Dealing with constant fear

[Misery]

Okay, so, the biggest and most annoying issue I have when it comes to the whole autism thing: Perpetual fear of... basically everything. Or at least that's how it feels sometimes.

It seems like there's ALWAYS something to be scared of. Generally things that alot of people wouldnt exactly be all that bothered by. For example, I've got a bizarre fear about insomnia or related issues. It doesnt make a whole lot of sense. I dont ACTUALLY have that happen very often, and when I do, the resulting effects arent that bad really. But still, the paranoia about it tends to be there and can often result in me delaying my bedtime, causing scheduling issues. The dumb part is, once I *am* actually in bed, this all vanishes.

It's stuff like that. Fears about lots of "little" things. Odd focuses on things that, really, arent scary. There's some things though that make at least a bit more sense... like any medical issue, but I always blow those way out of proportion. Like, say, if I were to get some sort of funky sore in my mouth, which happens every now and then. It's a cause for lots of general terror... despite that it typically doesnt do much to the point where after awhile I'll forget it's there.

Generally though, any time one fear goes away, another one pops in to replace it.

Even dumber is NOT being afraid of things that actually ARE dangerous, or that many people would be afraid of. Driving, for instance. It doesnt matter how hazardous it is... nothing scares me in the car. Stuff can annoy me, sure, but not scare me. Or another example is any place or thing that is really creepy/spooky/whatever. ALOT of people get really bothered by that sort of thing. I tend to be comfortable around that stuff. Give me some sort of infamous haunted house, and I'll probably sleep like a baby there (unless the insomnia paranoia kicks in). And then stuff like spiders/insects. Ever seen a house centipede? Look it up, and then imagine looking down to see that one is sitting on your foot. Most people would absolutely flip out. My response is typically "I wonder how that got there". Being afraid of those things would make a heck of alot more sense than the things I tend to be scared of.

I dunno... I'm not sure how to explain this stuff more than that. Anyone else have any issues with fear/paranoia in a general sense?

 

[Suzanne]

Even NT's have irrational fears, so I do not think it is particularly unique for aspies or auties.

Fears always derive from somewhere ( although I cannot fathom why I panic about which way a door opens)?! So, with the fear of not being able to sleep, it is either because you have gone through it when a child and the memory is hidden or you witnesses another going through it, which left a traumatic mark on your mind.

I remember this lady telling me about her fear of eating and eating in front of people. She was a child and her dear beloved father was very ill. There was a lot of whispering going on, between the adults, but no one ever told her what was happening other than, daddy is not very well. So, one morning, she is just about to have her breakfast and as she puts the spoon to her mouth, someone bursts into the room and says that her dad has died and she nearly chocked. From the day onwards, she could barely swollow things; not even water. It got to be so bad, she had no choice but go to therapy and there were two glasses of water ther. One for the therapist and one for this lady. He said that he wanted her to take a sip and he would too. She was unable to, and so, he started and gradually she was able to drink the water.

She can eat, but not in front of others and when she is stressed, that fear comes back again, but she has more control over it.

I fear people and have this sense of politness inside, that when I pass someone on the street, I have to smile and say hello. Yesterday, I actually walked across to the other side of the road, just so I did not have to pass some people. I feel angry when people are around. I just want to be alone when I walk outside, and get very frustrated when other humans go out. I know it is irrational. I am sort of ok with people I know and do not feel antisocial towards them.

There was a point in my life when I felt fearless and used to watch and read all kinds of horrors and loved to walk out on my own, at midnight. It felt amazing!

 

[xDominiel]

I'm terrified of people.
Wild animals, no problem. Humans? Horrifying.

...I wonder if that's really irrational, though.

 

[Misery]

Even NT's have irrational fears, so I do not think it is particularly unique for aspies or auties.

Fears always derive from somewhere ( although I cannot fathom why I panic about which way a door opens)?! So, with the fear of not being able to sleep, it is either because you have gone through it when a child and the memory is hidden or you witnesses another going through it, which left a traumatic mark on your mind.

