Craving mutilation (cutting)
Noone to talk to
Scared of dogs and getting hit by a car and getting made redundant
Written up at work last week (rolls eyes)
Exhausted all the time
Rapidly getting much physically weaker and soon won't be able to work at all
Autism, sensory overload, communication difficulties, executive processing disorder
Emotional overeating
Trouble sleeping
Sister said she wants to sell the house I live in and I am afraid I will end up homeless
Regret not doing better at school
Litterbox difficulty
Grotesquely misunderstood pathetic hateful inarticulate
Overpowered outnumbered outsmarted
Midlife crisis
Existential crisis
No $$ or car
Inadequate
Uptight edgy guarded
Not fair
Wrongful accusation
Double standards
Nervous disposition
Nervous energy
Introverts.
Autistic
Stormyweathers
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: 20 Dec 2023
Age: 54
Gender: Male
Posts: 68
Location: Forney, TX
You're not alone. Let me add one to your noteworthy list.
Masochist
Better than cutting.
On my easier said than done list, I would respectfully suggest the almost but not quite impossible task of developing more coping skills.
Chair workouts. No dogs, no cars. No equipment. It helps with energy and health.
When a job feels like it is going south, start looking for another. Don't cling. Be picky about your environment if you can ... to avoid overload. For me, no flickering fluorescent lights. No open office workspaces.
Take the risk, tell your employer and ask for just one tiny accomodation ... noise cancelling headphones. All it costs them is a tap on your shoulder.
Count calories. Not carbs, not fat, just calories because it is simple, available everywhere, and scales with portion size. I know this sucks, and I know it is hard, merciful lord I know. Just keep the tally in your head. When you eat, how many calories do you add, and continue. Set a *slightly* ... as in small ... reduction to what you eat every week.
For sleeping, try melatonin. It's cheap, effective, natural, and you don't get hooked. Take one 30 min before you hit the hay.
Tell your sister she's going to get cooties if she leaves you homeless.
We are not, as a generalized whole, well suited to classroom instruction. Pick a field you can teach yourself and stop regretting it. Flogging yourself for your nature pumps your anxiety and remains an unsolvable problem. Pick a field you can teach yourself. My degree is in chemistry, but I picked IT for this reason. I go from zero to expert faster than anyone and earn a check on that skill alone.
Mask. I'm so sorry to say this to you, but you just have to practice. Observe how neurotypicals behave and attempt to mimic. Repeat until exhaustion claims you. Find another job. Lather, rinse, repeat. I wish I were wrong.
And last, but not least, take a valuable lesson from a gaudy piece of ceramic hanging on my grandfather's kitchen wall.
"When you get to the end of your rope, hang in there."
Or, if you prefer the Nemo version, then get on your knees and offer your thanks to Guru Dory:
"Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming." Play it over in your head like a song you cannot expel until you cannot expel it.
You're not alone. We're both going to make it.