Published on 12, July, 2020
I'm 29 and have just been diagnosed with autism.ive had suspicions for a while that I was different and I was diagnosed after a series of meltdowns in work due to crowds, noises, smells and losing important things such as keys or My wallet.
I'm off sick at the moment because knowing that I will experience these overloads causes me great anxiety. I get picked on for my behaviour and not many people talk to me because I am "rude" and "obnoxious" I don't mean to be, I sometimes get over excited about a topic and will interrupt people and throw information at them to the point that they visibly try and get away from myto end the conversation.
I can't really escape a lot of the triggers in work, I work in a hospital!
Does anyone have any tips or recommendations to try and minimise some triggers? Or is my best option to find something with less triggers?
Hi and welcome.
I'm sorry to hear you're going through a difficult time at the moment.
I haven't been diagnosed yet but was was bullied in school and always felt difficult. I realise now that I used to get very excitable but this was drilled out of me through negative interactions to the point that I now struggle to get excited about anything.
As I'm relatively new on my pathway, I don't have much advice to give regarding minimising triggers except to give yourself permission to leave difficult or uncomfortable situations. You are under no obligation to stay and your feelings are valid and important. Mindfulness is also really supposed to help. I've started using a free app called Atom which breaks it into manageable chunks and I'm finding it really useful. My head has been clearer than it has been for a while.
I'm a big advocate for changing jobs that don't make you happy (or at least leave you feeling neutral). It's a big part of your day so finding something that has better compatability with your triggers may make things more manageable for you.