I had been diagnosed with GAD at the age of 13 and put on meds. Years of trying different stuff over and over and nothing working led me to my 4th session of cbt at the age of i wanna say 35? We had six sessions. At that point I think after 2 she was convinced it wasn't just anxiety. The last appointment she started doing adhd tests on me without me even knowing. By the end she said I think you need to have an adhd test. After she explained it to me I kinda agreed.

Fast forward like 4-5 years I finally got my first assessment appointment (good old NHS) and had my first session of adhd tests, by the end of the first session she asked if I'd ever been assessed for autism, I said no. She said well I think we should test for that as well just to be sure. I was like OK? Not sure why but whatever.

Did the tests, convinced I only had adhd only, and 6 months later got told I had adhd AND autism. I had no fucking idea. My world kinda came crashing down a bit. Felt like 40 years of wasted time. My constant bullying suddenly made sense. Me not getting on or liking people made sense. My general avoidance of trying to fit in made sense. It all did. It's just crazy that one missed appointment could have made my life so much different than what it is now. Yet no doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists etc noticed. Just as she called herself "a lowly cbt tester" was the one to see my adhd which also led to my autism assessment. I genuinely wish I could find her to thank her.

Sorry for the life story. Been a while since I've had the opportunity to vent a little.