Hello, I'm new.

I have copied your last post to a new thread as we were getting well off topic from the OP's thread.

:-)

Thanks for the posts above recombinant socks. 

I feel like I have been bullied at work for as long as I can remember, I was forced into the demotion because my current boss told me that my previous job didn't really exist, that I was nowhere near capable of doing it and that she couldn't see how I could develop into it in any reasonable timescale.

She knew throughout that I was badly depressed and that I thought I had Aspergers.  Her idea of reasonable adjustments was to reduce my workload for a couple of weeks, (and never miss a chance to remind me of that).

I had 6 months off sick from September to February and since then I've had a few spells off.  A doctor has just signed me off for a fortnight. 

I organised a visit from the NAS to do a workplace assessment and came in when I ill to make sure that it went ahead.  I've been told that it should have been their responsibility to make proposals to me but time and again they haven't.

The NAS have proposed some adjustments and work seem OK with them but at the moment I'm not sure I can ever work again, the Aspy side of me is imploding at the moment and I'm trying to figure out a way that I can get to 60 when I should start getting my pension.

Throughout my life the only part that has ever worked (even partially) is work and right now I don't think I can do anything ever again.

Thanks for your reply. I will take a look at those links.

Hi again,

i also went through problems at work and they were taking me down a "competency" track because of my performance and issues with my performance. i was effectively being bullied and picked on because I could not behave in a way that they could cope with. i couldn't cope with their criticism and we were locked a downwards spiral that left me with stress and clinical depression. My managers didn't spot the depression and weren't at all sympathetic.

i worked out that i might have asd but only went for a diagnosis when i hit a crisis with people at work shouting at me and getting further down the competency track.

have you told your work about the diagnosis? Are they aware that they have to make "reasonable adjustments"?

i'm now well through to the other side of the whole thing and my stress and depression have disappeared and i am starting on a fresh phase of my life. My performance is nearly back to normal and i am feeling as though i am back in the groove of doing useful stuff.

Have you had any counselling, CBT or anything like that? I had a few sessions of counselling that helped me regain my composure. 

I completely understand what you say about feeling that you are going mad. I wonder if the stress and depression before the diagnosis followed by a diagnosis is traumatic enough to be a bit like PTSD. 

You aren't mad or mentally ill with the ASD but it commonly leads to mental stresses that might lead you to end up at the Gp. I think it's important to understand and deal with the ASD and then everything can fall into place from there.

:-)

hi,

you are in the right place. this forum can be enormously helpful as there are lots of people here who are successully dealing with situations like yours. I was also diagnosed in May and i'm 56. The diagnosis is a big shock to the system even after you have your own suspicions. I didn't take it half as seriously until the dx.

i'll try and find some time a bit later for more of a reply.

I got my Aspergers diagnosis in May 2014 and, whilst it was not a surprise because I self diagnosed some years ago.  I'm really struggling at the moment.

I'm finding it hard to cope with the inevitable anger about how hard I've had to fight in life and now, at nearly 50, they tell me I've got Aspergers and I think I've also got ADD too.

I'm struggling at work and may have to leave my job, I've recently been demoted and I'm undergoing a 50% pay "climbdown" (nice euphemism) because I haven't been performing.  I've been on Citalopram for about 4 years now but it's not making any real difference. 

I'm finding it harder and harder to cope at the moment in part because now I'm much more aware of how vulnerable I am and I feel like the scabs have been ripped off a lot of old wounds and now they are wide open again.  I've been ringing the Samaritans a lot recently.

I'm also finding a side of me coming out that I hardly recognise - I feel a bit like I'm going mad and also that there's a war going on inside my head.

Any support will be much appreciated.

Welcome

Please be aware that you can persue your chosen career. In this forum you will have acess many coping strategies to assist you with your difficulties and in the workplace you can require reasonable adjustment. See work and volunteering Don't give up on your dream.

That said, be aware that benefits are availiable if your difficulties prevent you from acessing employment.