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Anxiety & ASD

KeyboardWorrier68

Hi,

I'm going to be contacting my GP soon about pursuing a diagnosis, but I am finding that when I start thinking about the possibility of having some form of ASD that I get anxious and I get a recurrence of a twitch that I have developed since Christmas due to the stress of issues in my personal life.

I understand that anxiety and ASD go frequently find themselves hand-in-hand, do others here since diagnosed have track records of anxiety? I used to be a very anxious child and although gradually this dissipated as I got towards my late teens it has persisted in the area of relationships, though the twitch is a new thing.

Hearing of others' experiences is a big comfort to me currently; I don't want to say that I'm pinning my hopes on a diagnosis as if it was to be negative it doesn't paint a very nice picture of my behaviour.

Parents

  • Hello Keyboardworrier68.

    Great name! I am in a similiar situation. I have finally made an appointment to see my Doctor about possible diagnosis but like you suffer from very high anxiety. To be honest I am dreading it. I have a lot of indications I might be on the spectrum but also some that suggest I am not. I have been worrying about it for ages and now really need to know.

    I would say that my natural state of mind is anxious. I wake up feeling it and go to bed feeling the same. I have always been an intense worrier all my life and often about things that are silly or I have no control over. I certainly do not understand people which I think intensfies my anxious state further. The evidence for this is I feel a lot calmer often when I am by myself.

    As mentioned here by others I can be a black and white thinker and I over analyse everything.

    Other people who do not suffer the same anxiety level do not understand. For example, I could get put into a position at work where I have to travel to a meeting which is a key trigger. I hate travelling - huge worries. I will worry everyday about this until the actual day when often I have physical illness signs and for what? A meeting where the information could be excahnged over the phone. All that bad feeling for nothing - it is so not worth it. Yet I could never make the ones sending me understand that.

    I also think that I adapt well to fit in with others and rarely I am myself. When I am myself I may come across odd to others (for example talking to much about mundane subjects - well mundane to them!) and then this worries me further. As I get older though it gets more exhausting trying to fit in. That is the main reason I want to understand myself - why I feel different and why it worries me so much. 

    Also the anxiety is often so strong I avoid doing things I would like to do or when I do go to events etc. it takes so much out of me battling the fight or flight feeling using CBT etc. that I wonder is it worth it?

    I know anxiety is not a direct trait of autism but it seems a common problem. I am grateful though that I am not alone and that there are people that really do understand it as they expereince the same things.

Reply

  • Hello Keyboardworrier68.

    Great name! I am in a similiar situation. I have finally made an appointment to see my Doctor about possible diagnosis but like you suffer from very high anxiety. To be honest I am dreading it. I have a lot of indications I might be on the spectrum but also some that suggest I am not. I have been worrying about it for ages and now really need to know.

    I would say that my natural state of mind is anxious. I wake up feeling it and go to bed feeling the same. I have always been an intense worrier all my life and often about things that are silly or I have no control over. I certainly do not understand people which I think intensfies my anxious state further. The evidence for this is I feel a lot calmer often when I am by myself.

    As mentioned here by others I can be a black and white thinker and I over analyse everything.

    Other people who do not suffer the same anxiety level do not understand. For example, I could get put into a position at work where I have to travel to a meeting which is a key trigger. I hate travelling - huge worries. I will worry everyday about this until the actual day when often I have physical illness signs and for what? A meeting where the information could be excahnged over the phone. All that bad feeling for nothing - it is so not worth it. Yet I could never make the ones sending me understand that.

    I also think that I adapt well to fit in with others and rarely I am myself. When I am myself I may come across odd to others (for example talking to much about mundane subjects - well mundane to them!) and then this worries me further. As I get older though it gets more exhausting trying to fit in. That is the main reason I want to understand myself - why I feel different and why it worries me so much. 

    Also the anxiety is often so strong I avoid doing things I would like to do or when I do go to events etc. it takes so much out of me battling the fight or flight feeling using CBT etc. that I wonder is it worth it?

    I know anxiety is not a direct trait of autism but it seems a common problem. I am grateful though that I am not alone and that there are people that really do understand it as they expereince the same things.

Children
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