Has anybody else experienced social trauma from trying to fit into a neurotypical world?

[vegangirl1980]

I never even realised there was a word for this until recently coming across it on Twitter. For years and before discovering I'm autistic I thought I had social anxiety, but I've come to see that I actually have a lot of trauma around socialising due to so much bullying and being treated badly in the past. I think most of the friends ive had in my life have also been neurodiverse (sadly 2 of my very best friends died).

It's a bit of a sad realisation because deep down I know I'm an extrovert but feel too afraid to put myself out there anymore when I'm just looked at like I've got 2 heads or am ignored, so it's lonely for sure. Did anyone else ever hear of this or feel it applies to you?

I can imagine it is definitely a thing.

Past trauma can stick with you, I once went out to lunch with a group and a lady afterwards told me that she will never meet with me again because I spoke so much. I really struggled with it and even though it was years ago, the other day I sent apologies to others I’d met with as I felt like if spoken too much while I was with them.

social situations are so difficult as they are always changing depending on characters/ situation/ mood etc. It can be really stressful trying to work out if you’ve got it right.

I can imagine being bullied impacts your approaches hugely.

@Hunkyd0ry so sorry this happened to you. I experienced the same. I used to be a bit of a chatterbox once but after being treated like an annoyance tend to say very little around anyone anymore