Do you work?

I work in a office building. I'm one of three women and a man. My job is to answer the phone and use a computer, my day consists of me typing, speaking on the phone and engaging in conversation (help!) with my work colleagues. My friend April who works next to me is really nice and I think she knows there's something different about me because she seems to give me a sort of comforting smile a lot of the time. Work is hard, every day I spend ages making sure I look right for work and change my clothes and redo my hair about fifty times before I finally leave. When I get to work I spend the day feeling anxious because I know I'll have to engage in workplace communication, either work banter or one of my colleagues will ask me if I have a file or if someone called. This sends me in to a massive brain shutdown moment where I spend the next ten minutes trying to think and communicate at the same time, which results in me not finding the right words and just sort of babbling like a baby.

Working is difficult, mostly because of the amount of things I have to do. Focusing, communicating, being out of my safe zone and *shudders* office meetings where I sometimes have to stand up and talk to my colleagues as well as our boss... Usually after a meeting I end up throwing up in the bathroom and have a mini panic attack.

Does anyone else here work and have similar problems to me?

Parents
  • Hi, I am a lorry driver, I drive artics doing night trunks. Most times things go well, unless like tonight, they tell me I’m going somewhere different, I feel sick, have a headache, shaking inside, starting to feel upset and a bit angry. I haven’t been diagnosed yet, but I’m pretty sure I’m autistic, I have no idea how to cope with these situations 

Reply
  • Hi, I am a lorry driver, I drive artics doing night trunks. Most times things go well, unless like tonight, they tell me I’m going somewhere different, I feel sick, have a headache, shaking inside, starting to feel upset and a bit angry. I haven’t been diagnosed yet, but I’m pretty sure I’m autistic, I have no idea how to cope with these situations 

Children
  • Hi there that's tough - a big part of controlling my anxiety is planning ahead and preparing. It would really challenge me having to change the destination like that. Not sure what can be done apart from using any self-soothing strategies you have - mine are things like listening to music, eating chocolate, playing with sensory things.

    At the moment I have some calming medication - Propanalol - a beta blocker. It helps a lot. When you get diagnosed you should be given some information about coping strategies. There's a lot of information out there - the best often seems to come from people who are actually autistic. Hope your night goes OK.