I remember this lady telling me about her fear of eating and eating in front of people. She was a child and her dear beloved father was very ill. There was a lot of whispering going on, between the adults, but no one ever told her what was happening other than, daddy is not very well. So, one morning, she is just about to have her breakfast and as she puts the spoon to her mouth, someone bursts into the room and says that her dad has died and she nearly chocked. From the day onwards, she could barely swollow things; not even water. It got to be so bad, she had no choice but go to therapy and there were two glasses of water ther. One for the therapist and one for this lady. He said that he wanted her to take a sip and he would too. She was unable to, and so, he started and gradually she was able to drink the water.

She can eat, but not in front of others and when she is stressed, that fear comes back again, but she has more control over it.

I fear people and have this sense of politness inside, that when I pass someone on the street, I have to smile and say hello. Yesterday, I actually walked across to the other side of the road, just so I did not have to pass some people. I feel angry when people are around. I just want to be alone when I walk outside, and get very frustrated when other humans go out. I know it is irrational. I am sort of ok with people I know and do not feel antisocial towards them.

There was a point in my life when I felt fearless and used to watch and read all kinds of horrors and loved to walk out on my own, at midnight. It felt amazing!

Hm, you have some good points here.

In the case of the insomnia bit, I do know where that originally stems from. There was an incident a couple years back where I was having alot of pain from.... something... either my back/neck was acting up really bad at the time or... whatever. Probably that, it's usually that. Well, Advil and whatnot typically didnt do anything. Even the strongest dose (four pills at once) just... didnt work. So they put me on a drug called Prednisone. I should have known something was all sorts of wrong when my father told me that he'd had it once and " just a small dose worked when a max dose of Vicoden didnt do anything" after surgery once (and what they put me on was the full dose). I didnt think it through too well and agreed to try it. Whole next month was this seemingly infinite nightmare. Know what paradoxical insomnia is? Yeah, neither did I. Now I do, and wish I didnt. Among all sorts of other effects (it also dramatically amplified fears of damn near everything and made me scared of stuff that made even less sense than my examples above. A freaking doughnut was bloody terrifying at one point, no I'm not making that up). It lasted for a month because it's the sort of medication where once you're on it, you cant just really abruptly stop, you must get off of it slowly and take it properly unless you want things to get all sorts of horrible.

Though, this also leads into another bit that is kinda dumb to me: It gave me the fear of insomnia. It DIDNT give me a fear of pills and medications. A bit later, after a car crash and even more damn back pain, they put me on Valium, a notoriously strong medication. It did okay I guess. But it still wasnt enough, so they gave me cyclobenzaprine, and Tramadol. Both *very* strong medications, and Tramadol in particular has alot of horror stories about it (every time I tell someone I take it, they get a really unpleasant expression and say "I'm sorry!" if they've ever taken it or known someone that has). But these two pills have no side effects for me. Unless I take two of each at once. You could knock out a rampaging rhino with that. Nearly fell asleep on my feet once. But overall... no fear of the things. It'd make more sense if there was. Of course, if they try to give me something via an injection.... that's another story. Big fear of needles.

It's just... ugh. Confusing.

I know what you mean about people, though. I've had alot of that same feeling... the need to avoid everyone. Like, urban areas? I cant enter them. I live in the "Chicagoland area", but I'm on the very outskirts. My area is basically the beginning of "middle of freaking nowhere" and anything west of here is just grass (heck, most of "here" is just grass and farms, for that matter), so I'm mostly okay here. But if I go anywhere near the city itself? Ugh, I cant handle it. And that bit about places that are supposed to be empty, I get that too. Like, forest preserves. There shouldnt be anyone else in them when I'm there, dagnabit, and I get irrationally irritated when I run into anyone there. I'm still polite... it's not like it's their fault really... but still, I hate it.


But still the bit about the creepy stuff on the other side of things. And a huge collection of horror novels, I didnt even mention that. I love that stuff.

Bah, really confusing indeed. But it's interesting to see what kinds of experiences any of you might have had with this.

