Autism Misdiagnosed As Bipolar Disorder

Thanks for this. 72, and just finding out I’m not bipolar.

My deceased mom is a good example of this. She was diagnosed as bi polar for 50 years . Never got any better. The more I learned about autism from another family members condition, it seemed that my mother was autistic. The meds for no polar never worked on her.

I appreciate hearing differering experiences about autism diagnosis. Your shows are very insghtful. I am a black woman with a dual diagnosis of autism and ADD. I was diagnosed ADD at 11 years old. I didn't rceive my autism diagnosis until the age of 35. Last year. I was diagnosed bipolar at 19, put on strong antipsychotics until I demanded they took me off them at age 33. I showed symtpoms at an early age but everythings was considered a weird quirk or temper tantrum. All my meltdowns were seen as bipolar episodes and I was highly overmedicated. Spent half my life as a zombie and I still feel like I'm meeting a new person. I learn a little more about her each day. It's been extremely hard to meet this new person but watching videos like yours lets me know that I'm not alone. Thanks for that.

I relate so much to so much of what you guys are saying. I didn't get a bipolar diagnosis,although at one point I did wonder if that was what I had going on, and years later I was mentioning my cptsd diagnosis (which I'd had for quite a while and I thought I'd been very clear about) and my mum was like "oh, I thought you had bipolar" which was upsetting because it said so much about how attentive my mum is and how much she takes notice of me. I got misdiagnosed with bpd. Just got my ADHD+ASD diagnosis and I'm 50 and female. My family didn't want to know about me when I was a deeply struggling teenager and I ended up homeless at 16 and I just had to figure out how to survive. Being a near-mute Autist, that was hard! I just got taken to task by one of my adult children, my oldest daughter, she was like "you are always trying to diagnose yourself" and I said"Yes, I'v been trying to figure out what the?!" Because, I've had no help from so-called "professionals", I've had to figure it out myself and then tell the clinicians what's what. Basically I have to tell them how to do their job for me because otherwise nothing gets done to help me. It's been like that for years. I'm pretty PDA-y too. I love helping people though. I have a lot of grown children and many, if not all of them are neurodivergent.

Hyper verbal , oh my gosh , me ! I can find a way to connect with someone and stay on top of the direction of the conversation so I can stay in control and mask. I over disclose to people and that is what gets me banged around. Autist are 58 times more likely to be bullied than the average person. As a woman it got me hurt pretty bad. The trusting nature the inability to sense someones true intent . I am Genx and only recently got diagnosed . The world is messed up and we are here to point that out and to prove evolution .

I'm self diagnosed, no need for a doctor on it lol, it's been a relief to see that's why I am so different, all my weird cworks are in a way normal, I'm not messed up lol, and now 1 of my children are just like me, I have masked all the time, with my wife, at work, at church....until 3 years ago I just drank to cope with it, and it was destroying my health but when I drank masking was less tiresome and now I'm just exhausted all the time, I'm hoping I can help direct him to a carrier that matches his interests, I want him to be able to integrate his self more than me, my little brother pointed me to autism, he has said we were both autistic for over 10 years and I always took it as a joke but now that I have a son like me I had to take a real look at it, ty guys for content like this

PSA if/when you choose to, please be so careful not to go off of your benzo meds cold turkey, as this can lead to horrible even life threatening withdrawal symptoms. Additionally to tapering off of benzos, please also look into tapering slowly off of any SSRIs that you may be taking, if/when you decide that you want/need to stop taking them. Also, read the literature: benzos are not safe to take longterm. I'm aware that this comment may seem off topic, but if you read this and find yourself wanting to stop any of these types of psych meds pls do your own research. I'm posting this here in hopes to save lives. Take care. ❤🙏

Same, same, same!!! I love your conversation! Please do it again! /your adhd+autism friend in Sweden 👋😀

Incredible conversation. Im 24, I've been diagnosed for 2 years now, and ive seen many hundreds of videos regarding autism and people's autistic experience ever since. I can't believe that I could somehow find someone who could push the bar and explain a life that i can relate with to an ever deeper extent. I am listening things from my life which i didn't even know i had forgotten. Honestly i cannot praise you guys enough, I can speak for everyone when I say there's nothing more healing and peaceful than hearing autstic experiences and ofc certainly your guy's experiences. One day i will do the same. I see two warriors with strength powerful enough to inspire people, who've also managed to accumulated a level of wisdom profound enough that your words alone will even reach those who don't want to listen. Tha was a bit extra, but honestly not really. Thank you.

