Do I really need my parents' input for a diagnosis at 35? They're not an option for me
Every assessment checklist includes some version of "questionnaire for a parent or someone who knew you as a child." I'm no-contact with my family. That's not changing, and I'm not explaining why to a clinician as the price of admission.
So, practically: how flexible is that requirement? Do old report cards count? A cousin who saw me at Christmases? Nothing at all? Has anyone here been assessed with zero childhood informant — and did it affect the outcome? Québec, 35F. Asking before I book because I'd rather know than be ambushed by a form.
2026-07-16 14:10181 views
2 Comments
keys_are_in_the_freezer
Practical middle option that worked for a friend: an aunt she saw a few times a year filled the informant form with 'observed at family gatherings' framing. Partial informants are a thing. And you never owe the backstory — 'that person isn't available' is a complete sentence that assessors hear weekly.
2026-07-18 12:12 114 views
laundry_chair_phd
Assessed no-contact, zero informants, diagnosed. My assessor's words, roughly: 'the informant questionnaire is one evidence stream, not a gate.' Report cards would've counted; I had none. What carried it: consistent adult presentation + my own detailed childhood recall + a screening of why other explanations fit worse. A good assessor treats estrangement as a data point about your life, not a hole in your file. If a clinic tells you it's mandatory, that's a clinic policy, not the diagnostic criteria — book elsewhere.
2026-07-19 03:25 93 views
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