 

[Chance]

I also have irrational fears but I think mine might be more PTSD, OCD, or just my introverted personality more than ASD mostly.

I fear getting sick... I think its because I get so distressed in doctors offices and waiting rooms

I fear people because some people have been unthinkably unkind - especially when I was younger

I fear I that the Tourettes will kick in when I'm getting tired and I have to get out of wherever I am quickly
This often kicks off anxiety attack and makes it worse... geez

I fear that I will do something to cause attention to be brought upon me and I will have to explain whats wrong, or why I just did (or said) something stupid

I always fear getting really upset because I start shaking and I cant stop until it has passed.
My hands/knees shake and I start sweating its not good.

I get upset when having to eat somewhere unfamiliar. I am a ridiculous mess when it comes to food and I know it, but I cant help it. I don't usually say anything at all, I just don't eat when my food comes out if its a mess, and then people ask me what wrong, and I don't want to talk, or talk about it... I will do about anything to get out of this, but then I feel like an ass because I was invited and snubbed them? On top of that I hate wasting food... its way out there on the edge of super stupid and I get upset over it.

I fear having to get up in front of people. I have to do this for my job twice a year to give reports. One isn't so bad but the annual meeting (that we just had) terrifies me. I suffer for weeks before and basically collapse afterwards and just sleep it off. This year I did much better : )

And just like Suzanne... I get pissed when I go outside to be alone and there are people where I want to be or go... It angers me, I went out to get away and there are more of what I want away from... I usually just get in my ride and drive out to the lake, or get on my 4 wheeler and just go way out in the country somewhere.

I hate playing golf when people are watching me (with a few exceptions). I am a left handed golfer and thats of course a topic of conversation. I have what people call a baseball swing (duh I am a left handed baseball player) and it is unconventional but it works for me. So of course I am not "normal" in this either and it just makes me upset so I try to play when no one is around mostly. It's always nice to hear, "We need to work on your swing", when I am sometimes doing better than the person who just said that. Mentally I just teed off using his face as the ball... I'm horrible.

I think most of us have our little box of nightmares, and I think it affects people of all walks of life especially introverts like me... INTJ-t nightmare

 

[Streetwise]

yep and i think you're phobic, the bed issue is panic
the n.t idea is gradually expose yourself the other end is flooding( doing it all at once) most people don't opt for that.
i have social anxiety disorder and terrible anxiety attacks

Okay, so, the biggest and most annoying issue I have when it comes to the whole autism thing: Perpetual fear of... basically everything. Or at least that's how it feels sometimes.

It seems like there's ALWAYS something to be scared of. Generally things that alot of people wouldnt exactly be all that bothered by. For example, I've got a bizarre fear about insomnia or related issues. It doesnt make a whole lot of sense. I dont ACTUALLY have that happen very often, and when I do, the resulting effects arent that bad really. But still, the paranoia about it tends to be there and can often result in me delaying my bedtime, causing scheduling issues. The dumb part is, once I *am* actually in bed, this all vanishes.

It's stuff like that. Fears about lots of "little" things. Odd focuses on things that, really, arent scary. There's some things though that make at least a bit more sense... like any medical issue, but I always blow those way out of proportion. Like, say, if I were to get some sort of funky sore in my mouth, which happens every now and then. It's a cause for lots of general terror... despite that it typically doesnt do much to the point where after awhile I'll forget it's there.

Generally though, any time one fear goes away, another one pops in to replace it.

Even dumber is NOT being afraid of things that actually ARE dangerous, or that many people would be afraid of. Driving, for instance. It doesnt matter how hazardous it is... nothing scares me in the car. Stuff can annoy me, sure, but not scare me. Or another example is any place or thing that is really creepy/spooky/whatever. ALOT of people get really bothered by that sort of thing. I tend to be comfortable around that stuff. Give me some sort of infamous haunted house, and I'll probably sleep like a baby there (unless the insomnia paranoia kicks in). And then stuff like spiders/insects. Ever seen a house centipede? Look it up, and then imagine looking down to see that one is sitting on your foot. Most people would absolutely flip out. My response is typically "I wonder how that got there". Being afraid of those things would make a heck of alot more sense than the things I tend to be scared of.

