I think i might be autistic
Hi! Im Camila im 22yo and im new to this. I don't really know how to express myself and also English is not my first lenguage but I'll try to make it short :)
So i've been diagnosed with depression and GAD (generalized anxiety disorder) and also social anxiety since i was fifteen. But I started seeing things about autism, and i was pretty ignorant about it, so i thought "i can't possibly be autistic", bc i only knew about the stereotypes you see on tv shows and media in general, but once i started to do an intense research for months and being totally obsessed about it, i felt like all this time i was misdiagnosed and i didn't just have an anxiety disorder or depression, i was autistic, forcing myself to be something I'm not and constantly ignoring my needs, punishing myself for not being like other people, calling myself lazy, dramatic, dumb and sensitive, so yeah, I don't even know who i am anymore, I don't know what i need or want, i just feel lost, and i don't want to self-diagnose but that's why im sharing this in here, i need to talk, so i can clear my doubts.
I tried talking about it with my therapist but i was shut the second i opened my mouth, she told me i can't possibly be autistic, and when I asked her why, she didn't gave me an answer she didn't even let me explain myself she just shuted me down and didn't even let me say a word, she made me feel dumb for thinking that. after that session i just felt confused and humiliated.
I don't know what else to do or where else to go for help so any advice is welcomed.
@Camisini That's really confusing to not know what diagnosis are the accurate ones. I don't know why your therapist would shut down and questions, it sounds like a pretty normal thing to ask if you're wondering about it.
I would like to share the Support Plus community with you too. You are very welcome to post here, but there's an autism topic there so it may be useful too.
Yeah, is pretty confusing, honestly I don't know if im autistic or my behavior is a response to a lot of trauma or another mental illnesses, but knowing what I have would help me to understand myself a little more and take better care of myself, the thing is i don't know where to ask for help. And yeah it is weird what my therapist did and after she did that i stopped going to our sessions bc that was pretty invalidating and unprofessional.
And thank you so much for the help and advice :)
@Camisini I am really sorry about your experiences :( I can related to having difficulty getting the right diagnosis and treatment ❤️
If you need support, just letting you and others know we have Autism support in the Support Plus Community and will have a Support Chat on 12/21 8pm EST if you or anyone else would like to join!
Hello! It's really upsetting to not having a thorough assessment and being shut up just because of the stereotypes or stuff like that. There are many autism screening tools that can be used to assess whether you are autistic or not. Feel free to text me in case you want to know more about it.:)