I've also been depressed since 13

When he said the first med he was put on was Depakote, I almost fell out of my chair. ME TOO!!! I was 16 and it forced me into what I can only describe (in bipolar terms) as a destructive mixed episode. This was amazing. I've been diagnosed with bipolar and BPD and been put on every mood medication under the sun, but since discovering the misdiagnosis rates I've been tapering down on all three types of medications he's talking about (SSRIs, anti-psychotics, anti-convulsants) and I feel not only the exact same baseline, but I'm getting so much creative energy back. This was SO helpful, thank you to both of you, I will be bringing this up with my psychiatrist next time I see him. :D

Best show yet Thomas!!! I learned so much as a mother of an Autistic daughter. Thank you

I am currently just self diagnosed but have shed many silent tears as I have been listening. As it’s been making sense of things that I have been really hard on myself for. Most potently and beautifully I truly feel your earnestness when you say “I want to be my best self.” And I wonder if that’s almost like a fixation. I started rucking with a weight vest and Nordic poles and I increase the weight and distance as my body conditions because I am an ‘overdo-er’ and I genuinely have a tough time knowing when I go too hard. What you said about living in a different time… I have said often I would have been a great cage fighter. Who says this?? But it’s true. There’s just so much that resonated in the subtle ways that only ppl like us can connect the dots the way we do. Thank you for being so open and candid and honest.

Appreciate this conversations. Two autistic bros chatting. I like a lot of the things bros like(and sometimes fit in when I get really good at the bro thing) but have never felt like a bro.

Both of you gave me great insights that i have been blind to. The open genuine conversation is so appreciated . I am trying to piece together what disregulates me and it is difficult because I do not have the early warning alerts so by the time i recognize something is bothering me it is pretty much too late. I understand better from hearting others experiences as i understand and can feel others much better than myself. Thank you.

I am fine with my autism but would give anything to get well from ME

i worked in restaurants with a high enough i.q.that i could have gone to uni/college the physical work was a workout and i got praise for doing it well. i never drove a car, i was so clumsy at school i was never picked for sport, i barely coped with life, living in a constant hypervigilant state, masking and highly dysregulated in my family relationships, up until i had a planned baby aged 39. My mum who was my only emotional supporter died two years later and i've been drowning ever since. i still struggle to advocate for myself, i stuggle to create a routine. i've been told i could easily get help if i had a substance abuse problem. Nobody seems to know what to do with me, diagnosed AUADHD aged 50. still drowning one year later, does anyone know of advocates in nz?

Listening to Brandon talk about how it feels for him when he trains sounded like he was describing me when I train.

Working out is really a life saver for me. It overall became a special interest to me, because I loved feeling more in control of my body, especially after surviving cancer as a ten year old and at first believing, that I'll never be able to do sports properly again. Going to the gym just became a routine for me and I learned to mostly just ignore everyone else, as long as we do not need to interact and just do my thing and enjoy seeing the steady progress. What initially really got me into sports in my early 20's after doing a few swing dancing classes over some years, was martial arts. I started training Hung Gar Kung Fu and through that learned how much potential I actually have and that kind of training really became a special interest to me. The hard as nails training, actual fighting and learning how to meditate and regulate through movements and breathing also helped a lot (even though I still had no idea that I had Autism and ADHD) and combined with all the culture and history behind it, I could really train that stuff on different levels and learn stuff Incared about. But even though objectively those guys really were extremely fit, skilled and good at what they did, they as it is often done sadly abused all the cool cultural stuff and the small rituals to control their students. There is absolutely nothing wrong with not letting certain cultural norms die out, especially if they enhance a sport or an art and give it more depth, but so often even objectively good and skilled martial arts schools just slowly become culty and really toxic behind the scenes. It really pisses me off, that I basically can not train any style of eastern based martial arts, without a high risk of stumbling into a damn cult of personality. And what's even more sad is that the chance gets higher, the more skilled the instructors are, because they start buying into the more toxic and stupid aspects, that got brought here and should not have any place in the west.

I am trippin on your song choices, guys. Awesome podcast! Brandon, you're a beautifully complex yet simple machine of a man with a huge heart. Thomas, you are such a kind soul with a wicked streak. 😆 Love that you're doing these videos. It helps people like me who constantly seek truth and answers. I love that you guys found your passions, embraced your strengths, and conquer struggles on a daily basis. You're both an incredible inspiration to me. Keep being you.