LAVENDER GLASS

AFROPUNK Festival

Educator, Activist, & Breast Cancer Survivor, Ericka Hart 

Brooklyn, NY

August 2017

So apparently it’s time for another self dx info post because people are gross

INFO:

basics

self diagnosis isn’t looking at one post and going “hey thats me, im autistic”

self diagnosis includes research and introspection

self diagnosis of multiple disorders is reasonable - comorbidity is common (see: autism and ADHD, ADHD and SPD, many personality disorders with each other, though more than one is rarely diagnosed due to overlapping traits)

self diagnosis doesn’t take away resources from anyone

the only people who don’t take a disorder seriously “because of” self diagnosis don’t take it seriously anyway

the DSM is available online

it doesn’t matter if they’re wrong - if they’re self diagnosing it’s because they had a problem and the resources and coping mechanisms within ____ community helped them. 

re: doctors

many doctors refuse to diagnose

a lot of these reasons are racism and sexism

some traits/symptoms are internal and are therefore not seen by doctors

doctors diagnose based on behavior. people self-dx based on.. behavior.

re: racism, classism, sexism

many poc (especially black people) are diagnosed with “being {race}”

many people who are perceived as girls won’t be diagnosed because {sexist reason such as ‘girls cant get autism’ - yes thats a real reason people have been denied diagnosis}