Career selection and satisfaction.

Hello! New here, and newly diagnosed. I feel like I'm on a bit of a rollercoaster with the diagnosis. One minute fine; "well duh, it's obvious I'm autistic", the next just kinda sad or frustrated at things that have happened in the past that might have been different if I'd known.

One such thing is my career. I feel like I chose it in a very autistic way. It was strategic and made sense because I could see a neat row of dots which I could connect together to do "the right thing" for my family.. But I'd also dropped out of school at 12, so I had to complete five years of study to actually get to the job I had decided I was going to do. I hated every minute of my studies. Up to that point in my life I had always quit everything, and unfortunately for present-day-me this was the moment I decided I was going to change my ways. Eight years later, I am miserable. 

In the last two years alone I've taken three extended periods of time off sick due to "mental health difficulties". I realise now it was likely burn out each time. I hit an all time low yesterday and nearly quit on the spot. I literally did no work all day, instead just talking myself down from acting impulsively. Today I have logged myself as absent and have already decided I won't work again this year. I have realised I need to change my job, and I need a bit of mental space to think about it. So I'm taking it.

I guess what I'm really curious to know is, is this... common? Or maybe just what are you experiences of the working world as autistic adults? How did you select your career path? Do you love your job? Did you get it "right" first time? If not, how did you go about switching? Is it possible that I'm always going to go through burnout cycles because finding jobs that carry any level of satisfaction is actually pretty unlikely? I do kind of feel like I'm just going to be miserable for the rest of my life no matter how hard or long I work to try and make things better. Upside down

 

Parents
  • I’ve been a business analyst for the last ten years, mostly in agile software development. It takes more out of me than I realised and my social life has suffered… then the 2020s came. Joy Think I’ve been too oblivious to the effects. Or perhaps subconsciously denying them or tacitly assuming that this is just the way things have to be. I haven’t been willing to face up to it because it’d feel too much like a defeat. But I realise I should probably cut myself some slack and be a bit more sympathetic to my strengths and weaknesses. It’d be nice to have a more introverted, data-oriented job, I think. Trouble is, expensive mortgage and I can’t downsize yet due to the cladding scandal. But going into 2023, I think I need to stop running from myself, be honest and do myself a favour.

Reply
  • I’ve been a business analyst for the last ten years, mostly in agile software development. It takes more out of me than I realised and my social life has suffered… then the 2020s came. Joy Think I’ve been too oblivious to the effects. Or perhaps subconsciously denying them or tacitly assuming that this is just the way things have to be. I haven’t been willing to face up to it because it’d feel too much like a defeat. But I realise I should probably cut myself some slack and be a bit more sympathetic to my strengths and weaknesses. It’d be nice to have a more introverted, data-oriented job, I think. Trouble is, expensive mortgage and I can’t downsize yet due to the cladding scandal. But going into 2023, I think I need to stop running from myself, be honest and do myself a favour.

Children
No Data