Looking for advice/understanding
I 21m college student believe that I am high functioning autism/ADHD/Gifted. I had no clue until about 7 months ago or so. I have a therapist that I’ve been seeing on and off for the last 2 years and that’s been great. I self diagnosed through my own research and experiences as well as conversations with neurodivergent people. I experience normal adhd stuff like problems with executive function. I think that I’m also autistic and I have sensory processing disorder, slight social difficulties, feeling alien etc. I struggle with anxiety and sometimes derealization. I’m also aphantasia. I grew up with a stable and quiet home life with good friends, which I believe contributed to me being unaware of my neurodivergence. I’ve also experienced a lot of trauma for someone as young as myself which has contributed to my mental illness. I’ve also struggled with weed use and other cheap dopamine but I’m really trying to improve around that stuff. I also might be a genius. I know that I’m smart, but I might be ≈130-140+. I don’t know for sure, but I think it’s important for me to know because it would mean that I experience the world differently. The main reason for my post today is because I reached out to the psychology department at my university because I wanted to do testing and officially get diagnosed. I got put on a waitlist for like 3 months and just recently they called me and said that they had a spot for me. Then on a phone call a few days later they said that it would cost 800-2000$ depending on the amount of testing, and my health insurance doesn’t cover any of it. This was really frustrating for me because that seems like a ridiculous cost for something that could really improve my quality of life. My parents would maybe do it anyways, but they’re paying a ton of money for my school and I feel bad putting more strain on them. I’ve spent the last 7 or so months hyper fixating on this and thinking about how all the ways I fit these labels, but now idk what to do. I was waiting on a diagnosis to get disability support at my school and I feel like I need confirmation of what I’ve spent so much time thinking about. And not just confirmation but an analysis of the different parts of my neurodivergence and how they contribute to my identity and my experience as a human being. I think that a lot of people come to this page because often being gifted is a complicated thing especially when it comes with other labels. Especially when some of these people are young and lost in the world like myself lol. Any advice or input would be welcome! I’m also just looking for people who understand. **SIDENOTE (Are there people in this community that are gifted but not adhd/autism/mental illness?)
Posted Dec 9, 2025, 8:40 AM UTC