Back in the fall of 2019, after a lot of inner turmoil, I asked to be evaluated for autism because of my social difficulties and sensory issues. After 3 days of tests and interviews, they sent me home with a diagnosis of Bipolar 2, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and Gender Dysphoria. At first I was grateful to have any sort of label and treatment plan, but after a while I was starting to think that this set of diagnoses might not exactly fit me.

I fought with myself again, thinking I was being greedy if I asked for a second opinion, or maybe some sort of weird autism-appropriating hypochondriac. But eventually I reached out to my psychiatrist and asked what I could do in terms of getting a second look.

She referred me to a place I didn't recognize, it was different from the place I'd gone last time. However, I soon saw that it was the same doctor as before, just under a different practice. This made me nervous, maybe she'd recognize me and take it as an insult that I didn't trust her diagnoses???

Today, though, I had my first appointment with her. She told me that she was really glad that I sought re-evaluation, and that the reason she'd left the practice I'd been seen by last time was because her superiors (who had maybe spent 5 minutes with me as opposed to the 8 hours this lady did) would veto her diagnoses and alter her reports. She told me that my case was one that had been bugging her because she didn't feel I got the right treatment, but she was at the mercy of her boss.

It was incredibly comforting to hear this, and it made me feel a lot better about fighting for this second eval!! Plus, since I've worked with this lady once before, I'm way more comfortable this time around. My next appointment is in July and I'm thinking this eval will be the last one I need. Things worked out :)