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Wearing my paradigm shift

WereBear

License to Weird
V.I.P Member
Yesterday I took a couple of online tests that had me scoring very high on the Aspie scale. Now, I don't know what to think. Which is very unusual for me. :)

Totally cool with this knowledge. It fits like a puzzle piece into my other identities as geek, intellectual, writer, and cat guru. It explains so much.

I do have a serious problem I am hoping this new insight will help with. I have an illness which corresponds most closely to Adrenal Fatigue, so I researched the behind off the subject, found some strategies and supplements to help, and have made some progress. Medical professionals were almost completely useless. (I am astonished that people are astonished that I did this.)

However, I seem to be stuck in this this improved, but not usual, state. I normally have a great deal of energy: this century alone, I experienced a total life meltdown, lost everything, moved to a new place, and rebuilt to include a new academic degree, husband, and job of long standing. But now I come home from work pretty exhausted, and it is almost impossible to rebound.

After managing pretty well, this summer put new pressures on me by requiring me to work on weekends: and not from home on my computer, but attending and mingling at events.

For decades I programmed or did IT work in small offices, able to just sit at my desk and focus on my work with code or spreadsheets or other database tasks. But over the last three years my job has radically changed to include lots of social interaction, travel, and frequent interruptions and attention changes. I am wondering if the added stress of this new position's demands are undercutting my efforts to heal.

Because my fondest wish right now is to have no pressure on me: no people, no responsibilities, no nothing. I feel so psychically overwhelmed. If someone offered to drop me on a desert island (with electricity & Internet & Amazon deliveries) I think I could stay there for a good long while.

I'm starting to think I did fix the physical problems, as best I can. But perhaps the real problem is that I am reaping the incredible stress of compensating, unknowingly, all these years?

What should I consider now? I have been seeing a therapist for help in figuring out why I feel so overwhelmed. And now I think I know :) But I have only told my husband and brother and don't know if I should seek an official diagnosis or not. Or go public. Or not.

One thing at a time, though, and the most important is that I think I have an explanation for why my brain keeps repeating "Leave me alone."

Could my therapist and I figure out ways of lowering my stress, now that I realize that I am an Aspie?
 
Welcome! It sounds like many life changes have happened to you in the recent past, and that the demands of the current situation overwhelm.

Why not get a formal diagnosis? This would make ASD supports and accommodations at work, and in life, possible. Targeted supports make a world of difference. Getting an agency on board can hook you up with ASD specialists who help adults manage work and relationship demands better.

This sounds like ASD Midlife Burnout. Some rough life bumps can upset our apple cart when the demands of the situations outstrip our neurology's ability to cope. Shutdowns, painful internalized meltdowns, loss of executive function and cognitive function, etc. are the result. Perhaps if you put "burnout" into the search bar up top, you can find the extensive thread on the topic, to see if it resonates with you, and to read other ideas and supportive solutions.

Wishing you the best!
 
OMG, you sound just like me! I went through the same struggle, including Adrenal Fatigue (and having to figure it out myself), and am still recovering from the mental and physical breakdown that hit my last semester of college. It was because of that breakdown that I discovered I might be an Aspie...and you're right, that idea explains so much!

I have not yet figured out how to totally fix this burnout, but I have been healing as best I can. I'm seeing a therapist, have an appointment to work with a state disabilities and job placement organization, and am trying to get back to being able to exercise (still not there yet, poo!). I can't work full-time yet due to PTSD and Aspie issues, but that's where the state agency comes in...hoping they can help me.

Welcome to the club, and good luck on your journey!
 
Yesterday I took a couple of online tests that had me scoring very high on the Aspie scale. Now, I don't know what to think. Which is very unusual for me. :)

Totally cool with this knowledge. It fits like a puzzle piece into my other identities as geek, intellectual, writer, and cat guru. It explains so much.

I do have a serious problem I am hoping this new insight will help with. I have an illness which corresponds most closely to Adrenal Fatigue, so I researched the behind off the subject, found some strategies and supplements to help, and have made some progress. Medical professionals were almost completely useless. (I am astonished that people are astonished that I did this.)

However, I seem to be stuck in this this improved, but not usual, state. I normally have a great deal of energy: this century alone, I experienced a total life meltdown, lost everything, moved to a new place, and rebuilt to include a new academic degree, husband, and job of long standing. But now I come home from work pretty exhausted, and it is almost impossible to rebound.

