Reactions to change?

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I am wondering how everyone else feels when something changes in your life, whether you are effected or if it causes anxiety, fear, what is it about change that upsets/scares you. I have thought about this, I get scared by most change but I don't know why, its just an overwhelming feeling of it not being the same and therefore its not right.

Hi,
I'm new around here. I've been lurking for a while but this is my first post. Change is one of the things I struggle with most and led me to suspect I may be an Aspie. I feel scared, overwhelmed, and disorientated by change. I don't really know how to explain WHY it makes me so anxious though, it just does, and I avoid it as much as possible. I love routine, predictability and sameness

Yeah me too. Well I think the likely case is that the condition is repetitive and so change is the opposite, the mind seems to feel uncomfortable. Personally I believe it's the low levels of the stress hormone and that thinking new would use the stress hormone when it's already low.

At first I can't grasp it. It's like it isn't real; the old picture of the future is the only one I had and I can't understand that it could be different.

Then I start to realize that things are going to change, and I get scared, frustrated, and really upset because now I know that the future is once again unknown and I can't cope with that.

Eventually I get hold of myself and create a new picture of a possible future, and the anxiety starts to subside.

I haven't really analyzed it, but when things do not happen as I expect, I tend to become pretty nonfunctional and upset. Even changes that I would like are upsetting, or changes that don't really do any harm. Sometimes finding out that someone I didn't expect is coming along to the store or whatever is enough to trigger a reaction.

I get annoyed or upset and want to forget about it. Unless it's something I like or my idea, I am fine. Sometimes it confuses me if there is a change because then I don't know what to do. Once I do know, I calm down and feel better and I can actually adjust to it quickly.

I'm fine with making my own changes, despite the ridgit nature things. Things out of my control is often met with resistance, anxiety and trying to find ways to keep to it. Otherwise I need significant notice of changes which elevate the stress of change. It can get to the point of panic if big changes happen too quickly.

I have a hard time dealing with change especially when its all of a sudden.
I remember when I was working and they decided to change the sections around I had a hard time dealing with that.
Also when the factory closed down it was hard to adjust.
If its a change like when I moved into my own unit its different as it was something I wanted to do.

Changes made, which affect my life, if done by others, are very troubling. I hate them in fact. Such as favorite stores or restaurants selling out to a new owner, or closing down, or things like that are very hard to deal with. On the other hand, rearranging furniture is fine with me, as long as I'm the one doing it. Other people on the spectrum, have said they hate furniture being moved at all, if I recall. I also don't like technological changes AT ALL!! ! Cell phone operating systems, and things like that are very annoying. Worst being when they stopped analog TV in the USA in 2009. I am not used to that yet, and it's been 4 years.

Another example of changes I don't do well with, is that I bought a new truck last year (a 2012 Tacoma) to replace my 2005 Tacoma. The body and interior and engine are identical, but there are a few quirks which I detest! Little things like the air conditioner controls, which look the same, but the new one forces you to leave the cold/hot knob a little above cold, in order to have outside air come in. Seems dumb, but it's a correct function according to the book. The 2005 did not have it that way. As a result, I won't sell the old one.

Charles

Change is chaotic and unsettling. In my world I live in the moment, the future does not exist, and I like things to remain the same.
Change keeps happening all around me. Gas prices go up, food prices go up. The grocery store I go to made major renovations and now I don't know where to find things when I go there. I went to a frozen yogurt store I liked and it was gone.
People die and they're gone forever. Kids grow up. The community college I went to 30 years ago is different. It has expanded, is more expensive, and it's harder to enroll in classes.
Health care services are different. There was a time when you could pay 5 or 10 dollars for a doctor visit. Not everyone was expected to have insurance.
Time and change are interconnected. If time stood still, nothing would change. If nothing changed, time would stand still.
Time keeps racing into the future on a current of change that cannot be stopped.
I find comfort in my own space surrounded by my things in my own world where everything is in order and I can depend on things to remain that way as long as I have my own space.

I suspected that I was fine with change but the more I think about it the more I realise that the last 9 years of my life tell the story of how much I detest change. My mother described me as having a rigid personality when younger and I recall weeping bitterly when one of my toys was given away/when our feuilleton was given away etc.

I didnt transition well from GCSE to A level at all even though I moved house 7 years ago I still consider my old house to be home

If im expecting something and have actively set aside time for it and I then cannot pursue it - I ave been known to throw tantrums.

Yes, I struggle a great deal with change. I have to ask my wife to warn me ahead of time if there is going to be a change in our day to day routine so that I can prepare for it. If I don't have that time to do a prep routine or cycle, I can become very anxious and worked up. Change is something that I never have gotten used to.

Change comes in a couple of varieties:

1) Unexpected change that I can cope with and adjust to quite quickly
2) Unexpected change that completely floors me
3) Expected change where I can imagine the outcome
4) Expected change where the outcome is wildly different from what I imagined

I think 2) is the horriblest. Being caught off guard isn't nice for anyone, NT or AS, but when the results are totally unmetabolisable ... recipe for a nervous breakdown.

I get anxious due to change. In particular, at work which I have little control over the changing factors/ environment I tend to get a lot of anxiety. But it can also be little things over a neighbor moving etc.

I get anxious when people seem not act within social rule sets and go off on a route of behavior I did not predict or understand as a construct. This is a different type of change too.

I try to be aware of it when occurring and release some of the anxiety either by thinking the situation though and trying to find a coping strategy or by trying to relax when it occurs.