I dunno... I'm not sure how to explain this stuff more than that. Anyone else have any issues with fear/paranoia in a general sense?

 

[Keigan]

FEAR

The Tony Robbins definition for FEAR is:
- False
- Evidence
- Appearing
- Real

This is really bad for us because our brain focuses on a thought and repeats that that over and over again until that thought does become real for our brain.

So we need pure thoughts, we need good thoughts, we need factual evidence. We have to fill our brains with enough desired thoughts to consume the bandwidth - all in order to keep out the negative and fearful spin.

 

[Momo]

I used to fear insomnia as well, and sometimes the fear still arises at the most inconvenient times. you fear not sleeping, and every second you don't sleep, the worse it gets and the less you sleep. Because, brain logic

I get what you mean by irrational fears, sometimes the most random things will set off this complete fear in me, like feeling like a room is too stuffy or tight, as though I were claustrophobic, even though I could happily curl away in the smallest of spaces and not care in usual situations (I find it even comfortable at times), or too many people touching me or simply being in a crowd (it's a horrible sensory overload). I too seem to have no fear over the things I should, such as the driving example, I just seem to stay completely calm, even disinterested, while everybody else is screaming. Odd that.

 

[Mary Terry]

Hm, you have some good points here.

In the case of the insomnia bit, I do know where that originally stems from. There was an incident a couple years back where I was having alot of pain from.... something... either my back/neck was acting up really bad at the time or... whatever. Probably that, it's usually that. Well, Advil and whatnot typically didnt do anything. Even the strongest dose (four pills at once) just... didnt work. So they put me on a drug called Prednisone. I should have known something was all sorts of wrong when my father told me that he'd had it once and " just a small dose worked when a max dose of Vicoden didnt do anything" after surgery once (and what they put me on was the full dose). I didnt think it through too well and agreed to try it. Whole next month was this seemingly infinite nightmare. Know what paradoxical insomnia is? Yeah, neither did I. Now I do, and wish I didnt. Among all sorts of other effects (it also dramatically amplified fears of damn near everything and made me scared of stuff that made even less sense than my examples above. A freaking doughnut was bloody terrifying at one point, no I'm not making that up). It lasted for a month because it's the sort of medication where once you're on it, you cant just really abruptly stop, you must get off of it slowly and take it properly unless you want things to get all sorts of horrible.

Though, this also leads into another bit that is kinda dumb to me: It gave me the fear of insomnia. It DIDNT give me a fear of pills and medications. A bit later, after a car crash and even more damn back pain, they put me on Valium, a notoriously strong medication. It did okay I guess. But it still wasnt enough, so they gave me cyclobenzaprine, and Tramadol. Both *very* strong medications, and Tramadol in particular has alot of horror stories about it (every time I tell someone I take it, they get a really unpleasant expression and say "I'm sorry!" if they've ever taken it or known someone that has). But these two pills have no side effects for me. Unless I take two of each at once. You could knock out a rampaging rhino with that. Nearly fell asleep on my feet once. But overall... no fear of the things. It'd make more sense if there was. Of course, if they try to give me something via an injection.... that's another story. Big fear of needles.

It's just... ugh. Confusing.

I know what you mean about people, though. I've had alot of that same feeling... the need to avoid everyone. Like, urban areas? I cant enter them. I live in the "Chicagoland area", but I'm on the very outskirts. My area is basically the beginning of "middle of freaking nowhere" and anything west of here is just grass (heck, most of "here" is just grass and farms, for that matter), so I'm mostly okay here. But if I go anywhere near the city itself? Ugh, I cant handle it. And that bit about places that are supposed to be empty, I get that too. Like, forest preserves. There shouldnt be anyone else in them when I'm there, dagnabit, and I get irrationally irritated when I run into anyone there. I'm still polite... it's not like it's their fault really... but still, I hate it.


But still the bit about the creepy stuff on the other side of things. And a huge collection of horror novels, I didnt even mention that. I love that stuff.

