Published on 12, July, 2020
How do you cope when it feels like every aspect of your life is changing?I feel SO overwhelmed, I don't know how to physically cope! I feel so emotional but don't feel like anybody really gets what I am feeling. Everybody around me seems to be going about life so easily when there is so much change happening, I can feel myself bubbling with so many emotions, but, I don't know how to deal with them.I kind of feel like I am outside of my body just watching a shell of myself wandering around trying to figure out where to go next...
I've always found a lot of change can be unsettling and when more than one thing isn't "normal" then it's worse.
I find looking for something that is stable amongst all the parts of my life and thinking of that, grounds me a bit. Sometimes that can literally just be "me" as everything else is changing or in some "different" state than "normal". Hobbies are a good place to focus on if you have any, something you feel you have a little control over.
Thank you for this! Tonight has been a tough one for me, but this has certainly been useful
I think one of the hardest things for autistic people to get their heads around is that the only constant is change, however why change all has to come at once I don't know. As Iain said, try writing it all down. You could try physically grounding yourself into your body, by doing things like counting all the blue objects you can see, (any colour will do), doing pigeon steps, you know where you walk with your front foot touching the toe of your rear foot, or touching the ground, hugging a tree or running your hands over foliage, like grass.
This period of change will pass and a new normal will come about as things calm down. If you find yourself with inner turmoil then try drinking cammomile tea as it's sooting, although do check if you're on medication, or sprinkling some lavender essentail oil on a tissue and tucking in your top or under your pillow.