Feeling angry, very upset and confused

Lately I have been compulsively re-playing the past in my mind over and over again. I need closure. I want to know why the educational system were so negligent that they missed my Asperger's; that they did not give me the help that I needed; that I spent my teen years feeling like a horrible person, with no social life, just constant anxiety and rejection. I cry and feel so hurt when I think about it. As I get older the injustice is like a seeping sore, the battle wounds of my past that most people do not see because I put on a mask and I am a good actor. I can easily hide the hurt and look merry and calm; I have learnt how to repress my feelings. But I am starting to feel the strain, and I wonder how much longer I can go on until the hard outer carapace crumbles and my soft inner core is exposed for all to see.

I had real difficulties as a child, and came very close to being statemented with SEN. An educational psychologist recommended this, but school did not follow through, and I received minimal support that just focused on my academic difficulties, and failed to help me with friendships and the social world.

I only got diagnosed when I was 21, and if I had not fought for this, I don't think I would received any diagnosis. That's the problem - I can act a part too well. I appear social and friendly, I know how to mimic because I have an excellent rote memory, but there is no emotional understanding. I often feel anger and resentment towards people, that is, Neurotypicals, who cast me off with platitudes that I am 'mild' or 'high functioning'. Well here is the truth: I am not mild, I am not high functioning, I have struggled with life and I still struggle. I am not a people person; another truth, I sometimes hate people or the things they say. It is people that wreck my self esteem, that invade my ego with their false 'opinions', and constantly make assumptions based on my outward appearance.

I don't know who I am, and this makes me feel so confused and wretched. I doubt myself. I even doubt my diagnosis, although I know it is the only thing that really describes who I am.

I don't know how much longer I can maintain the act. Maybe there will be a time when I revert back to type, become that silly child again and throw caution to the wind. Maybe then, people will see my true nature and I won't have to feel angry anymore.

Why was it not picked up?

God, what I have written looks awful, like I am some narcissist. Maybe that is what I am?

Parents
  • Hi Hope. Re eye contact, I try to look at some part of the face,  I usually choose the mouth, as I find this helps me hear when there is background noise ie I lip read a bit. I think that some people may think that I am a bit deaf. Someone once commented so. I guess I would rather that than being thought rude. I never realised that others thought eye contact was so important until I joined here. I have been watching people a little recently, and find that some do actually look into the eyes of the person they are speaking to. I experimented on a lady in the bank recently. I managed the odd glance, because she was not saying anything important that I needed to remember. I don't intend to repeat the experiment. My eyes often drift downwards, and I find myself looking at the clothes a person wears.

    I also don't quite understand when to look at someone, and when not too. I have encountered people who become uncomfortable when I look at their face for too long. I look away, but don't know where to look then. It seams strange to gaze at some other object when I am speaking to an individual.

Reply
  • Hi Hope. Re eye contact, I try to look at some part of the face,  I usually choose the mouth, as I find this helps me hear when there is background noise ie I lip read a bit. I think that some people may think that I am a bit deaf. Someone once commented so. I guess I would rather that than being thought rude. I never realised that others thought eye contact was so important until I joined here. I have been watching people a little recently, and find that some do actually look into the eyes of the person they are speaking to. I experimented on a lady in the bank recently. I managed the odd glance, because she was not saying anything important that I needed to remember. I don't intend to repeat the experiment. My eyes often drift downwards, and I find myself looking at the clothes a person wears.

    I also don't quite understand when to look at someone, and when not too. I have encountered people who become uncomfortable when I look at their face for too long. I look away, but don't know where to look then. It seams strange to gaze at some other object when I am speaking to an individual.

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