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Big Trouble in Mental Healthville
Back in April, I decided to take a break from The Cameron Journal. Over the past several months, I’ve spent time healing, recovering, sleeping, and letting my creative energies refill. I’ve lost friends, gained new friends, and finished my first semester of my MFA program. I came back to The Cameron Journal in September, and it was an adjustment because of my new mental health diagnosis.
I finally figured out why I’ve had so many problems in my life. It all started with a random YouTube video late last year. I started watching this channel from this Australian guy named Paul. He does videos on Aspergers/autism, and I was watching one of his videos, and I realized that I had said many of the things he was saying and had similar thoughts. I had never considered myself to be someone on the spectrum. I decided to keep watching. Watching got me thinking that I might be autistic too. I decided to seek a diagnosis.
Seeking Diagnosis
This was no easy thing. I started by calling the Autism Clinic at the University of Washington here in Seattle. I figured that they would be able to help me. I had no luck there. They would treat, but not diagnose. I reached out to contacts and kept calling numbers. Weeks began to pass as the voicemails of people unable to help me kept piling up. I called the other people they recommended. I called the…
