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Hi I think I'm an Aspie

A

Abe1

Well-Known Member
I am 41 male, I work in the UK as an accountant, I am very good with numbers, always have been and with spreadsheets. However my social skills have never come close to those of my technical skills.

I have struggled in work with stress and anxiety, I have started taking Setraline for Depression in the past month.

After being referred from work, it was suggested that I have indications "Autistic caseness" / Aspergers, of both Schizoid/Avoidant Personality pattern, together with Dysthmia, Major Depression and Anxiety.

I am still in denial, and this has effected me greatly, one some days I think this the diagnosis explains a lot of traits, and on others I feel utterly despondent.

The mix of Aspergers and Severe Depression can make for viciously low days.

Would it be worth getting a full diagnosis, and how do I go about telling colleagues and family, who I don't think have any idea about this, even though they are concerned about my obvious depression and the rut I have been in for years.

Secondly does it get easier after a while, as at the moment I find myself having a lot of up and down days.

Any advice that I receive is welcomed (it is the same Abe 1 as on other forums, not sure if allowed to mentioned them directly on here)
 
Hi Abe.

I'm also new, also in the UK, also wondering about seeking diagnosis (although haven't really verbalised that until RIGHT NOW!) :)

I'm no expert (my five year old was recently diagnosed and it's sparked of the realisation that I in fact, also have many traits if indeed I'm not firmly on the spectrum) but just wanted to reassure you that the people here are very welcoming and knowledgeable - I hope you'll find some solace :)
 
Welcome, Abe!
I think getting a full diagnosis is worth it, especially if you feel that it would help you begin to learn to cope with what you're dealing with. At least you'd know what's going on. :)
 
Hi Abe, welcome to the forum :)

I think there are both advantages and disadvantages of getting a diagnosis - it can help you to understand yourself, bring closure for past problems and help you to gain access for treatment for anxiety and depression. If you have the diagnosis, you can either keep it to yourself or disclose it to others. Others who have disclosed have had rather mixed experiences of this, and this all depends on your personal circumstances - whether your family and employer are going to be sympathetic and understanding. You need to weigh up what the advantages and disadvantages according to your personal circumstances, and then make a decision based on that. If you choose to disclose, you could tell your colleagues and family that this is what is perpetuating your depression, and hopefully they will be understanding.
 
Welcome to AC, Abe. Yes, what you've posted is all quite indicative of this voyage of self-discovery so many of us are on, to have arrived here. The good news is that you have come to the right place to continue to ask all those questions of yourself you need to ask.

But rather than to rely on any kind of test results, you may find that interacting with other Aspies may be far more beneficial in discovering that you aren't alone- and on so many levels that may have puzzled you most of your life.
 
Thanks for all the replies, even chatting about this is personal therapy.

To me this is really a start of a journey. Even before this suggestion of me being an Aspie, I was suffering from a mid life crisis.

I have only told a few people in work. (my boss, HR manager and a few longstanding friends)
A trusted person in work is back tomorrow, so I'll have a chat then. People in work know I have been having difficulties, and I want to say something, but I don't know what to say as I am not sure the reaction.

Hopefully things will get better, and I should be less hard on myself as there is a reason for some of my quirks, but some dark times ahead I fear.
 
Welcome aboard :)
image.jpg
 
Abe1 said:
Thanks for all the replies, even chatting about this is personal therapy.
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Click to expand...

Yes it is! Welcome to the site Abe1 :)

There are free, online self tests available that can help give indications of AS - ASD. I understand the price for this privately in UK, is around £400. You can ask your GP for a referral for AS - ASD assessment / diagnosis but the time that this takes probably varies hugely.

Anxiety driven Stress is frequently the Default mode on spectrum & different people find different ways of trying to deal with this.
 
Welcome! Getting a diagnosis would give you something "solid" to have. This can also open the door for any workplace accommodations, but even better than that it gives you a sense of knowing so there's no more (or at least less) uncertainty.
 
Some progress today.

Saw a mental health nurse at my GP today, and after going though a few questions and some tests
(I did a AQ10 test and this clearly tended to support the Aspergers likelihood, no surprise there. )
It was also mentioned that I have a touch of speech apraxia.
I have been referred to the outpatients of my hospital see a psychologist to see if have Aspergers. It should take around 6 weeks for this to happen.

I also saw someone from the National Autistic Society n the UK in work and they made some suggestions that my help me. Work seem happy to help as long as it doesn't impact anyone else. Maybe it is me being cynical but I am not sure how much they are helping me is due to trying to help me and how much to ensure they are covering their backsides in their legal responsibilities.
Probably a bit of both, and I must be prepared to go along with things and not be unfair to others.
 
Abe1 said:
Some progress today.

Saw a mental health nurse at my GP today, and after going though a few questions and some tests
(I did a AQ10 test and this clearly tended to support the Aspergers likelihood, no surprise there. )
It was also mentioned that I have a touch of speech apraxia.
I have been referred to the outpatients of my hospital see a psychologist to see if have Aspergers. It should take around 6 weeks for this to happen.

I also saw someone from the National Autistic Society n the UK in work and they made some suggestions that my help me. Work seem happy to help as long as it doesn't impact anyone else. Maybe it is me being cynical but I am not sure how much they are helping me is due to trying to help me and how much to ensure they are covering their backsides in their legal responsibilities.
Probably a bit of both, and I must be prepared to go along with things and not be unfair to others.
Click to expand...

It's good to hear you're making progress. I'm interested you have a point of contact from National Autistic Society; I joined & subscribed to their quarterly publication & find it useful, as are the available autism alert cards. My curent pending assessment was GP referred in summer 2014 & is taking forever to complete. I would disclose my ASD status in any employment opportunity now & limit myself to 4 hour stints because I can't gurantee being able to work effectively beyond those parameters, or indeed tolerate being anywhere longer than that. Home excepted. If the nature of your work is solo based, with a designated remit & minimal outside intervention / intrusion, from others then it's probably easier for a company to accommodate that.
 
Sounds good. Keep it up. Someday you may realize something that you never knew before.
 
Abe1

Welcome to the forums.

We hope that you will find what you are looking for, and will do our best to help you understand more on how to deal with particular situations. Please do us a favor and enjoy/share as much as you can.
 
There has been further progress in that I have been to the local Mental health consultant, testing for me depereesioandadns Aspergers. I have been further forwarded onto to a specialist and will have a meeting in Mid January, which I imagine will be a assessment test for Aspergers as it is 2 hrs long and asks the following questions.

A few thing though.

1. They want my school reports
2. If possible they want to have a parent there with me.

I can totally understand the reasons for this as they want to know my development. However there is an issue in that I haven't told my parents about any of this, apart from the depression issues. I don't want to upset them.

Would the doctor be discrete about this, or should I ask the surgery in advance to check.
 
The school reports can be discreet, as they can just be handed over. Your parents are asked a lot about you as a baby, toddler, and child and if they known what autism is I think they would be able to tell that's what is being asked by the nature of the questions. If they don't then I don't think they'd know.
 
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