Problems with change: Cognitive vs. Medical

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Are ASD problems with change all about how people think about change (like hating it and resisting it)?

Do medical problems like being unable to sleep in new places count as ASD-like resistance to change if there are no thoughts about the changes?

I love change! --- as long as I control it or my expectations are otherwise set. It did not occur to me that change was difficult for me until I was diagnosed recently and now I can see that it can be. I don't think change is a problem for me, my body responds unconsciously and strongly to the stress. How is that cognitive? Except that like any medical problem, biofeedback can help --- I am safe, I am safe, I am safe...

Can you explain how not being able to sleep in new places is medical? --- sounds psychological if one controls for sensory issues. Perhaps sensory is considered medical? I am hypersensitive, but was taught to tough it out. I am unlearning that and starting to care for myself.

I've been reflecting on this. My resistance/dislike isn't extreme, but is present.

I think I experience problems, especially forgetting things or sensory sensitivity associated with anxiety, when one of the following happen:
- plans change unexpectedly
- an unusual (not routine) activity happens
- something happens which I didn't put a lot of pre-thought into
- something is required from me, but I'm already cognitively busy and the situation doesn't inherently remind me of the other requirement

I also think my anxiety was learned in response to the forgetting, the problems I experience when I forget and the treatment I get done others when I forget.

This means the problems are traceable to two root factors:
(1) my mind gets activated(distracted) by lots of circumstantial events, in an adhd-like way.
(2) I use my cognitive resource to regulate, plan and remember. Sometimes when that resource is drastically overburdened, things fall off the stack

The fact that sometimes the consequences, or the treatment I get, are drastically bad isn't enough to change the fact of the above causes, or stop these events from happening.

The best I can do is keep trying, and keep figuring out ways to structure things better. And hopefully in the long run, surround myself with people who can understand and help.

When I said "medical," I meant "not psychological." A problem with the body rather than the mind. Maybe I'm wrong.

If there are no thoughts about the new place, the inability to sleep happens regardless of what kind of place the person is in, and sleep is otherwise normal and returns to normal after a few nights in the new place, I consider it a medical problem...but I suppose unconscious feelings about being in a new place could be the cause.

I have this problem, and I don't see anything psychological about it. Even when I went from homelessness—sleeping in a tent on the edge of town—to having my own apartment, I couldn't sleep for the first couple of nights. Most people would have been relieved and probably would have slept better. I slept in the same sleeping bag I'd used when I was homeless, I slept on the floor because I was used to sleeping on the ground, and there was no noise or smells or any other sensory issues with the apartment.

I know what you mean. I don’t sleep that great in new surroundings, either.

Another problem is that, since I started sleeping nude twenty years ago, I've not been able to sleep with clothes on. I just lay awake all night, dozing at most, no matter how sleepy I am. I cannot sleep in unfamiliar conditions.

When my ASD-like mom sleeps in pjs, she sleeps with ice packs (physical tool) - she says she is too hot otherwise. I was taught how to sleep and took it very seriously as I was told my sanity depended on it. I have tons of tools (psychological and physical) and I sleep very well. Now only severe stress will mildly disrupt my sleep.

I can't readily tell which of my issues is psychological or physical and I suspect the answer is YES (both). Chicken and the egg. I am generally an optimist and try both physical and psychological tools to solve something. That said, I fully understand that there are situations beyond my understanding and ability to solve alone (or at all).

In any case, my answer is: Yes, "medical" problems like being unable to sleep in new places count as ASD-like resistance to change if there are no thoughts about the changes.

As I mentioned, my resistance to change is subconscious also. I have difficulties bringing it into my awareness b/c it's too "big" for me. The trick for me is to take action, to take steps, try this, try that, obtain resources... Although my ASD coach is asking for me to bring my current resistance to change into my awareness... because I am stuck... and well, we'll see how that goes.

I've always had trouble with forced change sometimes gradual is ok.I had medical change when my incontinence started.My wife helps me most of the time.