Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello,
My name is Kyle and I'm 32 years old. I am not diagnosed with autism or Asperger's, but I believe I have It or possibly something closely connected to it. My biggest problem is socialising, I can write to my hearts content in a message conversation but when it comes to physically being around someone to talk to I hardly say a word, and I'm not a very confident person either so it has taken a lot to even come on here and write this message. I tried getting diagnosed through the NHS, and was told by the nurse it was worth getting diagnosed. but nearly 7 months later there is nothing, I got in contact with her again about 3 months later and said her organisation couldn't help and she would get in contact with a couple of others that could, but once again I never heard anything. I tried contacting her for a third time but I can't get through to her, it's like she's intentionally ignoring me, along with the fact my girlfriend left me yesterday after just over a year. all that combined has left me feeling alone and trapped because I have no friends and no one to talk to. Is there anyone that could spare an hour or two of their day to talk to me through out the week?
Is it worth going for a private diagnosis? I work full time for an agency so I could afford it and because of my situation I'm desperate to just be around people like me. I do have a social group for my area but they are in different places all the time and one is in a pub, and I don't like loud places so I'm very reluctant to go.
Hi Kyle :) try to understand what a diagnosis will mean for you. If you are desperate to know either way, and you can afford to go private, it will be much much faster than NHS. However, a diagnosis will not help with socialising. You can go to your GP about social anxiety or generalised anxiety and they should be able to provide a variety of medication or CBT whilst you are considering a diagnosis. Also, if you would like to try and meet new people with similar interests, try the website Meetup which is where local people create groups. It sounds scary but most of the people going don't know anyone else so you are all in the same situation. There are quite a lot of these groups aimed at people who want to make new friends, or suffer from anxiety etc. Hope that helps a little :)
Thank you, I just had a look at that website and it seems like it would be very useful to me, though at the same time nerve racking but it's worth trying it out because I need it. Thank you for your words and advice, I really appreciate the help.