I never thought about it like this. Kinda made me tear up a little. Thanks for that. 😄

Autism and ADHD are a such a good example for this. While 15 years ago the DSM still said that it is impossible to have both, today we know that there is a huge overlap. Depending on the studies, when you have Autism, there is a 40-70% chance that you also have ADHD. And if you are diagnosed with ADHD, the chances to also have autism are between 20-50%

And there are enough other common comorbidities that could be seen as the "main" diagnosis and prevent you from being correctly diagnosed, like depression, odd, ocd or anxiety.

It's so important to get a psychiatrist that is specialized and it's a shame that it seems to be an almost global problem to even get any.

Or maybe it's time to understand that mental issues aren't as clearcut as viruses that you can test in a lab. As long as we don't understand the fine grain of how the whole brain work (and so far we only have ideas about it, not the whole story), the yes/no diagnostic will stay a dead end imo.

Sorry to hear you have trouble though, I hope you still lives ok <3 good luck!

Put simply, a large cohort of mental health providers will look at anyone asking about ADHD as if they are lying and just fishing for a prescription for stimulants. Especially if you look like you're college age. So if you get unlucky with who you see when you finally go to get tested they might just take one look at you and decide "This person is looking for drugs" and ignore literally everything you present with because of it.

Wow, crime that wasn't something that came up when I got my diagnosis. Impulsiveness, sure, but not criminal enterprise.

double secret imposter syndrome.

There are still people with (varying degrees of) ADHD that are both normally successful or wildly successful. They did this likely not despite their ADHD but because of it. They probably grew up in an environment that allowed them to find a positive outlet for themselves so they achieved behavioral patterns that utilized it to drive them forward instead of it getting in the way.

The worse part is when you get so good at coping that others don't see the work that goes in just to function in a society built to your disadvantage.

Yes! And then whenever an online community springs up centering around solidarity, peer support, or advocacy pertaining to the common mental disorder, the same crowd who complains about avocado toast and rotisserie chicken get up in arms about "labels" becoming a "trend."

Like, no it's not a fucking trend. Some people deal with these illnesses every fucking day, and it's totally okay for them to talk about it online with other people who understand the experience. Outsiders looking in just think they're conforming to what the internet says about the traits, but the reality is that some people have these traits and have to live with them every day.

Clusters of traits get identified by researchers and standardized in the DSM, and that gives people the language and toolkit they need to understand themselves and talk about it with others. It's descriptive rather than prescriptive.

These descriptions pop up online because that's what some people experience. People aren't retrofitting their experience just to conform to an internet trope, like some folks claim. But someone who hasn't experienced that or been close to someone who has will never understand that.

And unfortunately, some people who are close to someone with a mental disorder are still skeptical and dismissive of them. It's really frustrating, and damaging too, because it's essentially gaslighting someone who's already mentally ill by saying they're actually fine and just need to stop being annoying, suck it up and "just be normal." For fuck's sake!