Constant Anxiety, Aspergers

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Hi everyone, just curious what everyone's (particularly aspies') experiences are with anxiety. Do you feel like an especially anxious person, and if so do you think the anxiety is related to your aspergers or arose separately?

In my own case I'm wondering if the constant anxiety I experience might be a surface phenomenon of something aspergers-like. It's not anxiety *about* anything, just a diffuse feeling of being tense and wired. It's been a very long time since I haven't felt mentally and physically agitated (even though, as I said, it's not a thought-driven anxiety and feels more like general 'nerves').

My anxiety is more pervasive because lot of things give me anxiety and I am not even sure if it's even anxiety or just anger or me being upset or being frustrated and when it becomes anxiety than just those three feelings. I have gotten anxiety from not understanding assignments or instructions or people not listening to me or not getting my perspective, or having to do things I don't want to do and demands or when something is too hard or too stressful. I sometimes think my anxiety is separate from my AS because to me anxiety means not being able to handle stress like a normal person and getting stressed out about things most people wouldn't get stressed out about and it also means exaggerating things because it seems bad than it really is and the fact I take things to the next level than most people like many people worry about airport security or worry about money but I take it to the next level that is impairs my occupational functioning while most people can still function. I also get anxiety when I am not in control of my environment so like in high school I hated when kids wouldn't follow rules for games because I would get upset. It didn't make it fun for me. I also do not like sudden change in plans so that gives me anxiety.


My anxiety used to be worse but it got better because I learned to handle things better. I sometimes think my anxiety is separate so no wonder I was given a separate diagnoses but then again I also think it's part of autism because they all seem to get it too when it comes to daily tasks or routines being broken or when their special interests are taken or when they can't talk about them, etc.

My anxiety is so high that I believe it's a seperate disorder to my AS.

But I think my AS and ADHD make me anxious because I lack some skills that other people take for granted and while I'm aware of areas I struggle in, it's still beyond my control and I get angry with myself.
For example, AS makes me socially anxious because of my social awkwardness. I don't want to be odd but I don't know how to not be. And ADHD makes me anxious because of how my mind is so active and I get impulsive and struggle to manage tasks on time.
It's all a vicious circle.

And, lastly, I do feel like most people don't understand how anxiety feels for me and how some things can be daunting for me but not for them. Work affects my anxiety more than anything else. I am most anxious at work. Sometimes I wish I was rich enough to not have to work. I sometimes find myself getting really upset and panicky at work.

I feel anxiety only during certain times. For instance, if I'm in a large crowd with people all around me and getting in my way, that makes me anxious. If I'm around someone I'm trying to avoid, I feel my body tense up and my heart pounding. I used to have anxiety attacks, but not really any more. I was diagnosed with anxiety before being diagnosed with Asperger's. Just living in a nursing home with over 200 mentally ill people gives me plenty of anxiety; so much, that I can't wait to move out of there and I try to either go out or stay in my room as much as possible.

Yeah I am quite an anxious person. Currently having it quite badly as I am off abroad with my employer on Tuesday for 3 days. Just big conferences, lots of sitting around and listening to speeches etc but there are large group dinners which I will not handle well and my current concern is getting up at 4:30am and a taxi collecting me. I like to get up when I usually do and drive myself to work.

Hating this

I used to have a lot of anxiety but then I went to therapy for 3 months (1-hour session every week or two, total 10 sessions) and now my anxiety isn't bad at all!

Although it's not like "hey now my anxiety's gone I can go off and make loads of new friends", because that's still very hard due to not knowing what to do/how to act

For many, if not most of us there is a continuous baseline of anxiety that is purely generated by the environment. I notice even in a "quiet" room I can knock two points off a scale of ten for anxiety just by putting in earplugs.

Thanks all for responding -- interesting to hear everyone's replies.

@ Redxk , Ok, this is what I was thinking. Perhaps an undiagnosed person who has a lot anxiety might not recognize it was environmental. I'm wondering if this might be something like what I experience.
Would you say that "the environment" includes recognition or anticipation of social obligations as well as general sensory stimuli, or exclusively the latter?

An analogy I read once about autism an anxiety was how someone who is on spectrum is like a cup 3/4 full, while an NT's cup may only be 1/4 full. So it takes a lot less to overflow the cup that's already 3/4.

I have no idea if that made any sense. Quite common for autistic to have a higher base level of anxiety. Certainly true in my case.

It's strange because my psychologist constantly refers to this 'anxiety' that I often don't feel I have.

I have experienced extreme anxiety and panic attacks in the past but that eventually died down.

However I am a very avoidant person which probably points to some underlying anxiety. I also tend to find myself carrying at least a small degree of physical tension. I often find myself anxious in certain situations when I go out, even if it just mildly so.
I am also quicker to irritate whenthe environment is chaotic.
I also get anxious about doing certain tasks such as uni work which leads to procrastination and general avoidance.

My anxiety has recently been on the increase. I've been having a particularly bad time of it at night; you won't believe the crap my mind conjures to make me jump, and I do visibly jump, everything gets wound up so tight, just a constant assault of paranoia and fear.
Had this problem for a long time now. I've lost count of the amount of times I've petitioned my GP for sleeping pills as I think they would be immensely helpful at putting me back on track and ease my anxiety, but my mental health record is against me.

I use to have anxiety, and worry about anything that popped in my head. I believe this also contributed to my irritability. Since I've been on meds, i no longer have anxiety or irritability, and has made me a more pleasant person to be around.