Diagnosis of ASD/OCD/Anxiety/Phobia/Depression for adults

[Rob13579]

Dear All

I am not officially diagnosed with ASD, but I suspect that I am on the Autism spectrum and I may also have OCD. I always feel disconnected with others, even family members. Also I think differently than others. For instance, my sense of humour is often only understood by myself only. In my understanding, ASD, OCD,..., and depression are all related and I certainly cannot distinguish all the differences between them. I was born in the 90s, so it's likely that doctors in the past overlooked my condition when my mother had suspicion of me being autistic or on the autism spectrum.

My main struggle is to maintain a conversation, especially with strangers.

It's not natural for me to make eye contacts and have chats with anyone. Most people describe me as a serious person. Now I think that is because I find it extremely difficult to let go of certain things or issues.

When I was a child, I could only talk to my mother softly. After years of struggles with socialisation, I managed to graduate from my Master's degree in Physics. I can have conversations with others now if the conversations are not chats.

Although I can talk to strangers now, I still feel uneasy in conversations. I am looking for work right now and it has been difficult to stay calm and be confident in job interviews.

I also don't hang out with friends much, partly because I don't have many close friends. Logically in the perspective of people not on the Autism spectrum, I should feel lonely, but I don't.

I want to get a ASD/OCD/Anxiety/Phobia/Depression diagnosis, but I don't know where to start because I am an adult now. I also think my GP is not trained to diagnose ASD for adults.

Does anyone know how an adult can get a diagnosis of ASD/OCD/Anxiety/Phobia/Depression?

Kind regards

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Rob13579,

Thank you for your post. I'm sorry that you haven't had a response on your post for a while.

In terms of getting a diagnosis, a psychologist would probably be your best bet. While people often think of therapy with psychologists, they also do assessments and make diagnoses.

One of the most common ways to see a psychologist is to get a mental health care plan - which enables 10 visits that are funded by medicare. Depending on the psychologist, you might have to pay a gap or it might be completely bulk billed. Here's some more info on that if you want to understand more -

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/online-forums/treatments-health-professionals-and-therapies/explaining-the-mhcp-(mental-health-care-plan)-that-we-all-keep-talking-about

I hope that this is helpful to you! Hopefully they'll not only give you some clarity (or confirmation), but also a few techniques on how to manage it.

rt