!

I never really believed I had autism or ADHD before I've been getting autism and ADHD spectrum stuff on my tumblr and youtube wtf- (These are what appear and their like this man…)

Autism ・finding it hard to understand what others are thinking or feeling. ・finding it hard to make friends or preferring to be on your own. ・seeming blunt, rude or not interested in others without meaning to. ・finding it hard to say how you feel

ADHD

・being unable to sit still, especially in calm or quiet surroundings. ・constantly fidgeting. ・being unable to concentrate on tasks. (Sometimes(ish) ・excessive physical movement. ・excessive talking. ・acting without thinking. ・interrupting conversations (sometimes)

Do I have any of these? I was already tested for autisim as a baby and it was negative but now am not so sure

My favorite code from the ICD-10 is 7+W61.32 - Struck by chicken, what's yours

meet the artist <3

‘bout time I did one of these haha

Iv'e had an idea lately...what if Diagnoses are just cutie marks?

GUYS!!! I FINALLY GOT AN ADHD AND PROVISIONAL AUTISM DIAGNOSIS AND IM FINALLY GETTING MEDS I AM SOBBING RIGHT NOW

I found several studies about HS, that your diet can improve your condition.

This article is a good summary of the basics.

It’s hard because where I live (in Hungary), many people are ignorant about diets like that. Oh, take a bite. It’s not like you have allergies...

I heard that so many times.

Yeah, it’s not like that. You could eat all those yummy things, dairy (I loved cheese, sour cream (as all Hungarians). And many dishes here contain those. And butter! I miss butter so freaking much!

Sugar was the easiest. For me, it’s not mandatory.

But yeast... That eliminates almost all the pastries and bread from my table. Because of other conditions, gluten is a no go for me. So yeah...

And I find it frustrating that people do not understand that it’s not just a whim for me, not only just a phase... it’s a lifestyle. It needed to keep up, and even with that, there is no guarantee that the HS will remain dormant. There are still so little data about this.

The most important thing is if you see something is not right, you need to find good doctors! HS won’t disappear magically. If something remains for more than two weeks on your skin, no matter how embarrassing, you need to show that to a doctor. They are used to it. It’s not as big a deal to them as you feel.

And again, beware of the shrugs and the phrase “it’s usually just a...”

LOVE paying a bunch of money I don’t have to have a doctor tell me my labs came back normal. Never gets old.

Do u ever get that feeling that u r not ur own person? Like ur being controlled, like some doll in a video game being played by some unknowing child somewhere in the world.

Phenomenally noumenal

having no clear career goals in my mid 20s? displaying clear signs of my mental illness after deciding that i was cured/“just being dramatic for the past 15 years”? ….. ok but i am also now fully discovering the place that genuine love in all forms can hold in my life and also i’m saving money for a big leg tattoo so let’s not catastrophize here

Not to self diagnose or anything but

I think

I just might have bones

a woman, a child & her body.

your preferences aren't your authority. my voice is not a weapon my emotions are meant to be felt not controlled not owed to your dissatisfaction they've not met your skin with force they've not left my body to hurt I've melted in your hands listening to the temperatures in your room you cannot choose over me I am a lawful body - a faithful entity in a humanity of sinful choices taking me under its currents; you chose to watch me in circularly motion around the core - scalping my mind out for your platter of meat & gratitude I can speak through your mouth but it would swallow me into your your anatomy like gravel sugared with your starving pride my promiscuities knock loudly on my head and leave me covered in a curtain of femininity bruising the soft - fruity pear that once sat staring back at you with innocence your jealousy raged through my skin with your teeth and I become a welting garden of sweetness crunching in your footsteps. - ella chae

I/We had a conversation with our friend (also a system) about the subject of systems and diagnoses (diagnoses in general).

This conversation felt important enough to share

- Ann [19-09-2022]