Anxiety

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Hello Everyone,

I’m trying to find writings by people on the spectrum and their experience with anxiety. I was diagnosed late in life, and am trying to figure things out.

I seem to be in a constant state of anxiety and have always been this way. Since I was not diagnosed as a child I grew up wondering why I was different with no answer. My anxiety kept me from doing anything neurotypical people take for granted such as dating, getting a job, driving a car, until I was well into my twenties when I began trying to push past the anxiety. Of course I’m still in a constant state of anxiety but at least I now understand it is part of my being on the spectrum.

Anyway, the point of this post is I am trying to find writings on anxiety by people on the spectrum. I am tired of doing a search and getting hundreds of scientific papers written by neurotypical researchers where the people with ASD are just nameless two-dimensional subjects with generalized symptoms.

I’m in a graduate program now and am trying to figure out how to explain my own experience in this world, and am needing to find out how others on the spectrum experience the world. I am sometimes at a loss for words when I try to explain how pervasive this anxiety is in my life. I guess I’m trying to make sense of things.

So anyway, I’m trying to find writings by people on the spectrum and their experience with anxiety.

Thanks,
Drac

You may find this blog useful: Musings of an Aspie

Great thanks!

There are different strategies that can be used to reduce anxiety.

Keeping to a routine
Stiming such as finger rubbing or face touching
Reduced social contact
Avoiding eye contact
Pursing a special interest
Immersion in the alternative reality of fiction

I do try to keep a routine, but I have a job and go to college so I can only keep it as routine as I can.

My stim of choice is moving my legs. Talk about crazy legs!

Reduced social contact is somewhat easy to do now during a pandemic. I don’t socialize that often otherwise, but I do like doing it occasionally even if it induces anxiety so I can keep some connection with others.

I’ve taught myself to look people in the eye. I probably don’t do it as much as an NT but I try. This is something I wonder about though, I might be avoiding eye contact more than I realize but in my mind I might think I’m making good eye contact.

Oh yeah...special interests are my specialty!

Hello!

Two wonderful (and female-centric) books which touch on Asperger's and anxiety that I read are,
Nerdy, Shy and Socially Inappropriate, Cynthia Kim

and

Songs of the Gorilla Nation, by Dawn Prince-Hughes

Good luck and...relax!

Cool, thanks! I’ll check those books out.