I’m in the UK as well, and spoke with my GP a couple of months ago about whether I might have autism and/or ADHD (my self-diagnoses were yes and no respectively, with enough uncertainty on ADHD that it seemed worth checking). I didn’t particularly think about whether it was a good idea, I’d just noticed that at some point I went from “I know I think I meet the criteria for autism, but everyone on the internet self-diagnoses as that, so” to “I know everyone on the internet self-diagnoses as autistic, but I think I meet the criteria, so”. I felt a bit awkward describing myself as autistic based on that, so I went for a diagnosis.
I might be misremembering details. But he said there’s not really any test for either, especially not if I’m just curious (which is why I’d said I was looking to be tested). But that for what it’s worth, he thought I probably had autism and not ADHD. (I can read blog posts! (Can I finish them? «Well, I get to the bottom, at any rate.») Apparently people with ADHD can’t do that. Who knew.)
My understanding is that he’s wrong, and that there’s a thing with a multi-year waiting list where you can get an actual diagnosis somehow? At any rate a friend told me he was on such a waiting list a while back. But I didn’t feel like arguing.
So it might be super easy to get an informal diagnosis, and a massive PITA to get a formal one.
My older brother was diagnosed as a kid. AFAIK it hasn’t particularly affected his life since school (I dunno if he even got accomodations in university). But he’s not old enough/in bad enough health yet for your specific worries to come into play, and also his life path hasn’t involved much formal employment.
Thanks. I’m definitely leaning toward the pain of getting a formal diagnosis not being worth it, and I’m still aware of the tail risks, but I hadn’t thought of going to a GP for an informal diagnosis.
I’m in the UK as well, and spoke with my GP a couple of months ago about whether I might have autism and/or ADHD (my self-diagnoses were yes and no respectively, with enough uncertainty on ADHD that it seemed worth checking). I didn’t particularly think about whether it was a good idea, I’d just noticed that at some point I went from “I know I think I meet the criteria for autism, but everyone on the internet self-diagnoses as that, so” to “I know everyone on the internet self-diagnoses as autistic, but I think I meet the criteria, so”. I felt a bit awkward describing myself as autistic based on that, so I went for a diagnosis.
I might be misremembering details. But he said there’s not really any test for either, especially not if I’m just curious (which is why I’d said I was looking to be tested). But that for what it’s worth, he thought I probably had autism and not ADHD. (I can read blog posts! (Can I finish them? «Well, I get to the bottom, at any rate.») Apparently people with ADHD can’t do that. Who knew.)
My understanding is that he’s wrong, and that there’s a thing with a multi-year waiting list where you can get an actual diagnosis somehow? At any rate a friend told me he was on such a waiting list a while back. But I didn’t feel like arguing.
So it might be super easy to get an informal diagnosis, and a massive PITA to get a formal one.
My older brother was diagnosed as a kid. AFAIK it hasn’t particularly affected his life since school (I dunno if he even got accomodations in university). But he’s not old enough/in bad enough health yet for your specific worries to come into play, and also his life path hasn’t involved much formal employment.
Thanks. I’m definitely leaning toward the pain of getting a formal diagnosis not being worth it, and I’m still aware of the tail risks, but I hadn’t thought of going to a GP for an informal diagnosis.