Hello! Recently Diagnosed Aspie here!

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Hello,

It's nice to be here first of all. I was diagnosed just last night with my newest psychiatrist. At 35, I feel a wave of relief but have so many questions and curiosities now that I finally know what's going on with me. It's like a light has illuminated me and all of a sudden I finally have some sense of identity. For most of my life I have been confused and lost in the world. I've had so many jobs and none work out. I use a fake personality I have developed over time of trying to cope but I can only keep it up for so long and it is absolutely exhausting. Work has become unmanageable for me at this point and I haven't not been able to work consistently in my adult life due to the unbelievable anxiety and stress and just getting too much stimulation from everything around me. I've often told people I feel like an alien and not human. Now I know why. I was dragged through the county mental health system here in the city I live in in California who have a habit of medicating people and not much else. 10 minute appointments to manage medication is about all I got. Medications that of course didn't have effect except for side effects and worsening my condition. I have been on over 25 different combinations of medications in just the past 3 years. The last psychiatrist diagnosed me with psychosis, GAD, and Schizoaffective disorder. I knew deep in my heart that the label didn't fit me and have been on a crusade to find the truth. I hope to gain some insight and clarity as to my behaviors and help the very few close to me understand and learn to work with me on things. I've exhausted my poor husband already today with the incessant talk about the disorder, so now I come here so that I can babble to my hearts content! haha!

Welcome to Wrong Planet--good to hear you finally found the right place!

A diagnosis really helped our my relationship with my wife--I didn't blame everything on Aspergers. Instead, while there were things I couldn't reasonably change, there were a lot of things I could do differently to make things easier on those around me. For instance, we carved out "alone" and together time--I'd come home and de-stress from work--as most Aspies need to do when they deal directly with the public. But, I'd also spend at least a day every weekend with my wife on some outing. We have breakfast and dinner together at the same time every day. We have also gone on lots of vacations. I've also realized that I often need a day to adapt to a vacation routine--fortunately I have plenty of vacation time and can take a day or two to do that. Similarly, the relationships with my co-workers have gone from OK to pretty good--I've systematically worked on fixing problem areas and have made adaptations as needed. In my case it was pretty easy because I work extremely fast and have a prodigious memory--and work at a place where those talents are highly valued.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Thanks for the welcome. I had a huge meltdown yesterday. At first I felt the wave of relief about the diagnosis but then yesterday I lost it. I started getting scared when I began reading The Guide To Aspergers and it sounded as if it was written about me. It all then became very surreal and my anxiety went through the roof because I've been looking for an answer for my entire life endlessly wandering about in the world wondering why nothing about humanity made sense. I have no real support system at this time and the one person I want to talk to(my husband) says he's skeptical and doesn't quite believe the diagnosis or me trying to convey to him with all I have that this is the right diagnosis. He won't even sit down to listen to anything. I bought him a book and I hope that he gets on board otherwise I honestly don't see how this could work long term. He is bipolar so our relationship is very twisted and dysfunctional after 8 years together. I love him so much and I just want to tell him everything that's running through my brain and he doesn't want to hear anything and I get hurt. Why doesn't he want to understand me or listen to me? He told me this is all I've talked about for 3 days, and he's right, but I don't want to talk about anything else. This is what's important right now and my quest for answers has come to fruition and I have no one to share my victory with. SIGH.

Hello and welcome.

Two possibilities.

1) You husband, being bipolar, is in a mood that isn't receptive to dealing with your discovery of Aspergers.

2) You need to tell him about your discoveries in small doses, or "sound bites." Most folks can handle only a little bit of truly new information at once.

Welkome to WP

Mick