Society / People - Their behaviours and me. HELP!

Hi all, new to the forum so no doubt this may have been covered somewhere in past history but i'm in a bit of a 'stuck' place at the minute and have been so for the past 3 or 4 years and really looking for some advice as to how best get out of it.

I'm nearly 40 and on the face of it just a usual bloke who likes football and having a pint but i'm currently awaiting diagnosis for aspergers which will take anything up to 3 years. Initial interviews and questionnaires has confirmed i am on the spectrum and it is believed i may have high functioning aspergers which has allowed me to live a life that any NT could reasonably expect to live thus far. Trying to function as an NT all my adult life when you may have dominant aspergers traits has been an absolute nightmare but so far i've pulled it off. I have a NT partner and a young NT daughter and up until the past few years i worked in a public focussed role.

I'm paying for it now though, i have quite severe anxiety disorder (especially social and new situations) as well as being diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and other medical conditions which also tap into my positivity reserves. I am of the belief that the pure stress of trying to function effectively and in this world whilst at the same time being true to my strong autistic beliefs has finally caused my body to start cracking.

Anyway, my problem is simple. I have very strict and exacting standards of behaviour and conduct that i feel is inherent within me and when these are not displayed by others i get stressed, agitated and upset/angry. The problem is that the levels of poor behaviour, manners, consideration for others and common sense in our society in general is rife and i have no way of dealing with it. I cannot change it nor can i escape it. Therefore i need to try and find a way of dealing with it so that i may once again find the motivation to get out into the world again and 'tolerate' people once more.

As it is now i've given up. I have no interest in people anymore, they bore me and especially through working the past 20  years i have discovered that most are self preserving and disingenuous. I've resigned from jobs because morally what i was being asked to do was against what the organisation stood for and i wasn't able to do this. The rest of the staff and management decided their jobs were more important than doing the right thing.

Society is so alien to me.  I often feel that i am an alien put on earth as some sort of experiement to see how i get on. Obviously that's ridiculous but living amongst many people day in day out and the banality of life i do have to wonder. Even people who you least expect will ask you if you are on facebook or some other pointless internet sharing website where we can see the triviality of others lives and as soon as they have said that i have instantly made a decision that i need to restrict contact with this person a much as i can because immediately i have decided we have nothing in common.

I go to the cinema with my kid and grown adults are sat with their kids flicking through their mobile phones. That's bad enough but it's the lack of consideration for others. I am sensitive to the light given off by the phones in the dark cinema as it's distracting but now i no longer am able to sit and relax and enjoy the film with my daughter but now i have been put in a stressful position by someone else's inconsiderate behaviour whereby i have to either sit and endure this or go up and confront them about it. This happens every time i go.

I drive the 4 miles to my mums house to take her to the shops and i drive calmly to reduce my stress and try to be mindful at the same time. I drive at the speed limit usually but during my 4 mile trip i find myself having to pull over 4 or 5 times in order to let some idiot go past who is drving bumper to bumper with me. Again, i endure the stress of others behaviour for the 4 miles or i am inconvenienced into pulling over several times during the course of a car journey.This happens every time i go out anywhere in my car.

I take my little kid to school and mums and dads are fighting for parking space right outside the gates where if they set off 5 minutes earlier they could park around the corner, walk and talk with their child until they get to school and in addition they aren't causing disruption or a danger to children. The school have to call in the police and parking wardens to do something about the problem even though parents have been warned monthly in school newsletters. My daughters school is in a reasonably affluent area too. This happens every school day.

Summer comes and the barbecues come out in force. Not a problem with that generally but then the rap music makes an appearance at a hundred decibels. Why? Why is it not enough to be enjoying the company of your friends just chatting and laughing? Why has a barbecue got to be turned into some sort of dining / outside rave experience? There are other people in your street who want to listen to the birds outside and not some blinged up neanderthal making grunts and coarse sexual references every 2 seconds.

Again, these inconsiderate behaviours and lack of any standards in our society as i go about my daily life aren't just amongst the stereotypical ruffian types (i hate to stereotype but i just wanted to try and get the point across that selfishness and ignorance is rife in all sections of society and not just amongst groups of people you might at first think of (perhaps unfairly though) but across all areas of society and i can't tolerate it. I struggle to form friendships because basically if the other person is not pretty much identical to me in terms of outlook, morals and interests then i dismiss them. Customer service in this country is appalling, cleanliness and attention to detail in a lot of things are appalling.

So many apologies as this is turning in to a bit of rant which i never intended but basically i have got to the point where my limited interests and severe judgements of others has resulted in me not wanting to do anything because no matter where i go or what i do there will be an overwhelming percentage of people who i have to interact with who show behaviours or interests that i just cannot accept.

I think it's a case of i'm right and others are wrong if they don't agree with me which obviously cannot be the case but often i feel that i have to bring my kid up to be a self obsessed, material driven, arrogant, social media junkie because these are the traits that most people i come into contact with display to me and by being kind, considerate, humble, helpful, selfless, respectful she won't stand a hope in hell in fitting in with the world as it is now.

Of course i wouldn't do that, it's against my suspected aspie nature but if there are very few people out there like me then where do i go from here? Sorry, all a bit doom and gloom i guess but i don't want for it to be like that. I welcome your advice and experiences and to be honest, with the way in which successive Governments have let autistic people and their families fend for themselves the past God knows how many years, your input will do much to help. Don't soft soap, if you have a view on where i'm going wrong and i could benefit then please tell me. Thankyou.

