I used to identify as autistic, Aspie. Bipolar, PTSD, PDD-NOS. Part 1

My name is Xanthe Wyse.
My main current diagnoses are bipolar disorder (type 1) and post-traumatic stress disorder. Also diagnosed social anxiety disorder (currently mild) and now PDD-NOS (but below threshold for Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD).
I vlog mainly about my lived experience vs what clinicians have told me. Share my insights. I am probably a little 'elevated' in this video with mood, hence a bit more animated, making more 'eye contact' with camera etc.
I used to call myself Aspie for Aspergers after my son's clinicians said most likely but they don't diagnose adults. I identified as Aspie/autistic for over 5 years, even rejecting the bipolar diagnosis and insisting I was autistic. It's actually in some old 2017 videos, which I uploaded.
After two autism assessments 4 years apart (psychologist, psychiatrist), the psychiatrist said I fit PDD-NOS under the DSM-IV framework but he calls such presentations 'neurodivergence' these days (and in my case, also 'highly sensitive person'). New Zealand uses both DSM-IV and DSM-V. This psychiatrist said I am 'definitely on the autism spectrum with clinically significant features' but am below threshold for Aspergers and ASD. He said I have a 'complicated' presentation.
Anyway, I am not going back to calling myself autistic, as it's been overrun by identity politics. Some social media influencers with no childhood history who claimed to be diagnosed Aspergers then calling themselves autistic have profitted from posing as experts. One recently admitted that never been assessed.
I waste quite a bit of my time observing ideology as one of my 'special interests.' I am interested in cult-like dynamics and this happens online.
Strangers who subscribed to neurodiversity identity politics called me autistic in denial and said I was misdiagnosed bipolar. I even went to extent to save up for an assessment to check again. A psychiatrist went through all relevant medical records (hundreds of pages) plus did assessment. Bipolar and PTSD are still my main diagnoses.
I have seen some neurodiversity affirmative online outfits pop up that charge way more than what the psychiatrist did to 'affirm'/'confirm'/'discover' autism. People are so desperate for validation that they will pay for something that isn't even recognised here in New Zealand.
My books:
www.bipolarcourage.com/books.html
#nautistic
#noughtism
#autism
#neurodivergent
#diagnosis