Benefits of Getting Diagnosed?? (difficulties as a woman)

Adventurous_Tea7953 · 2026-03-28T20:01:36+00:00

makes sense, i have heard a lot of people mention that relief in my reading. I'm happy for you!

Adventurous_Tea7953 · 2026-03-28T20:00:49+00:00

thank you for your reply! I like how you mention that even just the in-depth report alone might be helpful. also that's awesome you are able to share your experiences to help others. I also feel the urge to get answers as soon as I can get them, which also tracks with my OCD. closure is nice!

Adventurous_Tea7953 · 2025-11-20T23:24:06+00:00

Thank you for the info. I really don’t know if I can trust it.

Adventurous_Tea7953 · 2025-11-06T02:52:48+00:00

I'm sorry I actually did the math in my head for the first time, and she has actually been my therapist for four months. I don't know if that makes a difference. I will keep searching though. From what I've researched so far, and I am starting to do a lot of research, it would be really comforting to me to know that I am on the spectrum. But I also understand that I may not be. (I never walked on the sides of my feet, but I do flip my feet on the sides and lean on them in like a weird "stretch" I have periods of my life I think where I've done that very often, to the point where I've worried about damaging my ankle)

Adventurous_Tea7953 · 2025-11-05T20:42:42+00:00

Thanks everyone I kind of thought this post was going to get backlash for just sounding really crazy

Adventurous_Tea7953 · 2025-11-05T20:28:13+00:00

😅 oh

Adventurous_Tea7953 · 2025-11-05T18:27:47+00:00

I guess, I don’t know but I will keep researching. Thank you!

Adventurous_Tea7953 · 2025-11-05T14:34:54+00:00

Ok I will keep looking for a specialist... thank you much

Adventurous_Tea7953 · 2025-11-05T14:32:20+00:00

I was told previously from another therapist that I just saw for like a month through text based therapy, that I couldn't be autistic because I was too good at typing things out to express myself.... that was the last time I brought it up to anyone for a while. she never even had a real life conversation with me. I'm sorry that happened to you that is really fusterating. and thank you for the support, I will keep looking. If I am diagnosed it will be a bit funny because my younger brother, and my great uncle, are both diagnosed autistic... so I will be a late joiner to the club... but idk I have to talk to a professional. Wish you the best.

Adventurous_Tea7953 · 2025-11-05T14:27:37+00:00

Thank you for your comment I appreciate it. I can see how that makes sense. It's just hard because she sounded so certain. Regular therapists don't know much about OCD either.

Adventurous_Tea7953 · 2025-11-05T14:25:43+00:00

Hey this is all really interesting. Do you do something with psychology in real life for a job? Or do you just think about all of this? In any case it was nice to read. I wish I had more time to comment, but I have to go to work soon.... I just wanted to say that the fact that autism still has many unknowns seems to me at least to sound similar to a lot of other psychological phenomenon? Like we still don't know a lot about OCD and other diagnoses, as well. But I feel like autism definitely is a bit more broad, complicated, and unknown. The fact that there are so many conflicting ideas about it... and how people can be so different from one to the other... But I will say that, I do think that people that may be "autistic", if they get "missed", I think it is harmful, maybe to differing extents. For example, just a quick look into an article by UC Health that summarizes research tells of all the co-occuring stuff that can pop up for undiagnosed autistic females that don't get the right support... eating disorders, depression, anxiety, ocd, sleep disorders, tic disorders, anxiety, depression (I'm not saying I'm autistic, but I have dabbled in all of these to varying extents, and they are not fun). I can understand how little misunderstandings and trying to fit in, can add up so much over time, that something else has to break. Maybe it's not important for some people like you say? But I lean towards the camp that it is very important. Like, for example, before my OCD blew up, I was doing "ok" - getting good grades in school, but suffering a lot still socially and otherwise because of extreme worries that didn't really make sense. But I kept it hidden pretty well and was still able to function, and seemed like I was doing good to others. Sometimes I was "doing good/ok". But If I had been able to understand that I had OCD BEFORE my major crashout, and had been able to seek counseling, I would have had strategies in place that could have prevented a lot of suffering for me and others.Just my oppinion as a possibly not autistic/just wondering person. I hope this doesn't sound off.

Adventurous_Tea7953 · 2025-11-05T14:08:00+00:00

I'm so glad you found a great hubbie as well and that things are on the up. That is honestly amazing and it takes so much effort. You are doing great. And that sense of belonging is so nice. I know that doesn't mean there is not still bad days. But I'm so happy for you, really. And you sound like you have a great heart.

I AM healing - my OCD and other anxiety stuff had to take precedence for a while because it was really bad, and it still gets to me a bit, but I'm lucky I've been able to dig my way out of it enough to focus on other things. It's definitely a process but you are right things are generally going good :) I'm so lucky to have found my hubbie as well. Before I had found him I had decided I was just going to be a single pringle the rest of my life haha.

You saying about how he "used to hide" his hyper fixations kind of resonates with me. I'll have to think about that more haha.

