Therese Lindgren: – Talking about autism diagnosis

Therese Lindgren (35) Since it started in 2013, it has become one of the biggest YouTubers and influencers in Sweden. On her YouTube channel, she shares everything from little to big, and has been open, among other things, about her struggles with mental health issues.

Lindgren has been particularly open that she has experienced panic attacks, and said she has used alcohol for a while as a form of self-medication.

– I have to be very careful. For example, I can’t have a bottle of wine at home, because I drink it in the morning, she said at the time in 2016.

new diagnosis

to me Express Lindgren recently told that she had been diagnosed with autism on an Instagram Live.

She now opens up in a new YouTube video about her reaction after the investigation.

– I was a little sad after the investigation. I had a picture of myself and when I read what’s written here, it’s not the same Therese I made myself known to, she says as she reads aloud the papers from the psychologist.

After a short while, Lindgren’s view of diagnosis notice appears to have changed. She made it clear at the end of the video that she is no longer upset with the diagnosis, but now believes it will help her in the future.

“My ass is out”

I am absolutely convinced that it will help me greatly in accepting myself, now that I know I have autism. So instead of working against it, I’m going to try to work with it. I just have to know that side of myself too.

There is an increase in referrals

Roald A. can. Owen, professor of developmental psychology at UiT, Yale and the Regional Expert Network for Autism, ADHD, and Tourette, tells us that it’s becoming unusual for women to get an autism diagnosis in adulthood, as Lindgren has now received.

The vast majority of diagnostic criteria are based on knowledge about boys. For a girl to be diagnosed early, the severity of symptoms must be so great that they meet the criteria based on boys.

What we know so far is that women are better at masking symptoms. Girls are better socially than boys, even when there is a diagnosis of autism, he says and adds:

Al-Kashif: This is how they met

Girls are often also better at what we call “scripting”. This means that you copy others in social settings. By doing this, it may appear that you have better social skills than you actually do.

Øien can also tell us that there has been an increase in referrals to women over the age of 20. He emphasizes that not everyone who gets screened is diagnosed, but today more adult men and women are being diagnosed.

It doesn’t necessarily mean that there are more people with autism, but we are better at capturing those who have it. We’ve also gotten better at understanding what autism is and what it isn’t.