Lilith, Mother of DarknessMar 8

Do any of you #actuallyautistic fedifriends jump immediately to the worst case scenario when you are worried about something?

I was just reading about autism and catastrophising, and immediately recognised myself in this. Almost every single time I start worrying about something, it takes only a few moments for me to start thinking "I'm screwed, my family is screwed, everything is going to go horribly wrong and I'm going to end up dead or living in a cardboard box under a bridge. Probably with cancer."

No matter how insignificant the actual situation is.

Show threadFlor, trouble

@Lunalucardrose20 I used to, and now I wonder when and how I stopped.

I've had embarassing panics but that's not it.

I've been in a few situations in which I could have died, and though it would make sense I feel it's not it.

There's the state of the world matching what I used to imagine catastrophizing about it...

I don't know.

Mar 8 at 4:51amWeb
Show threadFlor, troubleMar 8

@Lunalucardrose20 I think I figured it out.

I used to believe my intuition was worthless, so I had to think through everything.

Getting diagnosed early meant I was raised and professionally taught as if I had no theory of mind. I've been told I resisted the latter quite a bit. (Teaching a kid to be rational about social interactions and ignore bad vibes is a really bad idea by the way)

I know other autistic people have difficulty recognizing they're hungry and such. That also leads to thinking about everything.

If you don't or can't trust that you'll always get yourself out of trouble without much thought when it happens, then trying to plan for anything is the sensible thing to do. It's difficult to know what's too unlikely to plan for.

Show threadLilith, Mother of DarknessMar 8

@gooseliketyping Good points, these.

Goddamn, I guess there are some perks for not getting an official diagnosis until later. I was tested as a child, but then my parents refused to take me to the last meeting where I would be given an official diagnosis. They were ashamed that their child was "different."