Some doubts about aspergers and anxiety

[Aspergirl4hire]

...I asked the doctor also if he was familiar with Aspergers on adults and said that i think i have it, he said that it was not possible, that my issues was caused by my anxiety and that was it. It makes me feel in doubt with myself, its the second time this happens and i'm not so sure about what i have so i can call it and work with to be better. Can someone mistake aspergers and anxiety?

Beside the awkwardness in public ( i cover it up with some kind of humor, but not aways work so well), and the others aspects that makes me think i belong on the spectrum, the one it's bothering me the most is that i have some difficulty making eye contact, mainly with my male teachers and i have to meet one of them every week because paperwork for my graduation). I barely looked at the doctors face, feels so uncomfortable... it's very frustrating because latter on i was felling like i was acting, like i could do that, just did make enough effort to, but i wasn't! (Sorry if i can't make myself clear enough).
Have said that, i would like you thoughts and opionions.

Desde já, obrigada

I have a theory that Asperger's itself is the root cause of anxiety--it's all the time you spend finding out you've once again done the "wrong" thing somehow, and you learn that you make mistakes socially, and the fear just eats your brain. Yes, people who aren't psychologists/psychiatrists with the right training will misdiagnose this or just miss it. I didn't get my diagnosis until last year, and I'm over fifty!

For what it's worth, you sound aspie to me. I do the things you mentioned. I found the link Digger posted useful.

It sounds like you are going through the same sort of thing that happened to me.

(warning; life story!!) I've been treated on and off for anxiety and depression for about 10 years with no luck. At the beginning of this year I asked my GP to refer me to a psychiatrist so I could finally figure out what is going on. But he said I would have to do CBT first and if that didn't work then I could see a psychiatrist, so I did CBT and I was told I have low self-esteem. I kept doing those test for anxiety and depression and they always came back with low scores (which means I had only very mild symptoms). When I said what things I really struggled with I was told things like 'you are good at those things but you can't see it because of your low self-esteem' and 'everyone struggles sometimes'. I was discharged in the end because they said they couldn't help me, and I was referred somewhere else, and they couldn't help me either. So I gave up asking and didn't bother trying again until I had a massive meltdown on Halloween and got taken to A&E because my husband was really worried and didn't know what was going on, and I couldn't speak or remember what had happened. I had read a bit about Aspergers and the more I read, the more I thought 'maybe that is it'. So we found a charity nearby and they assessed me and agreed that I have Aspergers. I have read a lot of stories about women being told they have anxiety and depression, or borderline personality disorder (which a psych nurse had tried to tell me was a possibility) only for them to finally discover it is Aspergers. Sorry, I tried to keep that as short as I could!

Anyway, what helped me was reading a lot about Aspergers in women. I read the book Aspergirls and also found this blog post really good- Aspienwomen: Adult Women with Asperger Syndrome. Moving towards a female profile of Asperger Syndrome | Tania Marshall (hope it's OK to post that link on here). I also did some online tests.

If you feel like anxiety doesn't explain everything then there's probably more to find. Wyverary is right, you need to find someone who knows about Aspergers in women or at least in adults. I know how frustrating it is to try and described how you are feeling only to be told you are wrong or to have people guess wrong when you are struggling to put it into words.

Hope that helps a bit, good luck in finding someone to help

I found this really useful, bookmarked the link, and have added the author to my watch list in case she publishes anything else.

 

[Stik]

The thing that helped me finally get a diagnosis is proof of my research. I wrote down why I think I am on the spectrum. The doctor said without that she wouldn't suspect it right away because I'm hiding it well. I got turned down by two doctors and a therapist who claimed to have the knowledge to say I didn't. In addition, I have severe anxiety and depression that I'm also good at hiding.

 

[royinpink]

I am curious about all of you anxious Aspies, when did you first start feeling anxiety? I mean the twisting gut, loosing sleep, can't think of much else kind of anxiety?

