• Replies 5 replies
  • Subscribers 72 subscribers
  • Views 860 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

Hi - ASD + OCD + ADHD

Eternity

Hi I'm new here, recently diagnosed with ASD. Prior to this I was diagnosed with anxiety and OCD. I've only recently come to realise these are all linked and impact my daily life in ways that can be difficult to manage. The anxiety is difficult to cope with and the OCD is difficult to cope with too, I wash my hands excessively and that’s resulted in a lot of hand and skin problems which means I have to wear gloves pretty much all the time now because they are sore, easily infected and to be honestly blunt they just look awful.

I have this urge to keep everything straight, clean and in order, and spend a lot of time obsessing with that. Must drive my BF mad that I keep rearranging everything, he never moans though. Not that I’ve heard anyway.

It would be nice to slow down and just chill for a bit but my ASD ADHD brain can never ‘switch off’ and I feel like it must still be racing and processing all night long because I still feel exhausted when I wake up in the morning like I didn’t sleep at all. I talk to my BF and he’s supportive, more supportive than I deserve probably but I thought being part of an ASD community might help me to understand these things and be kinder to myself.

That sounds all negative so here are some positives about me. I’m chaotic but friendly. I like my own space but I like to be around others, I would go insane on my own! I enjoy music, reading, watching TV and movies and have always loved ice skating but I don't get to do it much.

Parents

  • I think it is far from unusual to have ocd and anxiety when you’re autistic. I was diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder way before I was diagnosed as autistic, and my youngest autistic son has ocd, and my eldest who is also autistic also has adhd, and has digestive issues which are also often associated with being autistic. So these things often come together. I think a diagnosis of autism is often the thing that makes all the pieces of the jigsaw fit together in many ways. The greater our understanding we have of why we think the way we do has to help I think.  It’s great that your boyfriend is so understanding and supportive - that makes a massive difference in my experience. 

Reply

  • I think it is far from unusual to have ocd and anxiety when you’re autistic. I was diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder way before I was diagnosed as autistic, and my youngest autistic son has ocd, and my eldest who is also autistic also has adhd, and has digestive issues which are also often associated with being autistic. So these things often come together. I think a diagnosis of autism is often the thing that makes all the pieces of the jigsaw fit together in many ways. The greater our understanding we have of why we think the way we do has to help I think.  It’s great that your boyfriend is so understanding and supportive - that makes a massive difference in my experience. 

Children
No Data