@s0ck_s - There is a phenomenon that happens with med students that when they read the diagnostic manuels, they start self diagnosing themselves with EVERYTHING. you're mind will find what you send it to find. So if you are looking for a disabillity, you can actually manifest the symptoms you are reading about, i have done this. At the end of the day, you just have to say " so what?" does life change that much weather you have autisim or not? it shouldn't. You are not supposed to act differently based on what conditions you have or don't have. I don't act differently becuase I'm OCD, i have some behaviors that are different form other people but everyone does. I don't act differently because I'm an alcoholic ( outside of not drinking) So maybe you have autism, maybe you don't, at the end of the day it doesn't matter. if you can take care of yourself, eat, sleep, work, socialize, who cares if maybe you do it in different ways from other people. i have KNOWN autistic traits, id probably be diagnosed if i saw a doctor... but it would have zero impact on my life, nothing would change if i were diagnosed, so why bother. id still have my sensory issues and my odd social habits, it would change nothing to have a label attached to them, so why concern yourself with the label at all. the society we live in has attached some type of significance to labels that honestly don't matter at all. my nephew is VERY autistc, he couldn't care less, he just lives his life. iv never even heard the word "autistic" come out of his mouth. as far a faking it? who cares? fake it if you want, your life is yours to live how ever you want, faking things is unusual but if your not hurting anyone it really doesn't matter. but to fake something is to knowingly do so. you cant fake something without a premedidtated intent to fake it. you might just be suffering form psychosematic traits due to your over consumption of the literature. reading the dsm-5 in the way you are describing is pretty compulsive, and that's not going to do you any good, it will in fact, only feed your OCD. you seem to have health anxiety/ health related OCD. i have it big time, I'm ALWAYS thinking i have some horrible terminal disease from minor symptoms that could be anything else. iv wasted THOUSANDS on diagnostic tests that always show I'm totally fine, which means I'm literally manifesting my symptoms. very REAL symptoms, rashes, pains, heart flutters, i even manifested and over active bladder for a month lol ( GOD that was a terrible time) but once i was able to pull myself out of my compulsive searching for answers and just accept myself however i was day to day, my body stopped manufacturing "symptoms" and normalcy returned. Your best course of action would be to just accept yourself HOWEVER you are and NOT try to figure out exactly what that may be. just focus on living your life, autistic, normal, disabeled, able bodies, none of it matters if you are able to find a way to be positive and live your life.
