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The funny way that worry works sometimes

Oakling

This isn’t a particularly heavy thread, but rather a small reflection of the strange workings of my own worries.

Tomorrow I am getting a significant tattoo done. It will be several parts, but tomorrows session is due to be about 4 hours worth of work. I’m not worried about the tattoo or the process at all. I am, however, very nervous about saying hello and initiating the first conversation with the artist (all scheduled in and everything). It’s funny that the thing a lot of people would worry about isn’t playing on my mind, but the bit people would automatically do is making me very nervous. Almost like I’m worrying in reverse. I’ve been stimming a lot more this week to try and curb these worries a bit.

Im also a bit nervous about getting lost on the way, after my recent driving fails.

Do you experience any ‘reverse worries’ like these?

Parents

  • As a suggestion on how to manage the worry about getting there, why not drive there once or twice when it is quiet to make sure you know the route and places to park so it is well covered.

    As for the person giving the tattoo, why not write up everything you want done in detail and just tell them when you arrive that you are autistic and say that chit chat is difficult for you so can they keep the conversation to technical specifics of the tattoo only please.

    By doing this you are giving then a clear guide to work from and should stop them from blabbering on when they should be focusing on the inking.

    It probably wont help with the anxiety though, but it can mitigate it as much as is realistically possible.

    I do a lot of international travel and currently work in a place where there is not much English spoken and I am barely conversational in the language so I get anxious about the interactions all the time,

    My approach is to prepare in advance as much as is practical with what I need to talk about (good old Google Translate) and make sure I know where I am going, alternative routes and then just forget about it until the time (focus on other fun stuff).

    As autists, if anxiety is one of your traits then you are pretty much saddled with it for life so I find it best to do my prep and go in without thinking too much about it on the day. You will never stop the feelings but by repeated exposure to the situations you can gain a degree of confidence in your ability to deal with them.

    I've yet to come across a situation that was outwith my ability to deal with, even if a few have been challenging. I doubt neurotypicals are that much different at the end of the day though.

  • in reply to Iain

    Thanks for your reply and thoughts on the matter. I do tend to follow much of it in the run up to newer events for me, but your comment was helpful nonetheless.

    The scripting of potential conversation is something I’m trying to balance, as I can often go too far in trying to predict what might be, only for it to throw me when it doesn’t happen. So, keeping it simple, as you suggested, will be the way forward.

    Im heading off for my tattoo in an hour and a half, so I’ve done all I can for now.

Reply
  • in reply to Iain

    Thanks for your reply and thoughts on the matter. I do tend to follow much of it in the run up to newer events for me, but your comment was helpful nonetheless.

    The scripting of potential conversation is something I’m trying to balance, as I can often go too far in trying to predict what might be, only for it to throw me when it doesn’t happen. So, keeping it simple, as you suggested, will be the way forward.

    Im heading off for my tattoo in an hour and a half, so I’ve done all I can for now.

Children
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