gustavofring
Well-known member
My sister has recently been diagnosed with autism. She really seems happy about her diagnosis, as she's had a long history of burnout and depression. She told me she experienced "sensory overload" at her job, and not understanding people when they're telling her things. She needs to hear things thrice before she gets it. Now she'll probably get some sort of modified job for people with autism. Recently she's also been saying "I'm 100 % sure you have it too." and wants me to do a diagnosis.
Now, I won't deny I have my fair share of mental problems, I just don't think I have autism. ADD, probably, sleep troubles, depression, yep, certainly. And those things make me a little socially awkward as well. But she says things like "You never look people in the eye" which simply isn't true. I rarely see her, and she doesn't know how I behave in front of others and in different kinds of situations. I think she has a distorted or incomplete view of me. She also bases it on things I did in childhood, like walking on my toes and banging my head at night. I don't do those things anymore.
I kind of feel like she's projecting her "autism" on me, maybe as some sort of defense mechanism or pathological reason, like feeling validated because it's a family/genetic thing. I am the little brother and she's always had a sort of "over-concern" and "over criticism" of me, and recognizes herself in me a lot to the point where it kind of disturbs and annoys me. We are blood-relatives, yes, but I am not her. We have different personalities, some things overlap, but we're also very different in certain ways. I guess it's meant well, but I feel like I shouldn't trust her judgement. In the past she also thought she was bi-polar, or borderliner, and she just seems to blindly go with whatever the psychologists have been telling her.
Am I in denial? Should I do a diagnosis? I probably do have some traits that could be seen as "autistic" but doesn't everyone? And what if I do get tested autistic. Will that enlighten me? What will that label then give me, other then maybe crushing my self-confidence for I will never be able to blend in with normal people and normal jobs?
Now, I won't deny I have my fair share of mental problems, I just don't think I have autism. ADD, probably, sleep troubles, depression, yep, certainly. And those things make me a little socially awkward as well. But she says things like "You never look people in the eye" which simply isn't true. I rarely see her, and she doesn't know how I behave in front of others and in different kinds of situations. I think she has a distorted or incomplete view of me. She also bases it on things I did in childhood, like walking on my toes and banging my head at night. I don't do those things anymore.
I kind of feel like she's projecting her "autism" on me, maybe as some sort of defense mechanism or pathological reason, like feeling validated because it's a family/genetic thing. I am the little brother and she's always had a sort of "over-concern" and "over criticism" of me, and recognizes herself in me a lot to the point where it kind of disturbs and annoys me. We are blood-relatives, yes, but I am not her. We have different personalities, some things overlap, but we're also very different in certain ways. I guess it's meant well, but I feel like I shouldn't trust her judgement. In the past she also thought she was bi-polar, or borderliner, and she just seems to blindly go with whatever the psychologists have been telling her.
Am I in denial? Should I do a diagnosis? I probably do have some traits that could be seen as "autistic" but doesn't everyone? And what if I do get tested autistic. Will that enlighten me? What will that label then give me, other then maybe crushing my self-confidence for I will never be able to blend in with normal people and normal jobs?
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