Insomnia Treatment and Autism Diagnosis

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Hello, I'm new here. Here's my issue....

I have insomnia and it's taken a turn for the worse. I've had sleep problems since I started working in info tech. I learned that social aptitude is just as important to a programmer as technical skill and problem solving ability. The stress this causes me is probably at the root of my problem. Being lifelong deficient when it comes to relating to people is professionally scary. In recent months, I've been isolated from my team and fighting feelings of worthlessness. Maybe it's time to find out if I have an autism problem.

I have a history of difficulties going back as far as kindergarten. Failure to mix with the other kids landed me in fulltime special ed for K-8 school. My "gets along with others" grade was consistently fair to poor. And similar problems just followed me from there into high school and into adult life. I still do not do well in making friends. The few I do have I'm most comfortable seeing one at a time.

There's a reason I like doing the one-at-a-time thing with people. Social situations involving 3 or more people tend to melt into a weird crosstalk of alien speak. (for lack of a better description) It's kind of frustrating so I generally prefer to stay quiet. Occasional attempts to jump into those conversations has always been very uncomfortable for me. (with the exception of close family)

If there is a bright side to maybe being ASD, it's this. When I get obsessed with something, I tend to go big. I would do thousands of pages of research on a topic of interest even during times when Internet wasn't commonly available. There was this big fictional world that built up in my head which eventually turned into a novellette and movie length screenplay script. There are a few dozen programs and scripts out on the Internet resulting from this thing I have for Python and computer graphics. So I've done a few things in life that I'm kind of proud of in retrospect.

At any rate, due to how bad things have gotten recently, seeking an ASD diagnosis seems to make sense. Since I'm slated to see a psychiatrist soon to deal with my insomnia anyways, it might make sense to bring it up. It might make a difference as far as treatment options are concerned.

In the meantime, it's time for me to try to get some sleep again.

I wish I didn't have to sleep.

Then, I could spend !sleep time on special interests.