Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi everyone,
I'm in my mid twenties and finding things harder than ever. I really struggle with social skills and although I've always been told I'm "just shy" I've always known something is not right. Despite having outgrown the awkward teenage years I still find it incredibly difficult and confusing holding a conversation with pretty much everyone apart from very close family, even some friends I've known for years.
I've never been like other people, with strong interests and beliefs, not understanding or agreeing with social norms but recently become more aware of just how odd I am (must look for patterns in reg numbers, must always have car windows open even in January! etc...). I think I might be autistic but I'm terrified of going for a diagnosis to be laughed at and told l am just shy and a bit strange. I work with autistic people and although realise it's a spectrum disorder, I am nowhere near as affected as them. I think I probably come across as a little eccentric, lacking in self confidence and very shy.
I am really struggling with self confidence and self doubt and think a diagnosis would probably pull me out of the hole I've dug for myself; but am I just socially awkward, unusual, and looking for something to take the blame?
I guess I'm asking how autistic do you need to appear to get a diagnosis??!
No, he doesn't tell any stories, he just lectures about maths.
Yes, maths is very interesting when it is used to model the behaviour of the physical world and this is something that is driving me to learn it.
Well, sometimes I do think of a reply fairly quickly but at other times I have to think about it for a while. I don't always make a reply to a topic that I have just been discussing because I don't want to appear to 'go on' too much about it, which might, to some, seem as being a bit pushy.
The thing about being sensitive to noise is that it can cause great anxiety and unhappiness when it's the 'wrong' kind of noise. I think obsessiveness drives it too because when I don't like a certain noise I tend to obsess about, it which makes it much worse.
I think you have every right to go to your GP for advice about something that concerns you. After all, that's what they're there for!