Do aspies neglect their health, or is it just me?

Post Reply New Topic

I have allergies that cause me to sneeze and clear my throat constantly, and I have a running nose so bad, it's almost as if I have constant flu. I suffer from insomnia so bad, I wake up every hour during the night, don't get more than one hour of sleep without waking, and takes so long to fall asleep.

And I haven't been to the doctor in years. I made an appointment for this Thursday. But looking back, I don't understand why I've neglected it for so long. Does it have anything to do with Asperger? Because going to the doctor will change my routine? I can't stand having my routine disrupted.

It's hard to say whether your avoidance of medical attention was related to your ASD - some NTs also don't go to the doctor, even if they need to.

As for looking after my health, I try my best. However, I sometimes forget to drink, which is not good.

I was about to click "about the same" ... but because my shoulder has been dislocated since last weekend and I haven't seen anyone about it yet... I thought the more honest answer was "neglect your health to some extent" :p

i take better care of my car than of myself.

It's a difficult question for me. I said "about the same" but the real answer would be "it depends".

I find it difficult to book a doctor appointment or any appointment at all and I need to ask others for help to do that so I don't go to doctors as often as I should. I can feel my tooths every now and then (one of them requires root canal treatment apparently) and I should see a few other doctors but I procrastinate.

However I believe I care about my health more than most NTs in my daily life. I always clean my tooths in the evening (sometimes in the morning too), take a shower once a day, try to sleep 8h a day (it turns out to be 6-7,5h though because special interests get in the way), I eat balanced meals (although my meals are too small - I can't afford normal portions), if I am cold I will stay at home and most of all - my sensory issues make me overly aware when I am cold or when something hurts so I need to do something about it (and I am pretty good at dealing with common and not so common health issues without the help of a doctor - if I decide to see a doctor they often tell me to just do what I already do a little bit longer because the treatment is correct).
Most NTs just ignore a lot of discomfort till it gets terrible and they often will sleep 3-4h a night when they are young, because they need to party despite having to work the next morning. They will also skip teeth cleaning because they are "too tired". I can't fall asleep before I brush my teeth!

I am also a little OCD about germs and diseases because I have being sick (simple cold makes me wish I could die here and now - due to sensory issues, runny nose is a torture!). I clean my hands as soon as I return home and I was wearing flu masks during winter time.

I have certainly neglected my physical and mental health very often. Some of this is down to practical difficulties relating to executive function and difficulty communicating - for example, I will often try to "ride out" a physical illness because I find it so hard to make an appointment to see someone over the telephone, and my diet is terrible due to difficulties I have with shopping and meal preparation.

But I think it's often psychological, too - I am extremely averse to asking for help or being in any way the centre of attention, especially from strangers. Also, after decades of living without a diagnosis for my autism and ineffective treatments for anxiety and depression, I have developed a somewhat cynical aversion to dealing with healthcare professionals who have so often disregarded my own opinions of my state of mind and efficacy of treatments.

People become discouraged if/when they run into barriers to receiving competent and respectful health care. Many AS people have received dismissive attitudes to their concerns. The thread in the Women's forum on Barriers to Health Care has lots of links on studies on and experiences of this.

As well as biases doctors have about AS people, there are gender biases too, so access and to be heard respectfully seems even harder for AS women.

I could certainly do a lot better as far as taking care of my health.

haven't seen a doctor in decades.

Executive dysfunctions common in autistics can result in this.

My experiences with the medical industry include things like being threatened, insulted, infected, and poisoned. I don't intentionally neglect my health, but I've generally found that going to a doctor does more harm than good.