Bah, really confusing indeed. But it's interesting to see what kinds of experiences any of you might have had with this.[/QUOTE
Prednisone is a steroid so no wonder you couldn't sleep while taking it. I'm so acutely sensitive steroids that I get virtual "roid rage" when I have to take them, and stay awake for days on end because I cannot sleep while that stuff is in my body.

When I was in college, working multiple jobs, trying to study, etc., I rarely got enough sleep and would stress out at bedtime about whether I would be able to drift off. My doctor told me that as long as I lie down in bed, that my body is resting even though I am awake. The realization that I am getting rest although my mind is conscious, made a huge difference to me - I stopped worrying about getting sleep because I knew I was getting rest, and that helped me relax enough to fall asleep.

 

[kay]

House centipedes are just the weirdest looking critters. Love them. Haven't seen one for years, though.

I seem to have a fear of finances. Mine are relatively simple but I can't get myself to do online banking at all and it's scary to open my bank statement every month. I hate deposit slips. Writing one out just makes me horribly nervous.

And the rest of my fears I'm convinced are completely rational so I won't name any of them.

I take Prozac because of all of my "rational" fears. The Prozac started when I completely lost it, was an inconsolable crying mess about a medical issue I was absolutely certain I had despite it being incredibly unlikely. I even went to the doctor and we determined that it was neither my worst fear, my second worst fear or even the third in line fairly mild fear. I most likely was dealing with a very mild digestive problem. And of course that's all it turned out to be. Nothing life changing or life ending. Really just a little gas perhaps. Anyhoo, that was an embarrassing trip to the doctor so I decided to finally try pills. Still scared of stuff but I don't turn into quite such a disaster.

 

[Streetwise]

House centipedes are just the weirdest looking critters. Love them. Haven't seen one for years, though.

I seem to have a fear of finances. Mine are relatively simple but I can't get myself to do online banking at all and it's scary to open my bank statement every month. I hate deposit slips. Writing one out just makes me horribly nervous.

And the rest of my fears I'm convinced are completely rational so I won't name any of them.

I take Prozac because of all of my "rational" fears. The Prozac started when I completely lost it, was an inconsolable crying mess about a medical issue I was absolutely certain I had despite it being incredibly unlikely. I even went to the doctor and we determined that it was neither my worst fear, my second worst fear or even the third in line fairly mild fear. I most likely was dealing with a very mild digestive problem. And of course that's all it turned out to be. Nothing life changing or life ending. Really just a little gas perhaps. Anyhoo, that was an embarrassing trip to the doctor so I decided to finally try pills. Still scared of stuff but I don't turn into quite such a disaster.

its from the anxiety. ive got gastro oesophogeal reflux dystrophy but a staph infection caused that
get used to focusing to on an image to stop it
when you get the indigestion just stop and rest you'll have to or your putting pressure on your stressed body

 

[Maiki]

the n.t idea is gradually expose yourself the other end is flooding( doing it all at once) most people don't opt for that.
i have social anxiety disorder and terrible anxiety attacks

First of all-- Misery--I want to just say how much my heart hurts for you. I have had bouts of the deep dark depression, and childbirth-related PTSD. The overwhelming problem over my whole life has been anxiety, though. Until I suffered a severe anxiety attack during a 'well baby check-up' for my 3rd child and ended up in urgent care, I didn't really think the anxiety was an ISSUE (that could be addressed like my depression had been). I thought it was an intrinsic part of my personality-- part of who I was and would always have to be. In hindsight, I believe I was wrong about that.
As Streetwise said, there are cognitive behavioral treatment approaches for anxiety disorders/ phobias, and I tried lots of that with various psychologists and counselors. Out of the blue, my preteen dtr. started having severe anxiety and suicidal ideation. Talk about panic. She was suffering so much; I felt like I could understand her terrifying emotions, but could do little to help. I went with her to countless sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy. Neither she nor I ended up feeling that the typical approaches for dealing with anxiety disorder, etc. were helpful. I want to start over with a more positive post--just needed to give a bit of back story so you could see where I'm coming from...

