Destroying Me

This [Asperger's] is destroying me. Sure, when the academic year is in flow things are kind of okay but when the holiday period arrives I realise just how lonely I am. Are there any adults there with Asperger's? I need to know how you got through your early 20's.


Kevin.

I'm not sure I can be of much help regarding social activities ( or lack there of) as I prefer being alone.
I'm also in my early 20s with AS. My life has changed dramatically over the past year though a few methods and one of the funny, and highly recommended by a high percentage of people is/was finding a hobby.
Mines golf, I spend the great majority of my day ocupied with different aspects of the game, be it practice, playing or analysis of my swing on the computer. The reason I state the above is to show how problems seem to lose hold of your mind and get lost in time when you're doing something you enjoy, or something you may not love but gets your mind to work. Then the problems only come back for short periods which helps a little because (for me atleast) it's fun to fix problems and also because your mind has (what I think of as) clear time when it seems to be free of any anxiety and more creative ways may pop into your head.

If you could find a hobby that has a light social aspect I think it would be a great help. Mine are golf and poker, as they both have social contact, but not constant contact.

Maybe join a book club if you like books, or something similar, where (I'm not really sure about this though) you can share an opinion on a subject with similar interested people, but not have a continuous back and forth conversation.



I'm not really sure if the above is really of any help, but that's what I've experienced in the past year and it has made my life far more enjoyable.


edit.
Also maybe seek out a psychologist if you feel it is having a very large negative effect on your mind.

Thanks for that - It is a help so don't worry. I have a constant schedule of meeting a psychotherapist and I occasionally go to my GP when things get quite bad for emergencies.

You are right though - Finding an interest that has at least a little social contact would be a good idea. I will strongly consider this because, at the moment, my interests isolate me.


I like golf too and I have my own set of clubs. The problem is that the weather here (Ireland) is usually terrible and joining a club is ridiculously overpriced these days. Are you a member of somewhere?


Kevster.

Chucky wrote:Thanks for that - It is a help so don't worry. I have a constant schedule of meeting a psychotherapist and I occasionally go to my GP when things get quite bad for emergencies.

You are right though - Finding an interest that has at least a little social contact would be a good idea. I will strongly consider this because, at the moment, my interests isolate me.


I like golf too and I have my own set of clubs. The problem is that the weather here (Ireland) is usually terrible and joining a club is ridiculously overpriced these days. Are you a member of somewhere?


Kevster.

Good to hear.
Not a member yet, just a golf obsessed nut. I practice and/or play everyday.
It's funny, I'm in Australia so the bad weather you despise would be quite welcome here as we're in quite a severe state of drought.

No chance of a drought here. Picture this: I'm sitting here at home with the central heating and three pairs of socks on and my feet are still almost numb!

The coldest it gets down here in the SE at sea level (during midday) is around 10C, and it never snows here.

I agree with having a job or hobby that forces you to be social. As hard and sometimes horrifying as it was, forcing myself to be social has helped me a lot. Then I joined the U.S. Army. That has probably helped the most, it has forced me to be in a lot of social instances and situations where I have to interact with a lot of people a lot of the time. It's not really so bad but can really really suck sometimes. But I like the training and don't mind a strict way of life.

I nearly joined the [Irish] army too but I can't due to a medical condition that I have. You weren't deployed to Iraq, were you?


Kevin.

I'm still in at this time. I was deployed to Afghanistan for a year and I go off Iraq in a few months. I don't mind it, it's why I signed up.