Catatonia in those with ASD

[Roy H.]

What do any of you know about "anthropophobia"? I was reading up on it and it sounds like some of the symptoms I have.


(I saw a psychiatrist and I have to go back to see him in a few weeks for some reason he needed a month from our meeting last week to figure out what previous medications I have tried/been on.)

 

[David Baxter PhD]

What do any of you know about "anthropophobia"? I was reading up on it and it sounds like some of the symptoms I have.

@Roy H., have you ever heard of something called "the medical student syndrome"?

See, for example, Medical Student Syndrome: The Danger of Self Diagnosing an Anxiety Disorder.

This is a real and significant danger of reading about mental health disorders or conditions, and particularly trying to self-diagnose from a list of symptoms. It's easy to convince yourself that you have any number of conditions.

Actual professional diagnosis is much more than using a checklist of symptoms. It involves, first, evaluating the symptoms, the severity of the symptoms, and the history and longevity of those symptoms against the medical and psychological history of the patient. Then, because there can be quite a lot of symptom overlap among mental health disorders, the mental health professional needs to go through a process called "differential diagnosis" to decide which if any of the possible diagnoses fits or best fits ALL of the known history and symptoms of the patient. This is why the right to diagnose is restricted to only a few designated types of licensed professions.

I would strongly urge you to try to be patient and wait until you see your doctor again, and to stop researching various conditions on the internet at least until your doctor has provided you with a diagnosis.

 

[Roy H.]

@Roy H., have you ever heard of something called "the medical student syndrome"?

See, for example, Medical Student Syndrome: The Danger of Self Diagnosing an Anxiety Disorder.

This is a real and significant danger of reading about mental health disorders or conditions, and particularly trying to self-diagnose from a list of symptoms. It's easy to convince yourself that you have any number of conditions.

Actual professional diagnosis is much more than using a checklist of symptoms. It involves, first, evaluating the symptoms, the severity of the symptoms, and the history and longevity of those symptoms against the medical and psychological history of the patient. Then, because there can be quite a lot of symptom overlap among mental health disorders, the mental health professional needs to go through a process called "differential diagnosis" to decide which if any of the possible diagnoses fits or best fits ALL of the known history and symptoms of the patient. This is why the right to diagnose is restricted to only a few designated types of licensed professions.

I would strongly urge you to try to be patient and wait until you see your doctor again, and to stop researching various conditions on the internet at least until your doctor has provided you with a diagnosis.

Okay. But you have to understand I am at my wit's end, and I have been suffering with disturbing social phobia/avoidance/fear or whatever you want to call it for far too long. I can not tolerate this anymore.


And it seems all the "professionals" I've seen over the years haven't known jack squat about how to help me. I am sick and tired of not getting the help I believe I as a human should reasonably expect to receive. I pay taxes; I've made mistakes but I am doing things by the book these days and have been doing so for years now.

I just want to be content and not live in fear anymore - I don't want to have to struggle anymore, and the "professionals" I continue to seek out are not alleviating this situation for me.


You have to understand that after years of trying to get help, one gets disillusions and skeptical about the whole routine after a while. I have long passed that point.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Okay. But you have to understand I am at my wit's end, and I have been suffering with disturbing social phobia/avoidance/fear or whatever you want to call it for far too long. I can not tolerate this anymore.

I understand. But you have taken the correct step in consulting your doctor. Another step you might consider is seeing a counselor or therapist to learn specific skills to better cope with your anxieties.

I don't think that the internet research you are doing is really helping to alleviate any of that anxiety, is it? I suspect it's just making it worse.