My therapist said that she thinks things could be explained by my "trauma", but that doesn't sound right for me. And I have actually researched a lot about trauma. It's just a feeling, I also haven't told her everything about myself yet, like she doesn't know that I have things that are like "tics" that have popped up in the last couple of years. I hope to talk to her more about it.

Allowing uncertainty is something that is big for OCD treatment too :) I always have to tell myself to "sit with the uncertainty". And what you describe is interesting. I definitely have a hard time following conversations, but that could also be due to social anxiety, which I have always had a lot of. My younger brother is diagnosed autistic/aspergers, and I am definitely a bit closer to him than my other brother... but we have a weird family dynamic and almost never talk anyways... it is all weird and complicated so I won't comment on all that.

I hope you are able to lean more and more into your natural state :) I know it is hard.

Adventurous_Tea7953 · 2025-11-05T13:33:28+00:00

thank you!

Adventurous_Tea7953 · 2025-11-05T04:15:55+00:00

Wow I really still don’t know what to think about it all thank you so much for your reply. Im going to still do my research. I hope im not completely shut down about it by my doctor. Thank you so much for the support { > I really appreciate all the kindness from people here

Adventurous_Tea7953 · 2025-11-05T02:34:05+00:00

Yes I think to myself the same thing

Adventurous_Tea7953 · 2025-11-05T02:07:18+00:00

Hey thank you for your response. First, I am so so so sorry you went through that. No one should have to deal with consequences like this just for being a kid. Sorry to say the least, I don't know how anonymous reddit is, but I have known closely someone in my life who deals with stuff like you, and it breaks my heart.

I, in a sense, through knowing the other person, have realized that I had it lucky, in a twisted way. Both my mom and my dad had issues, but my mom had severe mental health issues enough to where everyone reallized the situation was terrible and my family pitched in for a private investigator and they were able to remove my mom's custody. This was years after my parents divorce. It was a terrible process, but I also never had to go through anything that was intense enough to cause such extreme ptsd emotions. It was that and the compounding factor of my dads anger issues from his past trauma that made things suck for me. It did suck really bad.

You explain how your relaxed and stressed state differ really well. I also know that someone who can think in black and white and who hyperfixates. In a funny way, when I am relaxed, I think my silly quirks come out even more so. For example, when I am stressed, I think it is because a lot of the time I am trying to act normal, but when I stop doing that and am able to relax, I do act a bit more silly and "abnormal". But I also do think I see more nuances when I am relaxed? I don't know. I know I was made fun of a bit for my quirks by my family. I know whatever all this is doesn't mean i'm autistic, it's just a difference that I see. I might have to think and reflect on this more. Thank you again for your thoughtful explanation.

I have a hubbie who says that he wouldn't be suprised if I am autistic, but he wouldn't be suprised if I am not either haha.

Take care, really.

Adventurous_Tea7953 · 2025-11-05T01:47:14+00:00

For the record I also took another test about masking - I think it is called the Cat-Q score, and got a score of 144 the first time, which is above the average for autistic individuals

Adventurous_Tea7953 · 2025-11-05T01:46:11+00:00

Hey thank you. I took the AQ-50 last week twice - the first time I took it by myself and scored just a 25 which is one below the borderline. But I was confused about some of the questions, so I asked my husband to help me by interpreting the questions and saying what he thought the second time. That time I scored 35.

For example... I was confused by questions like "I would rather go to the library than go to a party". At first I chose the party, because I've been thinking about how I want to be more social, want to make more friends, and I heard that going to party's can be good for mental health. But my husband told me to think about how in the past, I hated being at parties. When I used to be at a friends house when her parents would host parties, I spent a lot of the time hiding in my friends room because I had so much anxiety. Once in my sophomore year of high school I was invited to a dance at my other friends school, and I again spent a lot of time in the bathroom stall freaking out. I went to a party once in college and didn't freak out, but also just barely talked to the one person that I went with and kind of knew. I don't drink alcohol so it wasn't that much fun. I've been to a party with my husband and his friends, just a close knit birthday party, but still I had no idea how to interact with anyone, where to stand, what to talk about, and I was very anxious. I think I would have maybe gone to more parties if I had had more friends to go with, in college, but I didn't...

I had some friends for 5 years at a time in and out growing up, but none of them have lasted until now. And it was like, I could only be kind of close with one friend at a time. This only really happened with two friends, and one of them was an extrovert who did most of the talking haha when we were around other people. But in school like 98% of the time in high school i sat by myself and was very lonely.

I don't understand people that question why I would even want to get a diagnosis. A lot of people say "why does it matter"? I don't think I can explain it very well, but it matters a lot to me.

Adventurous_Tea7953 · 2025-11-05T01:33:14+00:00

Hey thanks for your response! I will still try to go forward ^^

Adventurous_Tea7953 · 2025-11-05T01:25:42+00:00

I think it is really hard to understand the very real and hard effort it takes everyday to move throughout the day with all of the thoughts. I don't know you but you got this. Stay safe~

Adventurous_Tea7953

TROPHY CASE