  • Hi read your post thought your not alone,

    But honestly that's not just because of Autistic traits.

    I was diagnosed with mild Autisim & have a very difficult time putting up with others not so pleasant sheep mentality behaviour.  Society isn't like it use to be you only have to listen to the news to recognise this.

    But we are not all the same its ok to display morals & kindness.  

    You have to choose your battles (If someone's negative behaviour effects your life)then you may need to respond in a positive way) if not learn to ignore it or let it go.  Some people & situations are toxic so there is no guilt in this.

    Except not everyone shares your Standerds this doesn't always mean your right or there wrong.

     Just that we should accept differences if they are not bringing others harm or discomfort.

    it is great you have a partner & Daughter this is something to be grateful for when some else feel your an alien for not needing to follow the crowd.

    please don't feel guilty for that.  Perhaps see your Gp to get some talking therapy or cognitive Behaviour Therapy for the anxiety.  

    This may help you be more accepting of your own weakness & think about your strenghts.

    Also remind you even NT are not perfect with problem free lives.  

    Behaviour is often learned or followed to fit in.  

  • Hi Footyfooty,

    I feel the same as Martian Tom, in saying that it could also have been me writing what you said!  I too agree about exacting standards - I see the average person and their behaviour and just can't understand it.  A good example is speeding - why can't people see that limits are set for a reason?  A campaign to do something about speeding down a lane near to where I live has recently been started, and I've joined it.  Parking across pavements is another thing, sometimes causing real difficulty for pedestrains - and I'm a driver too, so it's not as if I'm anti-driver, just that many drivers don't seem to have a logical brain.  I've said to several people that I can't wait for autonomous cars to be mass produced (as and when they do), because the driving decisions will be taken out of the hands of those who are illogical people - and things will be much safer.  

    I also agree about feeling so alien in society, but it's not our problem - it's theirs.  Throughout my life I've wondered why I tend to think so differently and unlike many others, and beginning to see that it might be for a reason.  I've never wanted to think like others just so I feel accepted, as so many people seem to do.  Thankfully, people are starting to understand that being on the autism spectrum is not a disorder, but a condition - just thinking a bit differently to society in general.  If society see more examples of people like Temple Grandin, for example, they'll realise how much people with an autism  spectrum condition can offer.

    I also like football too, and if I said that my family are originally from the East End of London, you'll probably guess my team!

    I too am waiting for an assessment by our local Aspergers Service, and it's quite a wait, but I'm hoping it won't be too long now.  I've had constantly recurring problems during employment regarding communication difficulties, which I understand may be linked to an ASC, so hope to find out as soon as I can.

    As a last word, don't feel like you're going wrong - all what you've said makes perfect sense to me, and I would suspect, to many others on here too.  This is the good thing about this forum - it allows us to share views in our own way!

    Thank you for sharing, and keep your beliefs.

  • That's some post, and I can relate to most of what you have said. I have been suffering from stress recently, currently off work sick. It gets me so much that instead of biting my lip and silently suffer, I am ranting and swearing, makes me feel so bad afterwards.

    I'm sure someday I will get in to a physical fight the ways things are going. Was in Lidl a few days back, supermarkets really stress me. Found last loaf of bread in the basket, I picked it up. You have to pack the bread in a bag yourself, so walked over to the bags. Picked one up, and put the bread inside. Was a little awkward with basket in hand as well.

    Some woman felt she couldn't wait for me and wanted something beside me, and just pushed beside me, physically touching me. It just anoyed me so much, and I swore at her. Why couldn't she simply wait 10 seconds.

    I've had other people regularly, just dive their heads and hands right in front of you, occaisionally you get a sorry after the event.

    Was at a music gig over a week ago, I usually get early so I can get at front without having to worry about people in front of me. Didn't get there early enought, but still fairly close. I had couple of student girls in front of me, one wasn't interested in the music, and constantly every 30-60 seconds talked to her friend. At one point, she was on her mobile in a discussion, and was showing phone to her friend each reply. Other points, she was singing with the opening of the songs, but in a really annoying mocking way. Really annoyed me, and spoilt what would have been a fantastic gig. It was a difficult time for me, because it was the first time I had gone back to the same venue, where I was assaulted nearly two years ago.

    Random

  • Thanks for the kind comments Martian Tom.

  • Hi Footyfooty,

    Wow... I could have written all of that!  As I read through, my head was nodding like one of those doggy ornaments you used to see in the backs of cars!

    There's so much I could say in response - but I'll limit it to just commenting on one sentence:

    Society is so alien to me.

    That's how it's felt for me for my entire life.  I've never understood it.  Social cues, body language, the 'sheep-like' behaviour traits of people - how they have to copy one another, keep ahead of one another.  Fashion!  What nonsense!  'Expressing my individuality by looking like everyone else'!  I've never understood why I could never make or retain friendships, why my relationships always failed... in short, why other people just seemed so damned difficult to understand!

    Well, last year - and the age of 56 - I finally had my diagnosis.  What a liberation!  Suddenly, all the pieces fit together.  My life made sense (even if it wasn't always a positive realisation, because so much of my life has been difficult).

    It's good for me to read things like your post.  It makes me realise that I'm not alone after all.  In a world of boats, I'm pleased to be a bike!  And if other people think my bike is a pretty weird-looking boat... then that's their problem!

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

    Take it easy.

    Tom