Hi, everyone o/

[Irakus34]

Hi o/

I'm Tomoya, 22yo and I'm here trying to seek help and answers. I was diagnosed with depression, anxiety disorder and OCD when I was 16yo. I thought treating these would lead me to be able to live normally. Though, it didn't happen. What's more, my symptoms just got worse.

I spent long years suffering in silence, masking all my symptoms to look fine and carry on a productive life. However, by curiosity, I checked what ASD was by real and not that surrealistic image TV wants so badly to sell (as did I too with ADHD, Schizophrenia and several more disorders as I'm studying so).

Against all odds, I found out my chances to be autistic were very high and I won't lie, I got kind of scared. Scared because when I told my family, they refused that posibility; when I told one friend, she also refused I could ever be autistic; even when I told my teacher, who has worked with autistic kids, she also refused the posibility, but kinda encouraged me to seek professional help if I think there might be something else aside of my previous diagnosis.

So, in the end, I'm here because no one believes me and I can't get any professional help right away due to my lack of resources so far.

I hope to at least find some help here to stop my intrussive, self-destroying thoughts I use to have regarding this matter until I get my chance to visit a psychiatrist.

Glad to be here. Hope I didn't do anything wrong in the way.

 

[VictorR]

Hello and welcome!

Do you mind stating what country you're in? Perhaps some members may be able to offer suggestions on potential resources.

 

[Wolfnox]

Hi.

 

[Darkkin]

Autism is nothing to be afraid of. For a number of autistics, it has actually helped to get an accurate diagnosis. For many it is like finally opening a locked door, walking through, and looking back on life with 20/20 hindsight. Suddenly everything that was 'weird' makes way more sense and is not weird, but a feature of the autistic neurotype.

While it can be overwhelming, a proper diagnosis can get one pointed in the right direction. That alone is huge help in learning how to work with one's brain and neurotype.

Since my diagnosis, my migraine occurence has declined nearly 95% not because of some wonder medication, but because I learned what to avoid and what signs are telling me when I am approaching a seinsory overload. It was sensory overload that was the primary trigger of my headaches. It was my nervous system trying to regulate.

 

[tree]

 

[Thinx]

Hi and welcome. It's good that you are here, it sounds like you have been researching this a while, so you probably are not wrong that you have autistic traits, and maybe this could be useful to know more about. It can help you to manage how you are, and it's definitely helpful to understand better and to hear other's strategies I think. People who immediately say you are not autistic probably don't understand what it is and how it can affect people. You have looked into it more than they have.

I hope you enjoy it here, and find it useful and supportive.

 

[Nitro]

 

[Richelle-H]

Welcome @Irakus34

That was a very succinct and cogent introduction. The spectrum of autism is wide and deep with only a weak understanding by the majority of what it means to be in that sea and how each individual swimming in it is unique.

I was a very late diagnosis with Asperger's Syndrome. I was always very high functioning from birth. So, even though I may have considered myself weird or from another planet with frequent bouts of anxiety and depression, I just kept pushing forward and following the current I seemed to be caught up in.

At your age I was clueless about anything to do with spectrum and had no diagnosis because by the time my mother understood that I was different, I was my own person and gave a flat no to her when she asked if I would talk to someone if she took me to see them. Besides, that was more than six decades ago when things were much different than today, and I sincerely doubt I would have received the same diagnosis I found in my early forties.

There are many self-diagnosed members here. If the swim fin seems to fit you (continuing my weak analogy), then wear it and dive in here. This is a very welcoming community, and if nothing else you just might find a place where the acceptance you seek is in abundance.

 

[Irakus34]

Hello and welcome!

Do you mind stating what country you're in? Perhaps some members may be able to offer suggestions on potential resources.

Hi, thank you!

It's fine, I'm from Spain o/

 

[Irakus34]

Autism is nothing to be afraid of. For a number of autistics, it has actually helped to get an accurate diagnosis. For many it is like finally opening a locked door, walking through, and looking back on life with 20/20 hindsight. Suddenly everything that was 'weird' makes way more sense and is not weird, but a feature of the autistic neurotype.

While it can be overwhelming, a proper diagnosis can get one pointed in the right direction. That alone is huge help in learning how to work with one's brain and neurotype.

Since my diagnosis, my migraine occurence has declined nearly 95% not because of some wonder medication, but because I learned what to avoid and what signs are telling me when I am approaching a seinsory overload. It was sensory overload that was the primary trigger of my headaches. It was my nervous system trying to regulate.

At first, I thought I could have an explanation of my way of thinking and behaviour that has always bothered and looked inappropriate for many people during my life, so I was kind of relieved, I even understood myself more profoundly.

But after a few disappointing experiences, intrusive thoughts kept burdening me, ruining my good view about this matter. That's when I got scared without no one really supporting my perspective.

I'm trying to go back to where I was, relieved for having proper answers because in the end, it's how it must be.

Also, I'm happy for you that now your migraines are way better. I suffer migraines too and it's usually because of the weather and/or food. It's true sensory overload makes migraines way more aggressive, but once you learn how to avoid/manage sensory overload, the symptoms get better in no time. Since I discovered my possibility of being autistic, I learned a few tips for reducing sensory overload and my life and mental health have been affected positively.

Thank you for your answer.

 

[Irakus34]

Hi and welcome. It's good that you are here, it sounds like you have been researching this a while, so you probably are not wrong that you have autistic traits, and maybe this could be useful to know more about. It can help you to manage how you are, and it's definitely helpful to understand better and to hear other's strategies I think. People who immediately say you are not autistic probably don't understand what it is and how it can affect people. You have looked into it more than they have.

I hope you enjoy it here, and find it useful and supportive.

Hi, thank you!

I've been researching and studying how ASD works in each individual so I could gain a wide vision of what being autistic is. The more I know, the more traits I find that they're autistic and not just my personality as I've always believed.
And, tho it could sound narcissistic, but I know you're right, I probably know more about ASD than everyone who has told me it's impossible I'm autistic. I also thought like that when I knew nothing about it.

Hope to find support in here!

 

[Irakus34]

Welcome @Irakus34

That was a very succinct and cogent introduction. The spectrum of autism is wide and deep with only a weak understanding by the majority of what it means to be in that sea and how each individual swimming in it is unique.

I was a very late diagnosis with Asperger's Syndrome. I was always very high functioning from birth. So, even though I may have considered myself weird or from another planet with frequent bouts of anxiety and depression, I just kept pushing forward and following the current I seemed to be caught up in.

At your age I was clueless about anything to do with spectrum and had no diagnosis because by the time my mother understood that I was different, I was my own person and gave a flat no to her when she asked if I would talk to someone if she took me to see them. Besides, that was more than six decades ago when things were much different than today, and I sincerely doubt I would have received the same diagnosis I found in my early forties.

There are many self-diagnosed members here. If the swim fin seems to fit you (continuing my weak analogy), then wear it and dive in here. This is a very welcoming community, and if nothing else you just might find a place where the acceptance you seek is in abundance.

Hi, thank you for your answer.

I really feel reflected with some parts of your comment. In this NT society, any disorder or illness must show clear symptoms to be valid. If not, the traits become just some weirdnesses of the individual who learns how to live with and even mask them to survive in a world which just provides more obstacles than help.

I'm always scared to say I'm self-diagnosed as people around me try to chance my mind as if I am kind of somatizing ASD to seek attention.

So I really hope to find the support I need these days in here.