What do people have anxieties over?

The environment.

I also think a lot of things I used to call anxiety are actually stress.  Although it's probably different sides of the same coin. 

Reading through the comments I sort of came to the same kind of idea, I have issues with loads of stuff here and for me it’s not anxiety, its stress and if it’s overwhelming either cumulatively or acutely then it leads to disregulation.

I find the language used is all very NT which makes it harder for us to understand what’s happening. 

So the last episode I had for some reason the DVD player and TV wouldn’t work together, I’d checked the leads, turned everything on and off again checked that nobody had changed anything (no response), it should have worked and I didn’t know why it wouldn’t. I also had my daughter singing loudly behind me (asked to stop but ignored) whilst struggling to check wires behind the TV. I’d had a high intensity morning and I had nothing left and I just needed the DVD to work so I could recharge because I was going to the theatre in the evening. None of that was anxiety it was all stress but it triggered a shut down. I spent half an hour in a darkened room waiting for an apology from  someone who had no idea how they had affected me before getting on with the rest of the day.

Reading through the comments I sort of came to the same kind of idea, I have issues with loads of stuff here and for me it’s not anxiety, its stress and if it’s overwhelming either cumulatively or acutely then it leads to disregulation.

I find the language used is all very NT which makes it harder for us to understand what’s happening. 

So the last episode I had for some reason the DVD player and TV wouldn’t work together, I’d checked the leads, turned everything on and off again checked that nobody had changed anything (no response), it should have worked and I didn’t know why it wouldn’t. I also had my daughter singing loudly behind me (asked to stop but ignored) whilst struggling to check wires behind the TV. I’d had a high intensity morning and I had nothing left and I just needed the DVD to work so I could recharge because I was going to the theatre in the evening. None of that was anxiety it was all stress but it triggered a shut down. I spent half an hour in a darkened room waiting for an apology from  someone who had no idea how they had affected me before getting on with the rest of the day.

LongSpoons said:

I find the language used is all very NT which makes it harder for us to understand what’s happening. 

Hello LongSpoons, are you meaning the language used here in the posts being very NT?

If so, it is very common for Autistic people to be far better at written communication than verbal and therefore to 'pass' as NT. This came up in my assessment as it was something I never understood about myself, was that contrast, between verbal and written communication, until my OT explained it, then it made sense.

If you had a face to face conversation with me you would not be hearing what you are reading now.

I have never really thought about it like this, I always assumed anxiety and stress are the same thing but this actually makes a lot more sense. I searched it up and found these definitions to help describe the differences:

stress is typically caused by an external trigger. The trigger can be short-term, such as a work deadline or a fight with a loved one or long-term, such as being unable to work, discrimination, or chronic illness.

Anxiety, on the other hand, is defined by persistent, excessive worries that don’t go away even in the absence of a stressor. 

I think this is something I struggled with in CBT.  I often said "it gives me anxiety but I'm not worried about it". Which is why I think sometimes it's stress more than anx. If too much is demanded of my brain, it's difficult. If something changes to "the plan" in my head, or I haven't had control over something, it can create the same feelings as anxiety. But again, it doesn't feel like worry and that might not be stress as such. It's still a challenge to my brain though!