Considering asking for a diagnosis

[UmbrellaEllaEllaElla]

This year I got a diagnosis of ADHD which I'm still making sense of. But im starting to think I may have AudADHD. I've also previously suspected a mood disorder (I have PMDD and apparently a lot of women with PMDD suffer with ADHD too.)

I'm getting a sense of imposter syndrome like I cant be autistic. But im 35 and struggling so much. The reason I'm sometimes not sure if its autism is because I'm hyper emotional and autism supposedly makes you more emotionally blunt.

I can literally spend hours crying in bed and I just can't function this way anymore. But im scared to be thought of as a fraud. What support is there? Being in this brain is so hard.

There is a high co-occurrence of the 2 conditions (adhd and asd) so it is worth being assessed for autism. Some autistic people are highly emotional; if you are crying a lot you could be experiencing autistic meltdowns &/or depression so I would make further investigations. It's pretty unlikely to wonder if you're autistic and not be, imo. The best thing to do in the interim is to make accommodations for yourself as if you are AuDHD. Wishing you all the best. It is very hard living with these conditions so do try and be kind to yourself. Have you considered some therapy with a ND affirming therapist? Other than that, support is scarce, perhaps read some books, follow some AuDHD people on social media? x

I feel like I do a lot of those things already. Just finished a course of therapy for example. It's kind of disheartening to know there isn't much help. But I am just really struggling so think I will contact to discuss a diagnosis.

You wouldn't be asking for a diagnosis, you would be asking for an assessment which will determine whether you are autistic or not. I found that key to beating my imposter syndrome on the lead up to my assessment. I think the understanding that someone else is deciding, the assessment, needs to be clear on our minds.

Yes, meant to say assessment not diagnosis. Thank you.

That’s the problem for me with going forward with being assessed, I don’t trust other people to get it right 🙂🙃🙂🙃 And if they say I’m
not, then I’ll just think, ‘What do you know😡!!’ 😂 But yes imposter syndrome does weigh on the mind.

@UmbrellaEllaEllaElla while disheartening that there isn't much support out there, I honestly have been in a much better place since my diagnosis. Being able to make accommodations for yourself and be kinder to yourself is so liberating, once you know that you are wired differently.

Those of us that are late-diagnosed have been gaslit our whole lives in to believing that if we just try hard enough we could be 'normal'. The reason to get assessed for autism isn't about getting treatment to make you 'less autistic' but about understanding yourself better, and working out whether there are things that you could do differently to make your life easier / less difficult.

It can be an emotional process, but I'll never regret it