• Replies 13 replies
  • Subscribers 81 subscribers
  • Views 3609 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

Not understanding how I feel?

Goatworshiper

I would never describe myself as suffering with anxiety, but i've just read a bit of a book on amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asperger-Syndrome-Anxiety-Successful-Management/dp/184310895X/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337544870&sr=1-4 page 195) and that is my way of behaving in social situations as a child. I just didnt enjoy playing, but I'd never thought of it as anxiety.

One of the things I keep seeing in relation to anxiety and depression, but to be truthful I  feel more muddled. That's If I have AS (which im 99.999999999% sure I have). Did anyone else through the time of going through diagnosis feel unsure about there identity? I feel a bit weird on this front.

Can anyone recomend any decent books in relation to this or just good general Autism/Aspergers books for adults. I've been cautious not to read so far, as I dont want to influence a diagnosis. I don't want a false diagnosis if you know what I mean. But sod it, curiosity is getting the better of me.

Parents

  • LOL!

    I was exactly the same before my diagnosis!

    "Do I have it? I think I do, but I don't know for sure, 100%, that I do"

    And even after diagnosis, I still had "What if they got it wrong?!" running through my head!

    Particularly when I read about things that are meant to be key characteristics of being on the spectrum to which I thought "I don't have/do that!"

    For example, I also don't feel I'm anxious, though people keep on telling me I am! But then I asked my self "Do I know what 'anxious' even means?!" and I realised I don't!

    But I do worry about things - maybe this is what neurotypicals mean by being anxious? I don't know! Oh well.

    But then, something that is also a characteristic of being on the spectrum is not knowing what a feeling feels like! So maybe I am anxious, but I just don't know it!

    Also, it's said that we have an enlarged Amygdala (the part in the brain that 'feels' emotion and coordinates the appropriate level fight/flight/freeze response) but also one that has fewer connections to and from the Frontal Cortex (where the concious 'us' resides).

    How that fits in, I don't know (but kinda makes sense).

    Regarding reading up, I think you're right to be cautious, I too tried to stop myself from reading too much, for fear of getting a false-positive diagnosis, however I realised that I was also 99.9999999...% sure I had Asperger's precisely because I already knew a lot about it and it was the only thing that I'd ever found that 'fit'.

    I suspect, like me, you've spent a portion of your life researching psychology and psychiatry in a completely non-formal way in order to try to answer the question "why am I not 'normal'?"

Reply

  • LOL!

    I was exactly the same before my diagnosis!

    "Do I have it? I think I do, but I don't know for sure, 100%, that I do"

    And even after diagnosis, I still had "What if they got it wrong?!" running through my head!

    Particularly when I read about things that are meant to be key characteristics of being on the spectrum to which I thought "I don't have/do that!"

    For example, I also don't feel I'm anxious, though people keep on telling me I am! But then I asked my self "Do I know what 'anxious' even means?!" and I realised I don't!

    But I do worry about things - maybe this is what neurotypicals mean by being anxious? I don't know! Oh well.

    But then, something that is also a characteristic of being on the spectrum is not knowing what a feeling feels like! So maybe I am anxious, but I just don't know it!

    Also, it's said that we have an enlarged Amygdala (the part in the brain that 'feels' emotion and coordinates the appropriate level fight/flight/freeze response) but also one that has fewer connections to and from the Frontal Cortex (where the concious 'us' resides).

    How that fits in, I don't know (but kinda makes sense).

    Regarding reading up, I think you're right to be cautious, I too tried to stop myself from reading too much, for fear of getting a false-positive diagnosis, however I realised that I was also 99.9999999...% sure I had Asperger's precisely because I already knew a lot about it and it was the only thing that I'd ever found that 'fit'.

    I suspect, like me, you've spent a portion of your life researching psychology and psychiatry in a completely non-formal way in order to try to answer the question "why am I not 'normal'?"

Children
No Data