By skyforbes 
A viral post among psychiatrists reveals deep frustration over self-diagnosis, TikTok trends, and the ‘dilution’ of a complex diagnosis.
A psychiatrist recently opened Pandora’s box on a professional forum with a simple, desperate question: “What is ‘autism’ at this point, anyway?”
The question hit a nerve deep within the mental healthcare community. The author, an experienced psychiatrist, outlined a seismic shift: the reliable, pathological criteria of old have been replaced by a cultural phenomenon.
Now, people who are ‘neurotypical’ in every respect want to claim they are autistic… They are flooding not only TikTok and Instagram but also our practices. It has gotten to the point where I literally ignore a patient claiming to be autistic unless I actually observe autistic traits.
