Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi. In the past nine months my outlook on life has changed, my friend from the gym got a diagnosis of asd and we are quite similar in a lot of ways, this led to me doing various online test including an AQ test and scored 41 during lockdown I have been doing two autism related courses. I keep ending up in tears while reading the course materials as it reflects me so much. In November I got signed of work with stress for two weeks but I suspect it was burnout there was a lot of changes happened that I could not cope with and I ended up collapsing at work after pushing myself to far and got sent home. So I am exploring autism and what it means with the possibility of hopefully getting a referral for a diagnosis from the doctor after lockdown is over with.
Hi and welcome :). I was in a similar position. I was working myself into the ground, and wound up with pneumonia at 26. I guess masking takes its toll! I needed a few months off to recover and I’ve learned to take it easier, now that I know the signs of burnout, and can feel them mounting. Breaks are essential, I’ve found. I’ve also changed my home set-up to make it more Aspie-friendly(dimmer switches for lights, an area devoted to my hobbies, an outside area to relax in, that kind of thing.) Sorry to hear you keep getting teary over this, and I hope that you realise you can still have a good life, regardless of diagnosis. The truth of it is that no matter what, you are YOU :)! While life can have its challenges, once you have the knowledge and the workarounds, hopefully you’ll find that life can be managed and can be fun. Take care of yourself, and hope you can request an assessment via your GP, so you can be placed in the waiting list, or see about a private assessment.