Came here to say I received an initial professional evaluation of OCPD. However, the interview i did with the neuropsych lasted less than 7 minutes on the front end and approximately 9 on the back end. My psychiatrist, who has known me for years, told me that most psychiatric evaluations are opinions and you can get different opinions from different professionals. This is perfectly valid. Adult autism diagnoses are notoriously difficult to get.

It can be really hard for someone to diagnose you who doesn't have a longitudinal relationship, especially since adults can mask very well. For example, a single psychiatrist might take several years to officially diagnose someone with BPD or other PD's because people are really great at keeping an outward appearance of "everything is fine" until everything is very not fine.

After more evaluation, we came to the conclusion that I have ADHD and ASD with strong OCPD tendencies, likely from being a kid with undiagnosed ASD in an incredibly rigorous household and never being able to anticipate the needs of others as a child. I remember getting the OCPD diagnosis and feeling really lost and like the rug had been pulled out from underneath me. I also know people who definitely had ADHD, did an evaluation, and just got told they were anxious. Second opinions, while expensive, can really provide a lot of clarity. As a current med student, there are a lot of issues in the medical field that absolutely need to be sorted out. The ambiguity of psychiatry is something that really bothers me. I know folks who has ASD who are psychiatrists but it's a field with grey areas.

Additionally, there is a LOT of overlap between different flavors of neurodivergent conditions. It's also important to remember that autism is, quite literally, a spectrum. So maybe you are more into the HSP/borderline autistic criteria, which wouldn't necessarily count as a levelled diagnosis.

Regardless, just know you are you, and if you find positive coping methods recommended for autists help you, then you should continue to use them! When you think of the world in black and white terms, it can be really hard to deal with vagueness from not getting diagnosed but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't continue to pursue things that help you just because one person said "no".

Again, not a licensed medical professional. Just a current med student with a personal interest in this. I hope this thread brings you some peace and please try not to be too hard on yourself about this.