Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello all! I’ve found myself in this corner of the internet because at almost 30 I think the pieces are finally coming together to make the right picture.
My sister has been telling me for years ( she works in mental health) and my partner have been telling me for the last year that maybe my mental health issues are symptomatic of something else and I’ve come to realise through a lot of research that it is probably autism. I’ve been reading and listening to podcasts and it’s gotten me quite distressed at times - hearing descriptions of situations and feelings I’ve had before and never made a connected to possibly being neuro divergent
I’m very introverted and often shut down entirely in social situations and lately I moved to a new place and have tried to start new studies and it just all has become super overwhelming. I had big struggles with this at 18 when I moved out for uni but I feel like I’m reliving a lot of that again now, except maybe now I know the reason why it’s feeling so much harder than it seems to be for my other classmates. Anyway I was glad to find this, it seems a great source of info and I’m going to be speaking to my GP about getting a diagnosis and some support for my anxiety. I’m happy to be here at this point and I’d be grateful of input on how I can start to process this situation
Hi Catlady,
Great name: I'm a big ailurophile myself.
I'm fairly new to the forum too and have found it helpful and also reassuring (realising there is a whole community of people that have faced similar things to myself).
As for processing, I would say take your time. I'm still very much in the early stages of that myself and to be honest it has been quite intense. Having to reconfigure your understanding of yourself is hard work and very emotional. However, I am the same person I was before I suspected I was on the spectrum and so I am determined to see it as a positive thing that can only serve to improve my life.