Published on 12, July, 2020
A friend of mine who is autistic was recently diagnosed with this.
I've read of others here in the past who have the diagnosis.
I've wondered if I have the disorder although I don't have the diagnosis.
When I was younger (around 30 years ago) I remember telling my GP that I felt 'locked into a state of anxiety' and that is when he put me onto antidepressants (again).
A few years later I saw a letter from the hospital which listed my medical conditions and it included anxiety.
This really bemused me as I thought anxiety was just an ordinary part of everyday life.
I believe that the disorder diagnosis is a fairly recently one (I must check that out).
I'm pretty certain that the anxiety will be closely tied into the challenges of being autistic and also I have undiagnosed OCD which is obviously anxiety based and have had this since I was a small child.
What do others think - do you have a diagnosis?
Do you become anxious in certain situations?
Or are you just anxious all the time?
A most excellent description of different types of anxiety and why they can be experienced by autistic individuals in comparison with neurotypical peers.
neurodivergentinsights.com/.../autistic-anxiety
“Typically, neurotypical anxiety is anticipatory, concerned with "what if" scenarios that may never materialize. In contrast, Autistic dread often stems from "what will" scenarios—situations we know will be uncomfortable or distressing based on past experiences.”
I’ve actually described this many times in my life (except for the NT and autistic part), I didn’t know it was really a ‘thing’.