I will trust my mom on this since I remember the insomnia but not exactly when it was:

"When you were 2 ½ is the first time I noticed anything. You were distressed, cried & screamed at a swing moving in the wind. Then came the not being able to move on from seeing a faucet dripping or having an extremely hard time going to sleep because there were so many lights in the city on. About the time you started kindergarten there became many nights we would have to go over all the good things that happened during the day before you could go to sleep. You would get really sad at the end of the day."​

I think it was around third grade that I learned to suppress the thoughts enough to sleep (though I still perseverate on everything done 'wrong'). I'm pretty sure I 'store' the anxiety in my body instead--GI issues, headaches, muscle aches, etc. It's hard to wake up. I think I sleep 'harder' for all that stress and exhaustion. Unfortunately, nowadays I sometimes reach a level of panic where even those coping mechanisms don't work anymore and I am returned to insomnia. Just like kindergarten again...

Regarding what my mom said, the city lights weren't a sensory thing (mostly). Although I do like darkness when I sleep, the anxiety came from "wasting electricity". Same with the dripping faucets--wasting water. There was a vacation where I stayed up most of the night because the tub had a leaky faucet. I would tell restaurants we visited that they had to shut off their bathroom lights when no one was in there. Etc.

So anxiety has pretty much been with me since I can remember.

 

[Spiller]

Last week i went to the doctor who works on my college because of an pet allergy (such a shame having that, since i love my red haired buddy Dachshund). In the main time, i asked him about some help on my anxiety issues. I asked the doctor also if he was familiar with Aspergers on adults and said that i think i have it, he said that it was not possible, that my issues was caused by my anxiety and that was it. It makes me feel in doubt with myself, its the second time this happens and i'm not so sure about what i have so i can call it and work with to be better. Can someone mistake aspergers and anxiety?
Beside the awkwardness in public ( i cover it up with some kind of humor, but not aways work so well), and the others aspects that makes me think i belong on the spectrum, the one it's bothering me the most is that i have some difficulty making eye contact, mainly with my male teachers and i have to meet one of them every week because paperwork for my graduation). I barely looked at the doctors face, feels so uncomfortable... it's very frustrating because latter on i was felling like i was acting, like i could do that, just did make enough effort to, but i wasn't! (Sorry if i can't make myself clear enough).
Have said that, i would like you thoughts and opionions.

Desde já, obrigada

I was first diagnosed with depression 15 years ago, then anxiety 2 years ago after I had a breakdown and was unable to work, I've self harmed since 14 years old and attempted suicide 7 times in 8 years.
I've used my 'leisure' to research my diagnoses and concluded that they must have an underlying cause - I've read articles and books on several psychological conditions, as well as AS/ASD, spent time around other Aspies, members of a local support group as well as everyone here on AC. I've done every on-line test I can find and listed every trait and stim I recognise in myself as similar to AS/ASD and I've given copies of this information to my GP and every assessor/therapist I've encountered in the last year.. oddly, those unqualified to see AS, see it in me while those who should see it either insist I'm 'normal' or put my social difficulties down to anxiety and ignore my efforts.
There does appear to be, currently, a strong case for reluctance to diagnose Autism, possibly because it's so little understood by the medical industry and conceivably as there's no money in pushing drugs at us that don't help.
I've consistently been made to feel that I have to justify being ill (not with AS) in the first place, as if my history is irrelevent and this professionals impression, having known me for just a few minutes, is more accurate. I can appreciate that objective self-examination is not really possible, but facts still speak for themselves, yet are consistently ignored as irrelevent with no alternative explanation.
I've finally recently gained access to a councellor (though I'm only allowed six sessions, even though I'm told at the same time that I need long term therapy) and we're currently exploring the socially isolating effect of anxiety in childhood, which has already occurred to me as undoubtedly true, while my examples of different thinking, behavior and sensory issues are ignored.. for example: I worked with the public for 25 years, yet still have almost as much difficulty with facial recognition, expressions, eye contact and body language as I did at school; if I was going to be able to learn this when I eventually got the opportunity as an adult, then I should have picked up a fair bit in that time..
I think you made your story perfectly clear to people in a like position and so totally sympathetic Nanda.. having gone through much the same myself, all I can say is that if recognition and diagnosis is important to you for validation - it'd be nice to think that there's someone who can help too - then you just have to keep plugging on, the system is an unco-operative dinosaur!
In the meantime, I find the best thing is to enjoy the company of the like-minded here and learn all the tips, tricks and coping mechanisms you can to help yourself

 

[Nanda]

For what it's worth, you sound aspie to me. I do the things you mentioned.

