Is it possible to feel more autistic/ADHD after a diagnosis?
Not much is talked about how life is after the label is confirmed, as so much energy and media focus is on waiting for the formal diagnosis. However clients report feeling as though all the dials have been turned up and life is extremely vivid in many ways. These experiences are normal and need more attention so they can be validated.
It isn’t that we become more neurodivergent, but there certainly is an awareness that feels switched on and turn up to the max.
Sensory sensitivities in particular appear heightened and tolerance to many aspects of life feels less.
It is as though a light has been shone onto what was behind the mask, buried even from yourself.
Being in a restaurant, at your desk at work, with friends, can suddenly feel too much or challenging in a way that was tolerable before.
First thing to say is that this does pass. The intensity calms over time and it is OK to feel a bit destabilised by this experience.
Go steady and find a trusted person to share that you feel a bit different, more sensitive or simply wobbly, even if you don’t feel ready to share your diagnosis, it helps to be around ‘safe’ people.
This is a time for permission giving to yourself. You have just found out about how your brain works and even though deep down you knew it, there is always an element of doubt, “what if I am making this up?”.
Relief, anger, grief, fear are just some of the emotions clients have shared about how they have felt after a diagnosis. Tread gently as it is a lot to take in.
Support with a neurodivergent therapist can help to detangle and process this news. Help to grieve for the life that could have been if you had known, and for looking ahead with this new lens that is affirming and validating.
The dials do return to a more tolerable level, but with awareness that reduces the draining energy that constant masking can cause.
Life ahead will continue with choices more aligned with who you are, once you have had space to process where you are now.
