Seeking diagnosis, what to expect?

Hi all,

I don't really know what prompted it, but in my late 30s and made an appointment with GP to discuss possible autism and inattentive adhd diagnosis.

What is the general process like to actually have a formal diagnosis (or not as the case may be)? How long could this take?

It's something that I have wondered about in the past and maybe part of me has intentionally resisted going down this road as for large parts of my life I've not felt comfortable in my own skin, and just wanted to be "normal", but to get an autism diagnosis would mark me as "not normal" - silly I know.

I've had periods of depression, anxiety, and insomnia in my life. And struggling with extreme executive dysfunction at times (including now) which has led me to wonder about inattentive adhd. I hadn't ever realised until the past few weeks that it is common for these to be linked to autism. Or a big coincidence of course.

From my mid 20s or so, I think I developed ways of managing life generally, got better routines, sleep improved etc as I got older. I built more resilience I guess and now I have a family, career, house etc. I suppose I am able to pass as a generally functioning adult human.

I think a series of life events have maybe challenged my ability to cope, and cumulatively have had an impact. Maybe I'm wrong, but I also think if I asked people I'm close to if they think I'm autistic or told them if I got a diagnosis, they would probably say it was obvious!

Now I have a child, I'm conscious of lots of things... not being able to interact with him in the same way my wife does or see other parents do with their kids. Getting more frustrated in some situations than I should. And also, if they were to be autistic (no obvious signs) then I want to support them better too. I realise just having a diagnosis doesn't solve everything, or provide a cure.