After managing pretty well, this summer put new pressures on me by requiring me to work on weekends: and not from home on my computer, but attending and mingling at events.

For decades I programmed or did IT work in small offices, able to just sit at my desk and focus on my work with code or spreadsheets or other database tasks. But over the last three years my job has radically changed to include lots of social interaction, travel, and frequent interruptions and attention changes. I am wondering if the added stress of this new position's demands are undercutting my efforts to heal.

Because my fondest wish right now is to have no pressure on me: no people, no responsibilities, no nothing. I feel so psychically overwhelmed. If someone offered to drop me on a desert island (with electricity & Internet & Amazon deliveries) I think I could stay there for a good long while.

I'm starting to think I did fix the physical problems, as best I can. But perhaps the real problem is that I am reaping the incredible stress of compensating, unknowingly, all these years?

What should I consider now? I have been seeing a therapist for help in figuring out why I feel so overwhelmed. And now I think I know :) But I have only told my husband and brother and don't know if I should seek an official diagnosis or not. Or go public. Or not.

One thing at a time, though, and the most important is that I think I have an explanation for why my brain keeps repeating "Leave me alone."

Could my therapist and I figure out ways of lowering my stress, now that I realize that I am an Aspie?

I agree with Warmheart, it would probably help to get a diagnosis and some consoling. However, be very selective with you doctor. You will be amazed about how many medical professionals are clueless when it comes to Asperger's Syndrome. Get a doctor who is familiar with AS. Welcome to AC, you will like it here.
 
Thanks all! I appreciate the advice to be fussy, and I was.

I have found a diagnostic place 3 1/2 hours away but they seem like a good choice: they asked the right questions and the evaluation is going to basically take all day. I will need to pay for cheap motel room for two nights but got my insurance to agree they will pay for it since they don't have anyone in their network.

I realized a diagnosis would be a very helpful tool; protecting my job if I need some concessions to be made, and that would get my insurance to pay for a weighted blanket, which I think I need. We once had a comforter that was quite heavy and I loved it and my husband did not. Now I am thinking one of those blankets might be a calming thing for me.

The lack of qualified therapists in the area is another concern. I will try to find someone I like who is willing to FaceTime with me.

I adore where I live but it is very remote and while I could be airlifted to a hospital and put back together like the Tin Man, they are not the place to have a rare condition.
 
Hi & welcome,
You can come up with coping behaviors. That is setting up things to improve your overall mental health and methodology of dealing with things. Its fairly basic stuff, like learning what simply to avoid, what to keep doing, what to drop, how to arrange sufficient private/recharge time, making lists, etc.
 
i do need coping behaviors. Trying to "relax my mind" in an attempt to reach the compensating mechanisms that have been sucking up my energy behind the scenes.

Funny thing: when I do that, my occipital lobe seems to relax. Weird, I know, but I now have a License to Weird.
 
Welcome to A.C. WereBear Until your post, I never heard of Adrenal Fatigue. That's what I like about checking in here: new knowledge! :)
 
Had my series of interviews and tests today, seven hours in all. It will be a few weeks to get the official report, but the examiner stated that while I am borderline, due to the high social capabilities that I also did not know were slowly killing me (be careful what you wish for, folks!) she is pretty sure I am a person with Asperger's Syndrome.

I knew it, but I wanted it to be official because I will need help to bounce back.

Next step, my weighted blanket! I am staying in a hotel because after seven hours of intense stuff, I would not be in shape for four hours home. Last night I was anxious and so I folded up the heavy bedspread to fit over me; so sooooothing. Getting my own will definitely help me sleep better.
 
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Had my series of interviews and tests today, seven hours in all. It will be a few weeks to get the official report, but the examiner stated that while I am borderline, due to the high social capabilities that I also did not know were slowly killing me (be careful what you wish for, folks!) she is pretty sure I am a person with Asperger's Syndrome.

I knew it, but I wanted it to be official because I will need help to bounce back.

Next step, my weighted blanket! I am staying in a hotel because after seven hours of intense stuff, I would not be in shape for four hours home. Last night I was anxious and so I folded up the heavy bedspread to fit over me; so sooooothing. Getting my own will definitely help me sleep better.

Since you are getting a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome, I am assuming that you are not in the US. Our newest DSM criteria does not list AS and it is harder to get a diagnosis due to political and financial concerns. Good luck with your assessment.
 
I am in the US. I suppose it is now High Functioning Autism but the evaluator said Asperger's Syndrome was still proper nomenclature.
 

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