Does this sound like autism? (Adult)

[LionLionLion]

I've NCed because this is personal and I have family on MN!

I'm asking here first because I don't want to go to the doctor and waste their time if it's not needed.

Since I was a child I've had problems with getting overwhelmed if there's too much going on around me. For example I find it very difficult to sit in a room with music playing whilst talking to someone because listening to the music AND concentrating on the talking feels very overwhelming. When I say overwhelming, the best way I can describe it is it feels like there's a swarm of bees buzzing around in my head/body and I start feeling too hot.

This bee feeling happens with other things too. For example if I'm visiting a city and there is a large crowd and there's lots of people around me. This is especially bad if I'm lost and trying to concentrate on finding my way as well as dealing with the crowds/noise. When I feel like this I also get very irritated and snappy at the people I'm with

I rely heavily on lists and routines and get very anxious/irritable when I can't follow them. When I'm trying to plan out my evening in my head and my partner says 'we'll make dinner and then see what we feel like doing', I find this very stressful because I'd like to know what comes next after dinner. (I promise I don't let this show, we're in a loving relationship and I'm not a complete killjoy).

I suffer from extreme anxiety and I'm on medication for that. My main anxieties are worrying about not setting my alarm so I miss getting up for work (this has never happened but I check my alarm 10+ times during the evening just in case) and I'm a very 'what if' catastrophiser (if that's a word!)

I wouldn't usually run to the doctor but getting overwhelmed by the littlest things is really affecting my daily life. My partner suggested looking into autism - does this sound like it would fit?

Thanks

Sounds like a bit of OCD or ADHD/ADD possiblyy. But an armchair diagnosis from strangers on the interenet isn't really going to help.

Perhaps try some therapy, google some on-line tests, and go armed with more info when you do go to the doctor.

DD has adhd and some ASD traits. She finds noise cancelling headphones very helpful. I find a lot of noise overwhelming op and I'm neurotypical.

I'm not sure that it sounds like autism to me. It sounds like sensory processing difficulty (there is a technical name for it. I've forgotten it.) I score very very low on the autism scale but get that processing overload if two voices are speaking at once. I cannot have the radio on if DH is trying to talk to me. It makes me feel like exploding. I feel tense and angry and tearful because my brain just won't shut out the radio presenter so I can focus on DH.

DH and DS are both autistic. Their problems are more to do with other people and reading appropriate social signals. But it is a spectrum and such a wide one that a single term 'atism' is pretty inadequate, since it covers people who can't speak and have freqent meltdowns through to Oxbridge students who can't make eye contact.

Does your DH say you seem unsympathetic to him when you have no idea this is the case? Do people react oddly to you socially even though you can;t tell you've done anything wrong? These are indicators.

Look up sensory processing difficulty too.

Can you afford a private diagnosis? Look for clinical psychologists in your area who specialise in diagnosing adults.

Autism presents very differently in women to men and the traditional diagnostic tools are based on boys with autism. Read up about sensory processing disorder and autism in females. There are lots of support groups out there.

It is definitely worth going to your GP but be prepared for them to know very little about how different neurological conditions present in adults. The online groups will probably be more helpful in signposting you towards how to get a diagnosis where you live.

Some of what you say sounds like ASD or autistic such as the lists, the overwhelming feeling and finding background noise distracting. It may well be a good idea to investigate this further. I am involved with this charity actionforaspergers.org if you are anywhere near Kettering they have a free event on next Sunday which would be a good place to start.

As ohtheroses says - please don’t rely on armchair diagnoses here. You need to be a specialist to diagnose but plenty on here seem to think they have that ability. I am autistic (Asperger’s) but that absolutely does not make me able to diagnose others.

Many people have autistic traits, it does not mean they are autistic. But given the possible genetic link and what you have described above, it is probably worth investigating further (ignore any comments you get saying “but why do you need a label?” - getting my label was extremely helpful for me)

Have you done the AQ test? ][https://psychology-tools.com/test/autism-spectrum-quotient]]

Do this amd if your score is in the range indicating you potentially are autistic, then you could take results, plus what you have written in your OP to the GP.

psychology-tools.com/test/autism-spectrum-quotient

Thanks everyone!
I understand an armchair diagnosis isn't helpful but as I said, I don't want to waste a doctor's time if these are the kind of feelings everyone experiences. I don't have many close friends I can ask.

Thanks for the links and resources though, I will have a look at those once I'm home this evening.

My social skills are fine, I've never had many friends and I don't think I've been told I've been unsympathetic however I do do things because it's the 'right thing' to do such as hold doors open for people etc. In school I was viewed by others as a bit strange but got away with it because I made people laugh.

Thanks again everyone!