Social anxiety - what do you think about what I was told?

Post Reply New Topic

This. You can have Aspergers and not have social anxiety. I think a big mistake a lot of people make is when they dismiss anxiety as "part of" AS. They are two separate issues.

With that said, sometimes people on the spectrum can have difficulty going into stores and restaurants because of sensory issues, and the reactions to these issues can cause anxiety. There are ways to get around these sensitivities though, such as wearing sunglasses if bright/florescent lights overwhelm you, or ear plugs if you aren't able to process the noises around you well.

I have already written my response to your post

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt205644.html

Oh my gosh - thank you all!

YT - thank you so much for posting the link to your post - bang on! I sure appreciate it!

LM

That's a generalization. That someone with AS doesn't care what people think of them. That may be true for a lot of aspies but it's not true for others. You can have SAD and AS as co-morbids. Remember, autism is a broad spectrum.

I used to have social anxiety when I was younger, that prevented me from going in the store to begin with. I would have to walk past the store many times, if there were too many people in there, I'd wait or eject. Dealing with the clerk would be be another fear, I was very self-conscious. If I had to ask for help, I wouldn't bother and leave the store. If too many people walked in after me, I'd leave the store. This seems to indicate Social Anxiety as the main problem at that stage of my life as it was the interactions with people.

That's all gone now. I can go into a store no problem, but I do get overwhelmed, dizzy and slightly agitated if the shop is too busy or too bright. I also start some mild-stimming (pacing, keys, following floor tiles etc.) at the checkout or if I have to wait. So basically an uncomfortable (but tolerated!) experience in line with a sensory issue problem.

So yes I agree with your psych, walking into the store is not the problem. How you feel inside is another matter.

Jason.

Thanks guys !

I get dizzy, too - more so off-balance, Jason - I actually hold a shopping cart where possible. Just thinking - I just find stores overwhelming - especially big stores - I find it a lot of effort to read through what is on the shelves - I dunno. I follow tiles, too - heel in the corners - hey - and I get dizzy/off-balance in a change of light - like going from bright to dark and vice versa - I don't know if people normally have that sensation - but it puts me off. Oh - and another one - elevators - I prefer stairs as when that elevator gives that little 'whoopsie' when it stops - it takes me the length of the hall to regain my balance. I have trouble with escalators, too - I have a death grip on the rail and I find it hard to place my feet. I'm okay once on - it's getting on and getting off that I find trouble - but the worst is getting on.

LM

Ma'am, i suggest you look in to Sensory Processing Disorder, too.

Here is a link to get you started.

http://www.sinetwork.org/about-sensory- ... order.html

Good Luck,

TheSunAlsoRises

I have sensory issues with stores, but I don't feel anxious going into them. I just know that my brain will start fritzing if I don't get out fast.

I attended an anxiety clinic once and identified with none of the anxiety symptoms. People talked a lot about going into a store and feeling very anxious and feeling out of control and having panic attacks, and a lot of people seemed to have these symptoms of anxiety, not the lights are too bright, noises are too many, my brain is shutting down problems of autism. I think that this is what the psych was talking about in reference to people with anxiety having problems going into stores, but people with AS having no such problems. There are problems for autistic people, but they are not the same as for people with anxiety. At the clinic, people also talked about how to ward off a panic attack at the store, like recognizing the signs and thinking the right thoughts and breathing in certain ways. Also, people with anxiety often canceled their appointments with their psychs on the morning of the appointment and often could not go to the anxiety clinic due to anxiety. I think that this was what the psych was talking about.

Thanks much!

Wow - reading through about SPD - it sure makes me think of my youngest son - I will read through more thoroughly tomorrow - thank you!

You are welcome.

TheSunAlsoRises

There does seem to be quite a high incidence of social anxiety in Asperger's (it's understandable why), but it's not a necessary feature.
The only time I'd have anxiety in a restaurant that wasn't related to possible sensory issues is if it was one of those idiotic places that makes you jump through a dozen hoops just to order a damn sandwich.

Some psychologists and psychiatrists (and doctors of all types) would rather believe uniform generalizations by NTs than lived experiences of people who actually have the conditions they refer to. The idea that no aspie would ever be anxious walking into a store is definitely untrue.

^Oh yes, this for me too. In fact, I have absolutely no social anxiety at all (it just takes a lot of energy to socialise, which is why I do it sparingly). A lot of the time my brain fritzes out when I'm in a store I love - my eyes seem to flick to every single item without my control and I end up feeling dizzy and nauseous.

And yeah, shopping centres? Too bright, too many choices, too much information clambouring for attention, and usually a few screaming children. But it usually depends on how much energy I have - if I'm hypomanic and bouncing off walls I have enough energy to deal with it, but if I'm tired I'll walk around with my hands over my ears and sunglasses on.

On a similar note to this thread, it annoys me when professionals mix clinical anxiety with stimulus overload, and a few have done it while writing referral letters. I had to explain to one psych that I had an almost pathological lack of anxiety, before she was open to the fact that maybe they were separate. My brain doesn't filter input, and interprets things as louder/brighter than others - of course I cover my ears! Everyone else would too if they walked into a rock concert every time they went to do the shopping!

I sometimes get nervous for no apparent reason out of nowhere, and then I start to worry that someone will notice how nervous I am and think that I'm trying to steal stuff or something.

Exactly, nikkt - I was trying to explain this to the doctor - I was thinking about the visit this morning and thought - wow - this doctor needs a logic course. He presented a false dichotomy - a logical fallacy - he presented two ideas as if they were the only ones available - 'it's this or it's that' - ignoring that there were 3rd - or 4th - or a various number of other alternatives. Alternatives being that sometimes I am anxious, but other times I am just overwhelmed by the environment - and sometimes I get tired and once I have felt overloaded for long enough, I begin to feel anxious; from what I hear from people who know so well by experience on this site, and from supportive literature - anxiety is a common companion to AS - not a necessary condition, but certainly, it seems, one that is not rare and present for various reasons in different people such as being co-morbid or 'as a result of' sort of thing - so, my goodness - there are so many possibilities. I did not like his interview style - he did ask symptomatically about anxiety - and I do get those symptoms - but so what? It does not apply to nor account for all of my 'signs and symptoms' - anxiety floats along with so many conditions as well - not just AS - ah, he just didn't want to take me on. He has to full well know what I have said - he had his mind made up right off as he said a number of times: "46 year old woman got this far in life without a diagnosis - not likely. " I'm going to let it rest now, and get up to a big city nearby to see someone I know will give me a seasoned and definitive answer. I am very lucky my husband agrees 100% that there is a good likelihood AS fits the bill and needs to be investigated - the doc didn't take into account that what I am able to accomplish now is owed in part to a partner who has always known something is so-called 'wrong', but takes me as I am and accommodates me. Not everyone is so lucky. Not to say it is always a picnic for either of us, but I suppose no marriage is - anyways - he is as certain as I am that there is good cause for evaluation and he knows the tangle I get into talking to people so he is coming with me. Have good day, everyone, LM