PsychoNot

Yes, which is the point. Face valid, self-report measures for rare psychiatric disorders are extremely problematic and subject to misinterpretation. Lie to doctors for fun all you want, but if you actually want an answer to this question you’ll need to be clear about your symptoms and you will need a qualified professional to walk you through the diagnostic process.

Please get a better assessment and differential before you make any conclusions about yourself. The HARE is very old. The PCL-R is more recent and draws from some of the original HARE development. Even so, that instrument alone is not enough to make a diagnosis like that and you’d need convergent validity from other measures and at least a clinical interview. Again, true psychopathy is exceedingly rare and because of it’s nature, less studied than other conditions.

There are also many things that can look like psychopathy and aren’t including trauma, severe attachment issues and narcissistic personality disorder.

While autistic people do have some struggles with perspective taking, the “theory of mind” concept is still hotly debated. Is it still a theory of mind issue if an autistic person does not engage in perspective taking automatically, but can do so with intentional attention and / or coaching? That symptom is neither necessary or sufficient for an autism dx.

And for your other comment, lying happens for so many reasons it’s not a useful symptom either. Neurodiverse people lie all the time to get neurotypical off their back or avoid explains why, for example, trying to converse over the rattle of the fridge motor makes them want to punch things.

I don’t think this will answer your question directly, but Misdiagnosis Mondays has a good series on differential diagnoses and is generally good information.

https://neurodivergentinsights.com/misdiagnosis-monday/?srsltid=AfmBOoq306GEP_3YnMoTEwI--5eAwjVxqTfYpcHV3xicFTS9yrIAV85X

Don’t forget to include base rates in your calculations. Autism estimates can be as high as ~1 in 20 or 30 (for AMAB) depending on how you measure it and Psycopathy is far lower even accounting for measurement challenges. Also, the HARE, even the updated one, is more than 40 years old. I would be very suspicious of people using that measure clinically.

Anecdotally, autistic people can be prone to overly concrete / dichotomous answers on some measures, which leads some to endorse actions or thoughts they have had, but occur extremely rarely, when the measure is asking about a prominent and repeated symptom.

It is possible to be both, but there are many things that distinguish the conditions. Also, if a person is autistic and has not had that understand or proper accommodations, then “antisocial” habits that develop out of self-protection may be misconstrued as pathological personality traits.

This is a deep and nuanced conversation and it would be worth deconstructing your answers on the HARE with a therapist or someone who knows you well to see if your perceptions of your symptoms match with other’s perceptions.

I’m not in Europe so I don’t have a whole lot of knowledge about the healthcare system or how to direct you unfortunately. In terms of books I like Devon Price’s Unmasking Autism (one of the best for describing the experience of adults on the spectrum) and for younger AFAB folks I like Spectrum Girls Survival guide. I have skimmed and liked Field Guide to Earthlings but haven’t read it completely.

Also it’s a small organization but Autism Learning Lab is building some nice resources and education. I still believe a full formal social developmental assessment is helpful, but it’s expensive and if you don’t find the right practitioner they can still miss the boat. I tend to advise people to ask a lot of questions about their clinician’s expertise and experience with autism. Learning subtle signs beforehand and asking if they are aware of the “pink flags” etc. described here could help.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34121610/

I work in the field and am constantly shocked at the number of otherwise skilled practitioners that have a huge blind spots for autism, especially mild or low support need individuals.

The thing about masking is that it can also hide “impairment” so a good diagnostician should ask about the ways you might mask and the physical and emotional costs of the masking. Sure you can socialize with the best of them, but are you a hollowed out shell at the end of the day? Does the masking leave you with zero resources for your hobbies, less capacity to deal with stress, and burnout? High maskers tend to have higher burnout because they are working hard to function in a world that expects them to appear counter to their nature. All too often someone can appear to function typically but a few times a month or a year they have epic drops in functioning and can’t get out of bed or leave their dark room. They’re diagnosed with depression, which admittedly can be exacerbated by burnout. However, treating burnout with depression coping skills might miss the mark. Anyway, this is a huge frustration for me professionally and I’m sorry you are dealing with it.

I’ve had plenty of men tell me they refuse a vasectomy because it would impact their testosterone production… which is just not true, not how the body works, and has been proven over and over. So despite the procedure being the better choice for their family planning etc, they make choices that are less safe, less effective, or offload the family planning to their partners because they’re unscientifically afraid their masculinity will be affected.

I’ve been listening to a ton of Sleep Token. I don’t really follow the cult lore around them, but the music is fantastic.

It takes about 5 half lives to clear 95% of a substance from your system. A quick google says the half life varies from 5-21hrs, so even if you’re on the slower end, a week should do it.

If you’ve been on it for a very long time then your CNS may need more time to get back to baseline, but you probably don’t need a perfectly clean slate to assess if a new medication works for you. Plus, switching from a nonstim to a stimulant is a totally different class of drug and you should feel the effects of a stimulant fairly quickly.

Just make sure you time and dose correctly to avoid messing up your sleep.

I used to keep fish. I loved learning about the nitrogen cycle, setting up the co2 diffuser, balancing tank parameters, designing the filtration system, researching, purchasing, and acclimating exotic fish. Fascinating, colorful and compelling. But once the set up was done and I had a mature tank I was bored and dreaded basic maintenance. The fish didn’t deserve a subpar home so I did my best, but when we moved and sold the set up, I never went back.

Ouch! Well, if you’re up, may as well read:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4195638/

There’s a lot of research suggesting cis women with ADHD have symptoms (and metabolism of stimulant medications) fluctuate with hormone cycles. It’s not talked about enough that HRT would cause similar issues for trans fem folks. There isn’t great research on just how those effects would show up for trans people, but it’s reasonable to assume they would.

Conversely, estrogen and the like can mitigate psychotic symptoms so maybe that’s a side bonus?