Signs of Aspergers Syndrome
Anxiety and Aspergers Syndrome
Anxiety is a common comorbidity with Aspergers Syndrome and as it interferes with your social life, it is advisable to deal with it. Whereas stims or other things might be a symptom of a larger problem, anxiety in and of itself can send off social signals that make it harder for people to connect to you, especially it you are more introverted. Different people are coming from different spots, so you should realize this is a journey dealing with your anxiety, with many steps.
What is anxiety and what types of anxiety are there? There are a few, but we will focus on three for the sake of this article: general, situational, and social anxiety.
General Anxiety
This is just from the general stresses of life. The economy, global climate change, how the people around us act, and so on. If there are steps we can take to alleviate the issue, even at a micro level, we should. This may be recycling, creating an emergency fund, or limiting ourselves to people and venues that are uplifting and do not clash with our values. In cases where we are not able to change things (such as politics or geopolitics), once we have done what we can, we should take a step back at put it on the shelf in our mind until there is something we can do about it.
Situational Anxiety
This may be things that cause us to stim or cause us to be in an uneasy state. This will vary from person to person. This may be large crowds for some people, for others it is noisy environments, or super bright environments. In as much we as are able, we should avoid these environments or when possible we should try and get accommodations (in places like work and the like). We can also try and seek out therapies and treatment from medical professionals.
Social Anxiety
This and situational anxiety are the two most often linked with Asperger Syndrome and Autism in general. For whatever reason, including not knowing what to say, being unfamiliar with a particular social situation, things dealing with past traumas, or fear people will pick up on Aspergers Syndrome or Autism, we may be anxious about interacting with the outside world. Some solutions to some of these issues is being in an environment that is comfortable and brings out the best you, confronting the issues you deal with, and if need be finding a coping mechanism if confronting it is not ideal. Sometimes these concerns are completely irrational, sometimes they are perfectly rational. Bouncing these fears off a therapist may be ideal if possible. Also as with all forms of anxiety, sometimes trial and error will be the only thing to guarantee a way forward with dealing with anxiety.
Starting from absolute social anxiety, taking small steps towards being social might include saying hi to someone passing by or responding to people that talk to you. The next level up might be going up to that person in the corner and seeing how they are. Beyond that if you see something you find interesting in a person, you should go up to them and comment on it. That is the gist of escalating. You might also try more "safe" environments, where there is not as much judgement and work your way up.
You may also look to deal with the underlying symptoms of anxiety. There are medications for anxiety, both anti-depressants and non antidepressants and that is something you may want to discuss with your doctor. There are also things like Phenibut (which we should caution can have dependency, so research and discuss this with a health care professional) and things like l-theanine that can help with social anxiety. As with any medication or supplement, discuss this with a health care provider. There are also therapies like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy that confronts negative beliefs in our minds and challenges them with positive thoughts. If you more inclined to be a self studier, perhaps you might be able to delve into Carl Jung ,which sometimes makes a little more sense of social interactions, even Jung's explanations are a bit more esoteric than many people may be comfortable with.
Another thing that may be helpful with many people with anxiety is that some, but not all, are helped by having a busy plate full of things to do. The trick is if your mind is busy on other things, you won't have enough time to worry about menial things. If you can keep you schedule (or at least mind full) you will be stimulated enough so that the world around you cannot stimulate you with negative things.
Probably the biggest key is desensitizing yourself to it or trying to get at least a little comfortable with people around you in general. This may take work, but it will be worth it. Further desensitivity therapy may help some people overcome things. Even getting a more socially active job might help get you more comfortable with people in general. You may also want to dive into this sensitivity and see if there are things in your childhood or throughout life that have shaped you to where you are now.
The other part of dealing with your anxiety is dealing with the other issues that lead to your anxiety. This overall is beyond the scope of this article as everyone's anxieties are different, but in our case often times Asperger's Syndrome exacerbates anxiety. In a way, both issues are very synergetic, but in a negative way. Anxiety may manifest itself in overly worrying how your Aspergers will be viewed by others, anxiety about the social venue in question, trying to analyze the situation, along with other things. With worrying about your condition itself, you can make small changes to assure yourself you are doing the best you can with what you are able to do. With social venues, you may need to try what works until something sticks, but try to stick to things that you know bring you happiness. With overanalyzing, you may need to overload your mind until you need to tie you mind behind it's back or alternatively you may need to seek out a professional (which you should be doing anyhow).
Writing out your issues on a piece of paper may help you feel like your verbalized your issues. Once you do this, you may try to break your issues into smaller steps. This may start by interacting with people even just a tad bit more, you may see the concerns you have and try to see if there are any alternatives beyond the black and white options that are presented in our lives. But above all don't give up.
Disclaimer: We are not doctors or licensed therapists and always suggest you reach out to a professional. This is here for informational purposes only.