undiagnosed, family against the idea

Hi,

I'm not entirely sure if I'm autistic or not, any certainty I did have is all but gone after a conversation I had with my family tonight. I've suffered from depression and anxiety more or less all my life. I always thought I was different compared to my peers. They always seemed to be able to talk to one another and get along 'naturally' but I always felt like I was faking or forcing it. I've had social anxiety for as long as I can remember. I was always shy, and just never really understood people (there's more but I can't get into it, I'm already so tired just having to write the rest of this message).

I've been aware that I could potentially be autistic for about 2/3 years now, but recently, after one of the worst depressive episodes I've experienced, the idea has just been gnawing at me. I have really bad difficulty talking to my family about how I'm feeling because they always have a habit of making me feel weak minded and willed. They're really religious, so to them all my problems stem from the fact that I don't pray enough. But, when I tell them, I pray quite often, it becomes you don't pray hard enough then.

So today, I had the courage to tell my family what I think I've discovered. Big mistake. What once felt like some form of clarity has now just made me even more confused. The entire conversation basically boiled down to "I'm just easily influenced and accept any label that is given to me (even though no one has given me this label), I am weak minded and weak willed, there's been something wrong with me since birth, (I was supposed to be a twin, and then some random woman bathed me and so that affected me spiritually) that all of this is a problem with my spirit and there can't possibly be something wrong with me neurologically. That I'm just coming up with excuses as to why I can't go back to school. That if I was really autistic, wouldn't someone have noticed (I was a part of a survey spanning the length of my childhood (baby to about 15 years old)? What was supposed to be me telling my parents about this potential discovery, and my plan to getting the help I needed has just led to me spiralling; that I am a faker and looking for a cop out. Is there even a point going to the GP or seeing a therapist when they could be satanists (my parents words)? I just wanted some answers and now I feel lost all over again. I feel so alone. I don't have many friends, and just had a friendship end recently because of all the pressure I've been feeling from all aspects of my life. I don't even know what I'm expecting from this post. I just hate feeling so alone just when I thought I might finally be able to get somewhere. 

Parents
  • My advice would be to do all you can to lean into your autistic side privately and see how it feels.

    So try to make time to engage in your special interests and find a way to discreetly stim (finger taps, muscle tweaks, gentle rocking or swaying to music might work). Do you feel better when you do those things? It might reassure you if they do.

    Also, try to rest as much as possible! If you are autistic and having to effectively hide it, you’ll be at risk of burnout. Which sounds scary.

    But leaning into special interests, stimming and resting are helpful for openly autistic people in burnout. So if you can do those things in private, it might help. It’s not likely to be a long-term strategy though. Authenticity is important!

Reply
  • My advice would be to do all you can to lean into your autistic side privately and see how it feels.

    So try to make time to engage in your special interests and find a way to discreetly stim (finger taps, muscle tweaks, gentle rocking or swaying to music might work). Do you feel better when you do those things? It might reassure you if they do.

    Also, try to rest as much as possible! If you are autistic and having to effectively hide it, you’ll be at risk of burnout. Which sounds scary.

    But leaning into special interests, stimming and resting are helpful for openly autistic people in burnout. So if you can do those things in private, it might help. It’s not likely to be a long-term strategy though. Authenticity is important!

Children
  • i didn’t want to follow this advice, but even after one day i’m feeling so much more like myself then i ever had. i just let myself be. do what makes me feel safe and comfortable and it’s helping me. thank you for replying. this was so liberating. i don’t want to hide myself anymore