Anonymous OP 17w

3) Some people, relating to this content, come to the conclusion they might be autistic or neurodivergent in some way. This, on its own, is not bad. 4) Researching mental health conditions on your own can give you an understanding of what a condition could be like.

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Anonymous OP 17w

Ready? this is the part people don’t like. 5) It is completely, utterly impossible, no matter how much research one does, how much formal schooling one receives, for ANY person to diagnose themselves with ANY mental health condition. There is no online quiz that can do so. No way to self-reflect conclusively that would lead to a diagnosis. This is because you **cannot observe or assess YOURSELF in an objective way.** Ever. Just doesn’t work.

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Anonymous OP 17w

This includes doctors; their self diagnoses are just as ill-advised as yours. Research is a pathway to a hypothesis. A hypothesis is not confirmed until a trained mental health professional who IS NOT YOU has confirmed it.

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Anonymous OP 17w

[5a) Do not get diagnosed as autistic right now in the US, even if you suspect you are. If you somehow can do so in a way that doesn’t end up on any insurance or database records, go for it, but right now is a dangerous time to be formally diagnosed. Haaaate that that needs to be said]

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Anonymous OP 17w

6) A mental health diagnosis is not an excuse for behavior, nor a free pass in any way. 7) A subsection of people who self diagnose do so for the purpose of both having an explanation for shitty behavior that they don’t need to internalize, and using it as a free pass to continue them. 8) I live with one.

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Anonymous OP 17w

and i’m not sure when i’m going to snap but i came damn close when i opened the tiktok link they just texted me and was immediately hit by “actor autism genes are activated by making faces at yourself in the mirror”

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Anonymous OP 17w

like no, i don’t relate to this. this does not describe me. i’m not going to watch the rest of this crap, and i sincerely hope you’re not forming your opinion of who or what i am based on shit like this (though it would explain a LOT of how you treat me if you are). i have no idea how you even GET to this side of the internet, let alone begin to take it seriously

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Anonymous OP 17w

also, this is a disproportionate reaction to being sent a tiktok and i know that! the tiktok itself is a non issue. this response stems from the OTHER wonderful perks of living with a person like this…

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Anonymous OP 17w

Such as! • “Hey, can you do (menial basic task) for me? I have no spoons” guess what the diagnosed autistic person has literally never ever ever had a fucking problem with. also, when i say basic, i mean shit like filling up their water bottle. getting them snacks from their room. getting them dr. pepper. LOGGING INTO THEIR LAPTOP because THEY want to watch TV. Helping them LITERALLY STAND UP FROM THE COUCH more days than not.

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Anonymous OP 17w

• Always being asked to make decisions! What are we eating for dinner (but not *that,* something I want to eat)? What should I do today? Should I call out of work? Should I get up? Should I go to bed now? • Never being able to tolerate when things aren’t exactly their way (show they like on MY tv, dinner cooked exactly they way they want, music they want, candle scents they want, etc)

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Anonymous OP 17w

• Throwing a fit whenever the lights in a room aren’t perfect (color temperature, specific ones on, etc), but somehow being unable to be the one to get the fuck up and flip the damn switches. I get SO much shit about the “overhead” lights. Again, guessed what the ACTUALLY DIAGNOSED autistic person has never had a problem with.

0

Anonymous OP 17w

• complete inability to tolerate background noise, including but not limited to the dishwasher, the washing machine, the dryer, or me taking a shower. so. fucking. fun. The great part here is - i HAVE genuine noise sensitivity. I know how that can impact one’s life and ability to socialize. I’ve also, y’know. Bought noise cancelling headphones. Guess what they say are too uncomfortable to wear. Which ALSO means they love blasting youtube and tiktok full volume…

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Anonymous OP 17w

And i’m not denying SOMETHING is wrong with them! But they’ve been tested before, and it came back neurotypical. Guess who now refuses mental health care or evaluation in its entiretyyyyy

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Anonymous OP 17w

And if the above describes you, and you’re diagnosed? GREAT! I’m so happy that you have that level of understanding of your symptoms and processing schema! I bet you’ve been working with therapists to develop coping skills, not completely refusing any care whatsoever. I have too. They haven’t. They don’t want to.

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Anonymous OP 17w

also, in case it’s not obvious, they have zero physical disabilities that would prevent them from being able to get up and do shit on their own. and it wouldn’t be something i was complaining about if it was a couple every now and then, but when you’re hitting a rate of 12 basic favors in ten minutes because the person asking is just too fucking lazy to stand on their own two non-disabled neurotypical feet, it gets fucking exhausting

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Anonymous OP 17w

why do i, the autistic traumatized childhood-PTSD-having depressed anxious adhd ball of institutionalizable OCD nerves (ALL diagnosed by a neuropsychologist and being treated by a therapist, not tiktok), have CARETAKER FATIGUE for a NEUROTYPICAL TWENTY FUCKING TWO YEAR OLD

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Anonymous #1 17w

The people on TikTok that romanticize it piss me off. We had YouTubers romanticizing depression and suicide when I was in middle school suffering with SI and severe depression. My friends were all like “omg I’m depressed too, so cool” and acting like me harming myself was something interesting for them. I’ve seen tiktokers do it with other illnesses too, like POTS. And it’s so invalidating, offensive, and disrespectful to the people that actually do have those conditions

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Anonymous OP 17w

idk what to tell you, this all just sounds like garden variety autism on their part and you using their lack of professional diagnosis as justification for refusing to accommodate them

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Anonymous #2 17w

Accommodations are one thing, but to me it seems like OPs roommate(?) is just asking OP for favors and making them take on the role of a caretaker. Which is not fair to either of them. It’s not OPs responsibility to take care of them (I’m assuming)

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Anonymous #1 17w

Like I get what you’re saying about them being dismissive about self-diagnosis, but sometimes you need to find ways to accommodate yourself. You can’t of fully putting that on someone else and then get mad at them when they don’t do it right

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