Frequently Overwhelmed

Post Reply New Topic

I was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum a few years ago. I probably fit the description of aspergers fairly well.

I've noticed that one of the biggest challenges in my life is that I get overwhelmed... a lot. I have to plan my life to make sure I have plenty of free time for being alone and getting lost in my hobbies with peace and quiet.

When I don't have this alone time, I struggle more and more to function well. I can't think clearly, and I have nothing to say to anyone. Or if I do have something to say, I usually regret it later.

I feel like this is what sets me apart from other people more than anything. I think this is why I have to live my life differently and much of why I am so solitary.

I think it may be partly sensory-based. But people give me sensory overload more than anything else. They are like walking masses of overwhelming information. I even like some of them But, it makes it hard to develop relationships with people.

I realize there is a constant stream of advertisement that promotes being social is part of being "normal" and that having many friends (whether online or off) is preferred, however you like myself have ASD. It is ok to get overwhelmed, it is going to happen whether you would like it to or not. It is what you do to minimize it that matters.

For instance it is ok to say to yourself, "I am feeling overwhelmed with the crowd, let me go find a quite spot." Then go find a quite spot, stay put till you feel like you can come back to the crowd. If you can't it isn't going to bother anyone who understands you have ASD. (If it does, they probably have their own issues they are dealing with don't take it personal.) It is also ok to say, "Hey, I just can't do this today maybe tomorrow/ another time.".

Will those two strategies work all the time, no, for that matter no strategy works 100% of the time, however realizing your boundaries and being easier on yourself for having them can help reduce the anxiety of possibly becoming overwhelmed in situations. At least that is what I have found to be true.

My personal expression of the aspie framework is that humans receive a constant barrage of data through our senses, more than can be consciously processed. So our brains do a vast amount of automatic processing; probably 99.9% of the data, and we consciously address only a tiny fragment of that. And aspies do somewhat less automatic processing, maybe 99.5% instead of 99.9%, which doesn't sound like much, but it's still dumping five times the amount of data into our stream of consciousness. We find ourselves struggling to consciously classify facial expressions and other nuances that normal people react to on pure instinct. So we tend to get overwhelmed, and learn (if we're lucky) to "catch up" with our processing after the fact.

Our liability can be an asset in the right context where deep (and unconventional) analysis is useful, but a detriment in routine social interactions. The trick is to find our proper niche in this world, and finding this is a difficult quest, and for some an impossible one.

I was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum a few years ago. I probably fit the description of aspergers fairly well.

I've noticed that one of the biggest challenges in my life is that I get overwhelmed... a lot. I have to plan my life to make sure I have plenty of free time for being alone and getting lost in my hobbies with peace and quiet.

When I don't have this alone time, I struggle more and more to function well. I can't think clearly, and I have nothing to say to anyone. Or if I do have something to say, I usually regret it later.

I feel like this is what sets me apart from other people more than anything. I think this is why I have to live my life differently and much of why I am so solitary.

I think it may be partly sensory-based. But people give me sensory overload more than anything else. They are like walking masses of overwhelming information. I even like some of them But, it makes it hard to develop relationships with people.
____________________________________________________________________________________

yes, I got a lot of challenges in my "life". if you could call it a "life". for example :
finding/keeping a job
learning new skills
paying attention
coping with emotions
social interaction
talking loud enough and not too loud
developing hobbies
dwelling on grudges from the distant past
fear
social rejection

and I too, get overwhelmed a lot. the older I get, it seems, the less it takes to overwhelm me. (sounds like autistic burnout). sometimes it seems like too much energy just to have a brief, factual, unemotional conversation with someone. on the other hand, excessive solitude also feels overwhelming. quite frankly, there is something seriously wrong with everything.

got a lot of free time. no school. no work. no precious little "friends". thus far.

no hobbies. unless you call surfing the internet a hobby. reading books. going for walks. not particularly. more like methods of wasting time.

on the other hand, if you do not waste time, what else do you do with time? invest time? spend time? b/c it's subjective what is wasting and what is not wasting.

maybe that sets you apart from some precious little "people".

but it sounds just like me.

I know, huh? I ain't no "person". I do not count b/c I ain't cisgender. or I do not count b/c I ain't got no precious lil "friends". or I do not count b/c I ain't got no job.



or I do not count b/c "she's a wierdo".

Me being overwhelmed is probably the source of my procrastination problem. I think about how I need to get a job, get a car keep fit, and have time for my interests etc, and it all just becomes too much. I run off to my room and listen to music. Lather rinse repeat for the last 7 years. I HATE it.