‘Anxiety Recovery’ whilst Autistic
I spent my teenage years chasing the idea of ‘anxiety recovery’ that I later discovered didn’t exist. I wanted a life without anxiety, because all I understood was that it was limiting, destructive, painful, and stole too much from me. I also thought that was what I was meant to want. At church, year after year, people prayed for my anxiety to go…
Why You Are Not ‘So OCD’: OCD Myths
I have lost count of the number of times I have heard people say ‘I’m so OCD’ when they just want something to be tidy, clean, arranged in a particular order or done a certain way. Or, how many times I’ve seen phrases like ‘Obsessive Cat Disorder’ on mugs or prints. Or, how often I’ve been frustrated by people declaring they wished they…
Challenges Autistic People and ADHDers Face in Therapy and What Can Help
I remember being fourteen, sat in a CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) session and being completely bewildered by what the lady was trying to teach me. I was having daily panic attacks - some of them more likely meltdowns - because I was so overwhelmed. I began describing how I didn’t want to go into the canteen because…
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - by someone with OCD
My first memory of OCD is of eight-year-old me, consumed by the worry that I was going to catch nits. I worried about it all day every day, for weeks at a time. I wouldn’t want to go near other people, tried hard to stop my clothes from touching anyone else’s, and would spend excessive amounts of time looking through my hair. Of course…
The War In My Mind: Fighting Anxiety
Anxiety is not just an emotion for me. It's a daily state of being. It's a feeling that lives within me that I can't quite describe. It never goes away. I don't know what life is like without anxiety as a companion. I don't know what it's like to not be at war with my mind.
Autism and Anxiety
You know that feeling where your racing heart-rate won’t slow down, your face feels sweaty and your insides are churning? Where your thoughts are spinning around your head in endless circles? Where you feel dread and complete nausea from everything? I live with that every day.
Anxiety isn’t intrinsic to autism. Not all autistic people even experience anxiety, but…
What I Need From You On A Bad Day
1. Patience. Everything will require a hundred times more energy than usual today. I may not be able to do everything you expect of me. I may not be able to accept your rational answers to what I’m struggling with. Please don’t get annoyed. I’m trying.
Symptoms Of Anxiety That No-one Talk About
1. Constantly needing to go to the toilet. This is especially common if someone is experiencing a period of heightened anxiety, or a panic attack. This is because our fight or flight response is triggered, which can cause a need to urinate. Diarrhoea is also common.
Reasons To Stay Alive
To the person who needs these. Here are some reasons why you should stay alive:
1. There are movies you haven’t seen yet which will make you laugh
2. There are places you will go to which will fill you with awe
What I Would Say To My Undiagnosed Autistic Self
To my undiagnosed autistic self…
I would love to tell you that you are autistic, because knowing that about yourself would take so much of your guilt and shame away. Unfortunately you won’t know that for years, so for now I will tell you these things instead.
What OCD Is
OCD is constantly running late because you had to tap your steering wheel fifty times before you left or you would have a car crash.
OCD is cancelling meeting up with your friend because of your intrusive thoughts that you might hurt them.
Relationship OCD
Relationship OCD is when someone is consumed with doubts about their relationship, including obsessing over whether they are attracted to their partner, whether they love their partner and whether their partner loves them.
The History of Personality Disorders - A Brief Overview
The history of personality disorders can be traced back to 400BC, when Hippocrates described four personality patterns. These were choleric (meaning irritable), melancholic (meaning sad), sanguine (meaning optimistic) and phlegmatic (meaning apathetic). He believed that…
The High Prevalence of Mental Health Problems Among Autistic People
Research shows that 80% of autistic people experience mental health problems during their lives, the most prevalent being anxiety. There is also a high prevalence of eating disorders, OCD, psychosis, depression, among others.
Some theorise that this is because autistic brains are different, making them more susceptible to…
Symptoms of Depression That No One Talks About
1. Complete mental exhaustion from fighting your brain constantly. This can lead to a lack of concentration, forgetfulness, chronic fatigue, missing deadlines, withdrawing from socialising, insomnia and a higher susceptibility to physical illness.
2. Dissociation. Feeling like you’re moving through life but aren’t…
The Differences Between Autism and OCD
Autism and OCD have many traits which they can appear to share, or which are difficult to distinguish from each other. The overlaps between the two mean that misdiagnosis is common. People with OCD are four times more likely to later be diagnosed with autism. However, autistic people are also…
My OCD Story
When my OCD first arrived, it tricked me into believing that it was my friend. It told me that if I did certain things then I didn’t need to worry about the anxious thoughts which had been ruling my head since early 2015. Finally, I thought, this was a way to control my panic attacks.
Why Phone Calls Can be Incredibly Difficult for Autistic People and People with Anxiety
The sound of the phone ringing can immediately evoke anxiety for some people, especially for autistic people and people with anxiety. If the call hasn’t been agreed in advance, many of us find ourselves simply unable to answer it and let it go to voicemail. Why is this?
Talking To Your Child About Self-Harm - From Both a Parent and Child's Point of View
I know that talking to your child about self-harm can be exceptionally daunting. You and your child are probably both experiencing a lot of difficult emotions, and it can be hard to know how to deal with it. I hope that my Mum and I can offer some words of advice and comfort for you.
Reasonable Adjustments in Schools for Autistic Students and Students with Anxiety
Schools have a duty under the Equality Act to make reasonable adjustments for students who otherwise are at an unfair disadvantage to their peers due to a disability or mental health condition. It is important to note that students do not need an official diagnosis in order for these to be put in place. A needs-based…