Thank you, Aspergirl4hire, that was really reassuring.

 

[Nanda]

I find the best thing is to enjoy the company of the like-minded here and learn all the tips, tricks and coping mechanisms you can to help yourself

Wise words, dear. Thank you for your kindness.

 

[Larisa]

In Brazil the knowledge about Aspergers is little, focused on children's only, Aspergers on women its not even thinked about. Its sad that such impactive thing on a person's life its barely known, so i dont really expect to get a formal diagnose (it would be really helpfull on explaining things without having people looking at you and thinking unpleasent thinks about you, i know i have been on that kind of situations).

Hey, Nanda
I've known that Asperger's Syndrome was only discovered anew some 20 years ago. It's very short time for scientists and psy-specialists to establish an exhaustive list of characteristics to distinguish it from other issues.
I'm worried though about the direction their combined work is going. Instead of observing and learning from it they try to invent means to 'stop' and 'block' it. Which is really scares me as if I'm officially labled as a 'defected' person.
But even the best and open-minded people can be misguided in their opinion what is autism and what is an autistic person.
If they don't see a really disturbed person with visible and definite characteristics of autism, they don't believe that there can be lot of states between extremes of absolutely 'neurotypical' and fully 'autistic' types of perception, but Asperger's Syndrome falls somewhere between them.
I think most of medics and scientists do not know what to make out of rising percentage of autistic people in population.
It's not really a 'disease' but these people objectively experience difficulties to get along with the rushing and bustling world as it is.
And it seems that so far it's easier to pretend these people do not exist than to expect that people society at large would change its tempo or priorities to include them...

 

[red_dog]

Hi Nanda,

I agree with the other posts about :

• GP's often not picking upon Aspergers
• Aspergers being under-diagnosed in women

Many GPs diagnosed me with Depression &/or Anxiety. Several times I was referred to a psychologist for treatment, and after several unsuccessful treatment cycles, one psychologist diagnosed me with Aspergers.

I would suggest that you do your own research and collate written evidence why you believe you have Aspergers. For example to assist my diagnosis I got a copy of the Aspienwomen article and highlighted all the points that applied to me. I also did the AAA autism assessment that you can find here - ARC Tests

I would suggest you take these & any other evidence to your GP and ask for a referral to someone who could assess you further. If your GP still isn't useful then perhaps you could start counselling/psychology for your anxiety and seek a diagnosis either through them or another GP?

I don't know how the health system works in your country, but it might be worth asking your GP what pathways there are for assessment and treatment of Aspergers & Anxiety.

Best of luck with getting the support you need.

 

[Berianireth]

Given that AS can often lead to crippling anxiety (I know it has and still does for me), I'd say it's pretty darned easy to assume the simplest explanation, which is to say, just the anxiety. AS of course goes well beyond social anxiety, and if it's just a GP that you saw (correct me if I'm wrong, but from what you say that's what it sounds like), it's entirely likely that he doesn't have the expertise to spot Aspergers...or, for that matter, many other psychiatric and neurological issues. And that's not something you can expect of a GP, either. It takes someone with more specific training to make any sort of diagnosis like that, be it mental illness, Aspergers...you name it.

Because aspergers is on a spectrum of pervasive developmental disorders it varies by individual. Anxiety isn't one of the core features that a specialist looks for when making a diagnosis. In addition to that, an adult may be more complicated to diagnose because we tend to develop tricks as we age for coping.
Personally I think that the anxiety has something to do with how the brain develops prior to birth, and it just varies by individual because aspergers usually have multiple genetic roots. So aspies that have anxiety have probably always had it, or at least always have been predisposed to it. I'm just speculating of course.