New study finds online self-reports may not accurately reflect clinical autism diagnoses. Adults who report high levels of autistic traits through online surveys may not reflect the same social behaviors or clinical profppliles as those who have been formally diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

[u/snow03]

https://www.psypost.org/new-study-finds-online-self-reports-may-not-accurately-reflect-clinical-autism-diagnoses/

[u/cthedoc]

I am extremely not surprised...

[u/AvocadosFromMexico_ → u/cthedoc]

New study finds water is wet and trees are made of wood.

[u/NotAModelCitizen → u/AvocadosFromMexico_]

I did an online self-assessment and I learned I was a tree. Palm to be specific.

[u/itmustbeniiiiice]

Yes, I’m glad there are studies being published about this trend I’m sure many of us have experienced empirically. The online discourse around ASD and ADHD is so exhausting.

[u/Freudian_Split → u/itmustbeniiiiice]

It’s seriously so tiring. At the very least, having some data to point to so I can justify not referring every moderately social awkward person for an ADOS is helpful. 🤷‍♂️

[u/scuba_tron → u/itmustbeniiiiice]

“AuDHD”

[u/Dolamite9000 → u/scuba_tron]

It’s the new DID.

[u/AttorneySevere9116 → u/Dolamite9000]

true story, i had 3 people in a 12 person class say they had DID. mind you it was literally a social psych lab.

[u/MattersOfInterest → u/AttorneySevere9116]

wtaf

[u/AttorneySevere9116 → u/MattersOfInterest]

i thought it was a social experiment. i was truly speechless.

[u/missshellfire → u/scuba_tron]

AuADHD is one that really gets me

[u/hkgrl123 → u/missshellfire]

Why? They are very comorbid

[u/Bapepsi]

Shocker!

[u/KULawHawk]

No one should be surprised by this unless you rely on tik tok for your expertise.

The same crowd also relying on online quizzes to determine which Sex and the City character they are.

[u/revolutionutena]

What a surprise….

[u/MattersOfInterest]

Unfortunately, it won't stop all the diagnosis shopping. Anecdotally, the number of folks I've seen around just talking about how "so many providers just didn't believe that I have ADHD/autism--it took like five evaluations before someone finally properly diagnosed me and got me on medication, and now my life is so much easier!" Like sure, people can be--and are--misdiagnosed, and there are legitimate concerns about symptoms presenting differently in some demographic groups...but when 4 different properly qualified individuals failed to diagnose you with a relatively common disorder, maybe you just didn't like the answers you were getting and shopped around until you found one you did. Also--everyone's lives would be easier on a legal dose of stimulant medication. Perhaps yours is genuinely easier in a way that suggests you were previously barely holding together and things were much harder than normal. Or perhaps your life was a normal level of hard and what you're feeling now is just stimulants doing stimulant things.

[u/unicornofdemocracy → u/MattersOfInterest]

it took like five evaluations before someone finally properly diagnosed me

I always think its funny with people brag about that, because my number #1 assumption is the person was diagnosis fishing and finally found someone poorly trained enough to diagnose them.

[u/Regular_Bee_5605 → u/MattersOfInterest]

You're right about everyone's lives being easier on stimulants. That raises the question for me of why it's so unacceptable to use them for other things that they can help with, such as chronic fatigue, treatment-resistant depression (used to be the widest use for stimulants and sometimes still is off-label) and more. It seems there's a moral judgment because "drugs bad." Why shouldn't adults be able to decide for themselves? Stimulants aren't that dangerous physically compared to many other less restricted medications, either.

[u/psychologicallyblue → u/Regular_Bee_5605]

There are risks. I've encountered more than one patient who was misusing prescription stimulants and ended up with much bigger problems than what they started with.

[u/georgecostanzalvr → u/Regular_Bee_5605]

They are used for those things, but the issue is that they have negative side effects and are addictive.

[u/GeneralizedFlatulent → u/georgecostanzalvr]

So do antidepressants. While you might not be likely to "take too many" antidepressants, they can be physiologically "addictive" and require a taper. It can be literally dangerous to not pick up your refill. 

So, to me, with stimulants you have to follow up with your doctor way more often. People who end up abusing the drug should be taken off of it, but I think people should probably be able to give it a shot. I think lots of people probably wouldn't end up with addictive problem behaviors same as lots of people don't become alcoholics. Since it's so gatekepy this is probably safer than alcohol. Our war on drugs is stupid.

I say this as someone with adhd who also has thyroid problems and if I didn't have stimulant medication I would have really struggled to continue adulting at all when thyroid was acting up for over a year before I got medication. I had adhd before but not the extreme crushing fatigue no matter how much sleep I got. I feel bad for people who end up with extreme crushing fatigue causing conditions who didn't have pre existing adhd, if that was me I probably would have just ended up homeless 

[u/Regular_Bee_5605 → u/georgecostanzalvr]

Very true. I'm prescribed them myself and have to constantly be on guard against the temptation to use them for an energy boost to get through a particularly tough day etc.

[u/GeneralizedFlatulent → u/Regular_Bee_5605]

There's caffeine for that 

[u/Interesting-Pea-1714 → u/Regular_Bee_5605]

the real reason is that it would raise our expectations around productivity proportionally higher. and while that would be great for corporations, i don’t think it would be good for human beings.

[u/Regular_Bee_5605 → u/Interesting-Pea-1714]

Lol, good point. It'd be nice if productivity expectations were the same (or lower) than they are now, but one could still have an easier time being productive with less struggle and therefore have more time to concentrate on what brings them meaning and fulfillment. Of course, as you mentioned, our society wouldn't accept that and would raise the expectation to achieve more and make more money for our corporate overlords.

[u/Interesting-Pea-1714 → u/Regular_Bee_5605]

yea exactly lol. like it sounds great in theory but would def be just used to exploit people even more. so i think it would only be a net negative atleast in the near future

[u/Anxious_Date_39]

There are helpful takeaways from this article and research, but they literally say in there that self-report should not be discounted or dismissed. 

[u/deplorable_word]

Shhhhhhhhhhhocking

[u/ZookeepergameThat921]

Welcome to modern psychology. Once you see how ridiculous it is, it’s hard to see anything else.

[u/hkgrl123 → u/ZookeepergameThat921]

It was always a ridiculous guessing game.

[u/Glittering_Tie_6199]

I understand online self-report is good for people who don’t really want to go in-person. But seriously diagnosis should not be through online forms.

[u/DrUnwindulaxPhD]

AND WATER IS WET