SzPD Diagnosis
I first asked my GP if she could refer me to a mental health care provider to look into a possible SzPD diagnosis 2.5 years ago. I was then waitlisted for about a year. After my intake the team immediately decided to disregard my question as they believed they could detect a 'need for social contact' which according to them would imply I could not have SzPD. They thought the existing Autism diagnosis in combination with C-PTSD was more appropriate.
Although I did not agree, a part of me thought, 'maybe they are right, they are experts after all'. After completing my EMDR treatment sessions, my almost non-existent flashbacks, which would occur around once a month or so, did disappear. However, I only felt worse. A part of me hoped for a significant improvement. Instead, I was left disappointed and felt even more depressed and hopeless.
In the past three months we've been tackling a re-evaluation of a possible SzPD diagnosis. A more specialised clinical psychologist in the field of personality disorders looked into my file. He determined that where my psychologists saw a 'need for social contact', he could also interpret the result from a point of view where that wasn't the case.
This finally gave the go-ahead for an official diagnostic process for SzPD. I checked most boxes for the DSM-V classification and then completed a diagnostic interview (the SCID-5). The outcomes indicated Schizoid personality disorder. My directing practitioner then continued to look into the ASD diagnosis and confirmed that most likely, my SzPD had been misdiagnosed as Autism. It will be removed from my record. He also offered an apology in regards to how they wrongly handled the situation.
So after 2.5 years I've finally been officially diagnosed with SzPD. People are happy for me, but nothing's really changed for me. I still feel awful, but at least there is affirmation of how I've been feeling all this time.
