What are the advantages of fighting for an aspergers diagnosis?

[TotallyAddictedToLurking]

I have been diagnosed with BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) for a year now.

I have read that aspergers can be misdiagnosed for BPD.

If I was misdiagnosed what would be the Advantage of getting the right diagnosis?

I am on quetiapine at the moment. The only thing is does for me is give me terrible fatigue!

[SilverStars]

Often bpd is not treated with medication as there is no one medication or group of drugs said to treat bpd. Many people diagnosed with bpd will not pass the official diagnostic criteria after time passes with or without treatment apparently.

If you think you have Aspergers and not bpd then you may not need the quetiapiane. If people have low mood and bpd they can be treated for low mood.

Aspergers is diagnosed through mental health staff trained in the diagnosis. If you look up the national autistic society they have good advice on how to get diagnosed as an adult.

[silversoleil]

It's true that women are often misdiagnosed with BPD when they actually have ASD. My psychiatrist (for depression/ED) said he thought I might be bpd and sent me for an assessment, but the assessing psych said he felt I fit more with ASD. So then I got a full assessment from an autism specialist and was diagnosed with ASD. I think my psych doesn't really accept the ASD diagnosis and does think I have borderline traits still.

I am not particularly open about my diagnosis to many people, but I do think there is less respect/patience for a patient if they have BPD on their records (as I did for a while, even though I wasn't formally diagnosed) rather than ASD. I am not sure about advantages in other contexts and I don't know anything about medications for BPD. I've sought advice in the ASD community and read a lot about ASD since my diagnosis and that has helped a lot, but I think you could also do that without a diagnosis.

Most people try to get referrals through their GP for a diagnosis, but as I was already in the MH system I didn't have to go through that, and it was much quicker. If you ask the MH team that treats you they may be able to get a faster referral...although be prepared for them to be offended for questioning your diagnosis. Have you looked at online questionnaires for AS? There are a few different ones.