Anxiety and Aspergers

Post Reply New Topic

Is the anxiety many aspies experience neurological, ie the result of different wiring? Or caused by years of not fitting in and the stress of trying to?

I am thinking about the sensory issues and how hard NTs work to reduce sensory issues with Skinner-like conditioning, when some people think the sensory issues are hard-wired and behavior techniques just don't work.

Hmmm...I don't know... I guess it depends on the person. I think my social anxiety came from years of being abused physically and mentally and school for "not fitting in" and been mistreated by my mother and other peers due to my taboo and "insane" beliefs and lifestyle.

It's hard to go through a day without having flashbacks or thoughts of how people have and possibly will treat me in a social situation or when I am provoked by something triggering those emotions.

When I was really, really young still into the "weird" things that people judge me now, I never had a problem with ill thoughts and aversion behavior (though my mother has told me that I was extremely quiet and non-social as a baby). So it could be due to social reasons as to why I'm dealing with social anxiety now or it could be a wiring situation as well.

I say this because a friend of mine who is actually diagnosed with autism is into pretty much the same things I am as well and has years of experience with being judged and bullied for it. But unlike me being a closed-off moody introvert, he's an extrovert who thrives off of interacting with others and despite him still angry at how people treat him, he has a better time socializing with others than I can ever do.

He goes to furry conventions and completely enjoys them as where if I were to go, I probably would want to leave out of social anxiety.

I think it really depends on the person. For me it was a combination of both. I have always had anxiety issues and when I was younger I was very quiet and not social.

I know throughout my life it only got worse after realizing that I was different and picked on for being the way I was. My body language also turn people away(apparently, people walk away even if I don't say anything.) which is another thing that makes me anxious... and kind of angry.

So, I really think it just depends on the person you're talking to.

Depends on the individual... But I'd say it's likely more with the latter being dealt for most of one's lifetime than with the former ones alone.



I have the sensory and emotional sensitivity, the accounts of negative experiences and pessimism, and half the time uncertainty towards many things on daily basis.
Yet I overcame long term anxiety because I can 'take' all of the above rather well than I had 6+ years ago.
Granted, my time of dealing with anxiety is but a small fraction of my whole life. I didn't started out as an anxious child even if I got signs of discomfort or bullied. It took few years more after ever having that 'conditioning-like' sign that became anxiety.

I don't feel like I'm metamorphically drowning or threatened, even perceiving chaos near constantly. At worst, it's uncomfortable or overwhelming, yet no fight or flight responses. There will be confusion or frustration, but no 'fear' nor tension. Nervousness never lasts.
I don't have to 'fight' anxiety to 'fight' negative obsessions and associations.
And I know the differences between which dealing with anxiety along with ASD things from dealing ASD related things without it.

Gained Number Post Count (1).
Lose Time (n).

Lose more time here - Updates at least once a week.

I think it's probably both. I have GAD, which gets to me mostly when I'm put in unfamiliar situations (social situations). I find GAD more of a burden than Aspergers', to be frank. However, I wouldn't be stressed enough to get GAD symptoms if I was not wired to be anxious in social situations. Catch-22.

Both are connected and cannot be separated.

The different wiring makes you gain less experiences as a child due to preference of sameness and all people are naturally afraid of the unknown therefore the less you experienced you are in life the more anxiety you feel because there is a lot of unknown in the world for you than most people your age.
And also the more negative experiences you get the more anxious you are (common fear of failure) and we experience a lot of negative things, especially related to social life due to our both born and learned traits.