'self Test' Results For Disorders: Autism / Pda

[Beks]

I came across a test for Autism and PDA through a link on facebook, it is on a bloggers site who has pathological demand avoidance - I had never heard of this before.
I followed the tests with curiosity:
for PDA I got a 'likely to have it', and for Autism I got nearly full marks, 'very likey to be Autistic'.

Im pretty bummed by this. I know Iv never felt like I fitted in anywhere apart from by myself in wildernesses, and blah blah. But Im quite surprised that I managed 4 years of counselling, most of it for PTSD, seen 5 therapists, bugged my GP's a million times so they make fun of me in the end - and not a single peep that there might be something different about me to everyone else. I also looked at BPD recently, and that was also a 'likely'.... is there something people are not telling me? Maybe I lied to them all without realising it?

Do I go looking for some advice about this or just pretend it didnt happen?

 

[joeylittle]

It's really not wise to put a lot of stock in online tests. Even if they are the 'actual' tests a psych. would use, interpreting them is not something that just anyone can do.

I'd honestly just move on.

 

[Kintsugi]

About once a year, I get it in my head that I have BPD. Multiple people have "accused" me of having BPD (none were doctors or anything remotely related), and I just get a little weird about it every now and then--worrying that I'm actually borderline. A couple of years ago, I got really worked up about whether or not I had NPD (which obviously has some amount of overlap with BPD behaviors/symptoms).

Anyway, I've had a few Ts tell me that, No, stop worrying: you don't have BPD. When I got worked up about NPD, and I shared this with my T, wherein I also said I get this way every so often about BPD, my T helped me kinda tease out the behaviors I was concerned about, and we spent awhile talking about where I learned those behaviors. I don't know for sure that my primary abuser has a personality disorder, but he checks a hell of a lot more boxes than I do, and I can see now that I picked up certain behaviors from him (as well as my mother) that lead me to worry I might have these diagnoses.

My T told me that the way my PTSD manifests and given my history, I probably present with some symptoms of nearly every cluster B disorder, but it's actually all related to my real issue, which is trauma. I now affectionately refer to these issue as my "clusterf*ck B" symptoms, and I've moved on from obsessing over Dr. Google when it comes to my mental health. :)

ETA: I just hunted down who I assume is the blogger and the tests he posted. I mean. Really. Anyone with PTSD would check a lot of symptoms for PDA. For real. :bored:

 

[ladee]

Hopefully you can just move on. I don't go looking for things to add to my alphabet soup life.

 

[Eagle3]

its pretty common for females especially to miss being diagnosed with Autism (what was once known as Asperger's especially). There are other places to verify the bloggers tests, but don't let online tests diagnose you. I had to fight for my Dx of Autism Spectrum Disorder, and my T still says I show some traits, but thinks its mostly PTSD (but its not...there's a high rate of co-morbidity between the two, and they often mimic each other at times). Do research, talk to others with both diagnoses, PM me if you want, but don't base your life off one source of information. Good luck!

 

[Friday]

If you have PTSD, you'll likely pop "positive" for about a dozen other disorders using any kind of cursory test. Why? Because they all share symptoms!

Very much like the fact that if you have a cold, you'll also share symptoms with at least a 50 other illnesses. (Fever, fatigue, sore throat, body aches, etc.). But just because you share symptoms with Scarlet Fever, Mono, Measles, Influenza, etc. Doesn't mean that you actually have any or all of those other illnesses.

Is it possible to be comorbid? (Have 2 or more disorders). Yep.

Is it possible to either misdiagnose, or miss a diagnosis? Double yep.

So is it worth discussing with your T? For sure. Whether you do or you don't have a misdiagnosis or missed diagnosis, discussing symptoms with your T is usually helpful (Simon explained why!).

But would I walk in thinking I definitely -or even likely- have a different disorder because of any passing similarity? Snort. Not only no, but hell no.

Not only because every disorder shares symptoms ...but also because every symptom out there? Is a human trait. Meaning that we all possess all of them to some degree or another. What makes a symptom a symptom is first it being pathological (aka extreme, and beyond the realm of normal), and then it actually being a unique part of something else. <<< For example, I disassociate because I'm human & humans do that. I disassociate because I have PTSD. I disassociate because I have ADHD. The PTSD & ADHD disassociation are worlds away different than normal disassociation. And also? Worlds away from each other. Because they're being caused by different things. What differentiates them? Far, far, far, more than any quickie -and most lengthy, like 500 questions lengthy- test could ever hope to achieve.

So if you have a fever, and have been diagnosed with a cold? It's probably a cold. Not Dengue.

 

[Fiadh]

Most of my close friends and family say that they think I might have Aspergers, they say I'm odd or 'quirky', they sometimes tease me about it. I've even had it said about me at work by my colleagues and boss. But you know what, I personally don't think I do, I put a lot of my behaviour down to ptsd, which they don't know the full extent of what I have been experiencing. My T never mentioned aspergers she treated me on the symptoms I was having. I hate diagnoses, labels are for jars not for people is what I always go by. So don't panic based on the online test. However if it is something you want exploring further get yourself to the doctors and request some assessment or advice.

 

[Beks]

Thankyou everyone it makes more sense now, I will ditch 'the diagnosis'.

Simply Simon - you really rang bells for me there, as my mum ticks all the boxes for the same and has been abusive much of the time. Through dissociative amnesia I can't remember what I was like as a very young child - my sister says I was always happy, laughing, running around, so something went wrong after that.

Friday thanks for the perspective. When you mention the 'diagnosis of a cold, not dengue' it did make me chuckle - years ago Id come back to the uk from an expedition to Borneo jungle, I had the weirdest horrible illness lasting many days trapped in bed. The doc casually said 'its probably just a virus, sit it out'... glad I survived the curious jungle fever! Funnily enough my immune system was naff until I got into medicinal herbs and spices a couple years ago, so maybe something was lurking all that time.

Anyway, back to the online tests, just to clarify the blog just popped up somewhere in fb and it was a 5 min curiousity so no worries I wasn't purposefully looking for these tests; but yes it sent me off thinking - but then that is the purpose of them being posted in the first place isnt it.
Thanks again.