*Removed*

Oh no Simon’s been removed for editing! Can we send help? 

Service Announcement:

*Technical breakdown due to possibly, typically, stupid paranoia. Will explain in messages, to anyone who's entertained by visible bonkersness*

Oh what's occured Simon?

I was happy, but now I'm laughing too.

Hello, mate.  

You're right - I'm lucky to have this advantage. I just have to learn to keep an eye on myself instead of relying on others' insights.

Your thinking as you express it reminds me of my own. 

I now know why people who seem to have my interests at heart (in that moment) have, in the past, told me to "Stop running yourself down".

I could never see it myself, of course. you however, don't have to keep doing it for forty years, because you can read and re-read this thread if you want to which is way better than re-running conversations in your head.

You play tricks on yourself and they work

Use that power wisely Young Padawan Simon

I don't - officially - know yet, Roy. I'm on an 18-month waiting list for assessment. I thought that, at worst, my issues were very minor but the pros I saw felt differently. Because my behaviour harms no-one (including me), their views & my doctor's were a shock to me. Maybe the forms I had to complete and also in-person testimony made them see what I couldn't - I'm not good at recognising my difficulties for what they actually are. For instance, I frequently write paragraph after paragraph to friends stating how I'm learning to avoid over-thinking...and yet I somehow 'miss' what should be obvious: that I'm still, evidently, over-thinking even as I celebrate the end of my over-thinking.

I don't - officially - know yet, Roy. I'm on an 18-month waiting list for assessment. I thought that, at worst, my issues were very minor but the pros I saw felt differently. Because my behaviour harms no-one (including me), their views & my doctor's were a shock to me. Maybe the forms I had to complete and also in-person testimony made them see what I couldn't - I'm not good at recognising my difficulties for what they actually are. For instance, I frequently write paragraph after paragraph to friends stating how I'm learning to avoid over-thinking...and yet I somehow 'miss' what should be obvious: that I'm still, evidently, over-thinking even as I celebrate the end of my over-thinking.

I was happy, but now I'm laughing too.

Hello, mate.  

You're right - I'm lucky to have this advantage. I just have to learn to keep an eye on myself instead of relying on others' insights.

Your thinking as you express it reminds me of my own. 

I now know why people who seem to have my interests at heart (in that moment) have, in the past, told me to "Stop running yourself down".

I could never see it myself, of course. you however, don't have to keep doing it for forty years, because you can read and re-read this thread if you want to which is way better than re-running conversations in your head.

You play tricks on yourself and they work

Use that power wisely Young Padawan Simon