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I think this is where I went wrong? twitter.com/CountJ0ecool/s Because I couldn't treat my therapist *as a therapist* But I still don't think therapy is "for me", because why aren't they aware of this pattern?!

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Replying to @maltybegray and @m_ashcroft

I have met several pleasant therapists who have done nothing to actually help me Not saying it's impossible to get value, but for me it was a waste of time+energy, when I had very little of those resources to spare.

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Also DSM-style disorder-focus is a whole Thing that I'm getting increasingly disillusioned with / angry about. What if this is the way that my brain works, and I DON'T want it "fixed"

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Supposedly, the main diagnostic criterion is "it causes you suffering". I agree diagnoses shouldn't be pushed on you in therapy. Maybe loosely offered as areas to explore, but... I think the truism that personality disorders can't be treated comes from "treatment" being forced.

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I've had the opposite experience: I function too well, so nobody wants to diagnose me as anything other than "depressed" I have loosely offered areas of self-Dx to explore, and had that rejected every single time.

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"If you were autistic, what would it matter?" IT WOULD HELP YOU DO YOUR FUCKING JOB FOR A START

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Ah, this fucking attitude. I had the same thing from my first therapist. "I thought you might be autistic, but your IQ is too high..." "I'm pretty sure that's not how that works." "It is, I'm the expert." (I didn't believe him, but had no other options for therapy at age 17.)

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isn't that specifically called aspergers ?

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I'm definitely not neurotypical, but I've no idea if I qualify for aspergers or something else or if I'm in some liminal area. Considering new diagnoses are invented all the time, and neurology is hugely idiosyncratic, I wouldn't be surprised if there is no diagnosis available.

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I have highly abnormal empathy, but it's not specifically autistic AFAICT. Pulls in a lot of disparate directions. I'd actually love to know if there's a diagnosis that fits, as I have a very confused profile of extreme hyper/hypofunctionality relative to most people.

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Michael Ashcroft

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Do you have a thread of characteristics you experience? I'm also curious about what you're describing.

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No, but I'd be very happy to write out a few here.

4:19 PM · Jul 29, 2020Twitter Web App

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Let's see, taking some notes on paper and parsing over here. Might take some time between tweets....

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Michael Ashcroft

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As you prefer - I'm not qualified to comment, but have an interest in personality disorders and the "high empathy" point you mention happens to be resonant for me personally.

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I prefer. I enjoy the warm interest. Thank you.

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This is the thread I point people to basically constantly:

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sunflower seeds

Hey, how's this for autism 'awareness' month: some percentage of you who are reading this tweet are #actuallyAutistic and aren't aware of it. I'm going to post a bunch of questions I wish I had been asked in this context, years ago. This is not diagnosis! But it's instructive.

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