ST, Man Diagnosed with Autism at 42 Felt Like a ‘Zombie’ After Doctors ‘Misdiagnosed and Mismedicated’ Him for Years (Exclusive)

For 42 years, Tyler Barnett tells PEOPLE he lived his life “feeling like an imposter.”

Labeled “gifted” as a child and later diagnosed with anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder, the public relations specialist from Calabasas, Calif., spent decades trying to make sense of a brain no one, including himself, fully understood.

It wasn’t until April 13, 2026, when he was officially diagnosed with level 1 autism and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), that everything finally fell into place.

Long before being diagnosed, there was a persistent feeling of being on the outside looking in, he says. Especially as a child, Barnett remembers recognizing the gap between himself and others in quiet, defining moments.

“I was watching a group of kids link arms and jump up and down and laugh…they were doing something from a movie I hadn’t seen or something. I was on the outside just watching,” he says, recalling a childhood memory. “I didn’t really understand why they were doing that or why it was fun, but I felt like I didn’t get it or didn’t know how to fit in.”

Looking back, what stands out the most to him from that moment is how quickly adults guided him toward conformity. “I was told I should be integrating with everyone else and something was basically wrong with me if I didn’t, so I think that’s when the pretending started,” he shares.

Over time, Barnett learned that to survive, he had to constantly “make other people comfortable around me.” That meant watching, adjusting and copying behaviors that didn’t come naturally, just to avoid standing out or being misunderstood.

What started as a coping mechanism eventually became second nature, even as it slowly pulled him further away from who he actually was.

Barnett describes a school experience where he managed to get by academically, not through traditional learning, but through instinct and pattern recognition.

“Somehow — likely because of my strong autistic pattern recognition — I was able to pass every test by basically guessing the answers,” he explains. “So I got by, didn’t act unusual and survived, but I was invisible from the outside. Internally, I was in so much pain, exhausted, confused, scared and hiding it all.”

That hidden exhaustion didn’t fade with time. Instead, it compounded. As Barnett moved into adulthood, the gap between how he appeared and how he felt on the inside widened, eventually leading him to a series of diagnoses that never fully fit — each one followed by treatments that often made things worse rather than better.

In his 20s, Barnett was treated for anxiety and depression, but the medications didn’t align with how his brain functioned. Instead of relief, he experienced new problems, facing addiction and worsening mental health.

By his 30s, after another breaking point, Barnett was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which came with intense medications.

After years of mismedication, Barnett tells PEOPLE, he was left feeling like a “zombie.”

Even as he sought help during that time, moving between therapists and specialists, Barnett felt that the “core” issue was being missed. Conversations with professionals often focused on life events and external stressors, rather than the underlying neurological differences shaping his experiences.

“I saw a lot of therapists, and the thing about therapy is you can’t therapize yourself out of autism,” he says. “You can talk about your life and your problems and your parents, etc., but this is not seeing the forest for the trees. So while therapy was helpful, it actually pulled me further from the truth.”

Everything, however, began to shift after his 10-year-old daughter “regularly” started suggesting he might have autism.

Having never considered the possibility before, Barnett decided to ask ChatGPT how he would know — and what started as curiosity quickly gave way to clarity.

“That was it, I knew immediately,” he recalls.

Soon after, Barnett underwent extensive psychological testing and received an official diagnosis of level 1 autism and ADHD on April 13, 2026. In a now-viral video, the 42-year-old recorded himself overwhelmed with emotions after receiving the news.

“Today I found out that I’m autistic and I have ADHD…I always have, and nothing’s wrong with me,” Barnett said in the clip while holding back tears. “I’ve been mislabeled and mismedicated, and misdiagnosed. I have tried to figure this out myself and I’m so relieved.”

With that new understanding came a profound shift in how Barnett views himself. The narrative he had tried to internalize for years — that he was “broken” or needed “fixing” — began to finally fade away.

“I couldn’t fix myself no matter what I did — and I tried a lot, for a long time,” he admits. “And now I know there is nothing to fix…I am a zebra, not a broken horse.”

Equally life-changing was finally receiving the right treatment. After years on medications that didn’t serve him, Barnett’s diagnosis led to a new approach, one that worked with his brain instead of against it.

“Once I got my diagnosis, I was taken off the bipolar meds and put on ADHD meds, which was a game changer,” he tells PEOPLE.

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Today, although Barnett acknowledges that challenges still exist, they no longer come with confusion or self-blame. Instead, they are being integrated into a clearer sense of identity and purpose.

“As I get back to my true self, I can see clearly I am perfect as I am. The world just couldn’t meet me where I was,” he tells PEOPLE. “Because when you understand autism and ADHD for exactly what they are, they can stop becoming a disability and become a superpower.”