Jealousy over diagnosis - thinking of staying off social media

[Silverwhining]

I shared a personal experience about a serious health issue and misdiagnoses on a Facebook group from where I used to live. Many people had wondered why I disappeared for 10 years, and the condition was part of the reason I moved away quietly. Most responses were kind, but one long comment accused me of lying and seeking attention. Some people didn’t even think it was actually me, though others verified it by asking questions only I could answer. The comment was entirely driven by jealousy and ultimately led to my post being removed and me being banned from posting.

To be fair, years ago some people pretended to be me online as a joke, but this was very different. Some people who know me say the Internet is savage and they would not say things like that face to face. This has really affected me and I feel it might be better for my mental health to avoid social media completely.

l am not sure what you mean about not needing a diagnosis for PIP or entry to special schools. Unless things have changed massively in the past few years,it makes a real difference as you are far less likely to get the help you need without. As to diagnosis itself, our son was diagnosed by the NHS as a small child. Our daughter, for whom autism (originally diagnosed, correctly, as Asperger’s Syndrome, even though we are not supposed to use the term now) was becoming more and more obvious as she moved through her teens, was diagnosed by a very well respected psychologist; one who was recommended to us by IPSEA. The school, and, later, university accepted the diagnosis without question and appropriate accommodations were given.

Yes, agree 100%. The diagnosis has been very useful for us - it’s the basis for applying for accommodations in GCSE Exams , individual inclusion plans at university, the diagnostic report was used for our PIP application and helped the assessor understand the level of DD’s disability as well as shape the format and content of her interview, it was also used by the DSA team when applying for support.

Worth every penny in terms of reducing the stress of the processes involved in each of those applications - not a single person or body has had issues with the fact the report was obtained ‘privately’, not least because the private clinic we used also provides the same services for the NHS.

The way she's told the story, she shared news of a medical diagnosis and the responses were "mostly kind" except for one person who was "jealous". She then says that "ultimately this led to my comment being deleted and me banned from posting".

I know people can be crazy on the internet, but I can't see why either of those things would happen, unless that "ultimately" is glossing over some bad behaviour on the part of OP.

Which - reading between the lines of her post - seems to be a bit of a pattern with her.