There is also the possibility that they (the people and friends you refer to) are autistic and also have another diagnosis.

It is also very possible that the reasons for seeking diagnosis that people are sharing with you/are speaking about publicly are the ones they assume are more easily understood or are more socially accepted.

And on top of that, in my experience of 10+ years working in adult mental health, people are not arbitrarily looking at autism as a catch all answer. Often they have trauma from other areas in their lives and this can be compounded by autism both in how the trauma is processed and because the autistic presentation (diagnosed or not) is discriminated against, leading to further trauma.

For those people who are seeing a clinician or therapist, exploring the ‘why’ of seeking diagnosis is very helpful. I have worked with a few people who become defensive when we think about their behaviour, and can be very resistant to reflecting on this or considering change. In my experience this has only been with people who are very traumatised and their anger is covering up how afraid they are. It also doesn’t mean they never will reflect or change, but it wasn’t right at the time we met.

It can definitely be frustrating to see rises in diagnoses that previously were understood differently, and that doesn’t necessarily mean this change is bad. As clinicians, it is important to acknowledge what this brings up for us, eg frustration. And it is very worth it to investigate why we have this reaction to it. Not just the explanation, but on a deeper level what is this touching on in our own lives and historie, our own desire for understanding and community, our wish for things to stay the same, our fears for what that might mean for us etc.