 

[Maiki]

Years later, both myself and my daughter (still diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder) have been identified as having HF ASD. I truly feel that, right there, is a possible reason for why a mental health treatment for NT people was not really helpful. Our brains are wired differently. We were experiencing mental illness, but our brains were/are simply different than the average Joe on the street.
Traditional treatment strategies for anxiety/ phobia were not really helpful for either of us. Here are some approaches that have worked, because both of us are feeling quite good these days. (Please don't read this as me saying 'you need to try this!' because we are all different and respond uniquely. Just wanted to report on what was useful in our cases).
For my daughter: Arranging her school and private life to minimize triggers as we could. We dropped most of her extra curricular activities and have since added back in some new and different ones, to start fresh. We constantly reassured her that things were as 'okay as they needed to be', and encouraged her to just participate when she could. She took the lead socially-- we didn't worry about society's ideas of how kids should interact with peers. We encouraged her spending time with several nurturing NT family members and friends. We talked a lot, she and I-- about whatever might be on her mind. I tried to just listen and not 'solve problems' except to sometimes recount personal anecdotes to let her know when I could relate. Encouraged her to go for a walk or take a positive time-out when needed. Medication: Zoloft (Sertraline) x 2 yrs now.

For me: Regular moderate exercise. Lots of psychotherapy, talking through stressful family issues with some lovely psychologists. But no real progress was made with my anxiety until my underlying depression was remedied. My psychiatrist (such a cool guy) told me during session#1 that SLEEP was the key. I was extremely anxious at night, having panic attacks, waking up to vomit or with a migraine. I feared night time, but was desperate for sleep. He insisted on a couple of lifestyle changes. He started me on an 'old school' tricyclic antidepressant, Imipramine. We picked this med together, based in part on the lack of sexual side-effects (because I'm in a happy marriage to an amazing guy, and did not want my libido to tank). I take it nightly before bed because it is a great sedative. So good, that I was sleeping through the night almost every night within a month. This has been about 7 years that I've been on it, and I no longer worry about sleep. I don't wake with GI or other anxiety symptoms. It doesn't 'knock me out' like sleeping pills might. I just start feeling sleepy and relaxed and not worried about getting to sleep. Within an hour of taking it, my mind stops racing in circles. Dry mouth is the worst side effect I've had with Imipramine. Primarily, it regulated my mood/managed my depression, which was helped enormously by good sleep. I also find that starting each morning with a dose of Clonazepam (anti-anxiety med) keeps me operating at my best. I have not increased my dosage of meds through all these years, and they seem quite effective. I read that there are anecdotal reports from Aspies, that daily low dose anti-anxiety meds seem to help regulate their thoughts. I find that I am pretty much free of OCD type thoughts and worries when I'm on Clonazepam. The 'free floating anxiety' that I assumed would be with me forever has completely vanished.

 

[Maiki]

So they put me on a drug called Prednisone.

I agree that Prednisone is a 'last resort' type of drug. It is amazingly effective when used in particular circumstances for short course, then tapered and weaned off. A powerful anti-inflammatory steroid, it has effects all over the body. And, many many immediate and positive effects. However, it comes with a price: repeated or prolonged use makes a person susceptible to many serious problems and conditions. So, there needs to be a careful risk/benefit analysis done.

 

[LogicalMind]

Learn encouraging things...focus on them...sing in your heart with encouraging things...focus on things that bring you hope/goodness/bravery

 

[Alaska]

I'm terrified of people.
Wild animals, no problem. Humans? Horrifying.

...I wonder if that's really irrational, though.

No. It isn't irrational. The two-legged animals can be the most dangerous ones. All humans are not so dangerous, however. It might help you to study body language and microexpressions to help you to learn to tell the difference.

