Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi, this is my first post on here! But would just like to hear other people’s experiences with loneliness while being neurodivergent. I’ve found that after I received my diagnosis I have gradually started to unmask little by little and now the limits to what I can and cannot do without exhausting myself are becoming a bit clearer. Because of this I think I have inadvertently/accidentally isolated myself, I also feel as though the friends I had before do not necessarily understand the change. However, this could be due to my own anxieties about the matter, whether they are based in fact is another thing in itself. I would like more neurodivergent friends but now feel so separate from the social scene that I have no idea where to start or how to initiate a conversation without feeling horrifically anxious. What are all your experiences?
As some of the others have mentioned, I personally never feel lonely, in terms of needing or desiring a relationship with or the company of another person. However, I do often feel alone, in terms of being without a protective herd or group of people around you that can drown out negative inner and external dialogue with positive external dialogue, or having a person I can share a happy moment with, or someone I can call on to be an advocate (like when you go to visit the GP fr mental health concerns and you get stuck with yet another 'professional' that clearly doesn't know the first thing about what it's like living with autism, let alone being queer and trans and living with persistent depression on top of that).