I’ve been online all my life, I genuinely feel at home here. I relate more to random strangers across the world than any neighbors. Is it wrong for me to think of the (western/English) Internet as my culture?
I’ve been online all my life, I genuinely feel at home here. I relate more to random strangers across the world than any neighbors. Is it wrong for me to think of the (western/English) Internet as my culture?
One genuine question.
What change did a diagnosis made?
I’ve known all my life I am in the autistic spectrum, it is clear as day. Never diagnosed and to be true, I don’t see the point. From my perspective it would be like going to the doctor to tell me I have pale skin and that I need sunscreen when going outside.
I don’t really think my life would change because one person told me what I already know.
I’m genuinely scared I could do damage if I explain this badly. I’ll try my best. And bear in mind, mild autism, I communicate things strangely sometimes.
In a general sense, diagnoses are predictive statements, not just labels for communicating about a condition. There’s often sets of related behaviors and common kinds of advice or treatment. Think of it as peer reviewed science, instead of an algorithm, saying “struggling with this? You might also be struggling with this and that, and here’s how we can help with all of those.”
Also, diagnoses unlock access to medication. In my case I’ve also struggled with generalized anxiety disorder. Anxiety meds are having a profound and positive effect on my life. I do so much stupid shit when my brain is constantly making small worries into thought-destroying anxiety and fear. I was really resistant to the idea, thinking medication just avoids problems instead of letting you learn how to deal with them. I was very wrong.
And since I’m in the US where health insurance is a profit making industry, I had to go the route of counseling (“yeah I’m recommending you get tested”), then testing, and then with a diagnosis in hand, psychiatrist for possible medication. (It can take a long time to get meds dialed in. I was lucky, the first thing he prescribed worked great and we’ve just been slowly ramping the dosage, starting at half the usual starting dose in January and going up slowly every month.)
I don’t know if this was persuasive but I hope it at least made sense.
Thank for the time for an answer.
It is true that there are some differences I haven’t considered. For instance where I live there’s Universal healthcare, so going to the doctor for anxiety and getting medication would be easy and free, I have done it in the past when I needed. I suppose I’m very lucky of not needing an official diagnosis to be able to have easy access to treatments for the issues it may give me.
I’m probably doing some kind of “this solution worked for me, so it should work for everyone!” thing, but it does seem that our understanding of autism has improved in recent years. Even if all you can see is some variant of mild autism (autism spectrum disorder) a professional might see other related things. Like in my case, where my problems were being amplified by constant anxiety … they might find something chemical they can treat, or something that counseling can train you to mitigate or moderate.
I wish you the best.