Xye

Thanks. You pretty much said what I wanted to say. Or at least I got what I wanted to mean from what you said... Thanks. I guess what it all really boils down to is happiness. If I can be happy in what I'm doing then nothing much else really matters. Though maybe that is a discussion for a different thread? (I really have no idea when to let one thread die and create another one)

I'm not sure if or how I should reply as I fear I may have upset some people here. Thank you Bid. I am just so so tired of having to fight for everything. And what is maybe the hardest thing is that I have no support. I have no friends or mates or anything, and I end up getting so frustrated a my parents because I simply cannot find the words to describe what i think and feel when I talk to them. To be honest I don't know what to do anymore. I keep putting one foot infront of the other in the hope that one day something good might happen. Though if I didn't have bad luck I'd have no luck at all.

I am sorry I am Just going by the way I feel. And yes maybe the depression is taking its toll on me and has tinted my world view so that I cannot believe that anything good can happen anymore. BD I feel you are jumping in without knowing all the facts. These two psychiatrists have talked too each other about me (apparently) and so is aware that in 5 years of treatment including antidepressants/antianxiety medication, and cbt, nothing has changed. I really did dislike the first psych, and am frankly glad that he is leaving now but before I knew this I had already applied to see another one. The reason being that I had asked for some form of counseling and he had dismissed it out of hand saying I was too young to have issues which needed to be talked about. The second psychiatrist when i first met him did a kind of basic test or something at our first meeting and he (again apparently) knows something about autism. BUT BACK TO THE POINT: When you were applying for jobs how did the employers take the ASD diagnosis? I mean did they ask you or anything? I mean I know they are not even supposed to see the health report thingy but still....

As I see it: Social phobia I can overcome and be able to form friendships and have relationships and so on. ASD, to my mind, means I will never be able to really do that. In other words with Social phobia I am fixable. With ASD I am not.

Thanks. I am just really worried that this may ruin my chances of being able to lead a reasonably normal life... well as normal as is possible for me. Then again really i suppose it more depends on the person who's desk the application crosses and what they know about it that matters, and that of course is not something I can know. I am also concerned by myself. I fear that should I get an ASD diagnosis I will, in effect, give up on life. While its social phobia it might be overcome, with ASD.... While knowing either way would be good... I'm afraid.

Hi this is my first post and I'm looking for some advice. I am 24 (near 25) and am studying for an MSc which I shall hopefully complete this September. I do not plan on carrying on to do a PhD, which means I shall be looking for a job.... For the last 5 years I have seen a psychiatrist who has told me I have Depression, low self esteem and social phobia. However, I have recently seen a different psychiatrist who thinks, because I have not improved in the 5 years I have seen the previous psychiatrist, that I may have ASD and says I certainly share some traits with people who have it. When applying for a job I already must put down if asked directly that I have suffered from mental health issues. My question is thus: Is there any benefit to having an official diagnosis of ASD? While we all know that companies are not supposed to discriminate against people with mental health problems they still clearly do, and it is almost impossible to prove that they are doing so. Does anyone have any experience with this? As I could really do with some advice. Tom.