 

[8398]

I read many people on here say they are scared by the wrong things, that's me too. Many nights I don't sleep because of the thought of aliens looking in my window or standing above me. Not that it's happened, or at least I think, haha. (They would of erased my memory lol.) And I do spend a lot of time fretting over social related things, a little bit ago I had to plan two different things with two different people and it made me freak out and cry even though it wasn't a big deal. And I agree with the urban thing. The moment the beautiful solar eclipse ended I was thinking, I can't wait for everyone to leave my town. Even seeing all the people in the grocery store ruins my mood. My goal is to live in a homestead farrrrrrr away. Spiders, snakes and such don't scare me, I always catch them in cups, and have the urge to catch snakes and stuff with my hands. But not things that fly and sting which is one thing that makes sense. I do think the focusing aspect can make me scared of anything, luckily it doesn't happen a whole lot to me. OH, I just remembered I got scared finding a piece of paper in my sleeping bag in the middle of the night, and thought it had to do with aliens. Like they didn't set everything in the right place after capturing me. And then the next morning I saw the color and realized it was a ripped part of a nintendo accessory box. NICEEEEE. I'm aware of how silly it is but at the same time it's like I can't help it. Imagine alien conspiracy music and zooming in on paper, lol.

 

[WereBear]

I feel for you. I had so much anxiety that it was my "normal." It wasn't until I got shingles, and the medicine for the nerve pain lifted it, that I knew what was going on.

The medicine only worked on my anxiety for about two weeks; turns out I, like a lot of people on the spectrum, have odd and difficult reactions to psychiatric drugs, so at least that avenue got crossed off my list. But I started working with a book called The Mood Cure and wound up taking therapeutic levels of niacin, which was used in Canada for PTSD from returning POWs.

It's been amazing for me. I have so much confidence and those vague fears (and the panic attacks) have gone.

Our brains need nutrients just like the rest of our organs do. I think it's worth investigating for anyone, but especially those of us with the challenges of never fitting in, and also many of us being tormented for it. To me, our higher rates of mental disturbances like this are mostly environmentally caused, you might say.

 

[Chance]

I feel for you. I had so much anxiety that it was my "normal." It wasn't until I got shingles, and the medicine for the nerve pain lifted it, that I knew what was going on.

The medicine only worked on my anxiety for about two weeks; turns out I, like a lot of people on the spectrum, have odd and difficult reactions to psychiatric drugs, so at least that avenue got crossed off my list. But I started working with a book called The Mood Cure and wound up taking therapeutic levels of niacin, which was used in Canada for PTSD from returning POWs.

It's been amazing for me. I have so much confidence and those vague fears (and the panic attacks) have gone.

Our brains need nutrients just like the rest of our organs do. I think it's worth investigating for anyone, but especially those of us with the challenges of never fitting in, and also many of us being tormented for it. To me, our higher rates of mental disturbances like this are mostly environmentally caused, you might say.

I take a B vitamin complex supplement which of course has Niacin in it. I am one of those people it makes red, but it harmless, or so they say. I'm sort of dark complected anyway, so its no big deal, but I do think it helps my thoughts.

 

[Gracey]

It's natural to be afraid. It's a biological survival mechanism. It's really effective in the correct circumstances.
It's the sifting through and recognising the irrational fears or at least those which are becoming a problem in our ability to function day to day.

It isn't exclusive to ASD. It's an evolutionary survival mechanism, I've seen defensive behaviour in animals that could only have come from fear.

For me, my biggest hurdle is trying to understand why I'm afraid, what triggered it and how I feel about it.
About six months ago I reached a stage where I'd mentally backed myself into a corner, terrified of alot of things and wouldn't leave the house.

Understanding the fear response, the process in our body, How and why it happens and what I can do about it has helped me.
Am I still nervous and anxious and fearful? Yes, but I no longer imprison myself in my place of safety. I've learned I have a measure of control and am just about getting to grips with irrational Vs rational.
I cannot control events and other people, only myself and my reactions.

I found some good CBT worksheets on a site called 'Psychology Tools'.
There's an online site called Moodgym whereby you can register and work through the modules in your own time.
Or there's real people. Qualified professionals.
I'm working with a therapist on a relatively short course of CBT at the moment.

We need fear. It ensures our survival.