Autism or social anxiety?

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Both my parents think I'm autistic because of how strangely I act in public, and I've always thought I just have very severe social anxiety, but now I'm thinking I probably do have autism. I've very depressed because of the thought, and I won't even leave my room. It's been a few months now that I've just been locked up in my room because I'm so scared. The reason I'm scared is because with autism you can't ever recover (fully, at least), and with social anxiety you can.

So my parents say I have all the symptoms of autism, but the part that's confusing is that the same symptoms for autism are present in social anxiety. So how do I tell the difference? They say that when I was a baby I didn't want anyone to get near me, and if someone would touch me I would scream and have a tantrum. Is that a sign of autism?

Also, I haven't opened up to anyone in my life, and my "social anxiety" is always present, even to my family. I still can't have a conversation with even them. It seems that if it was social anxiety I would eventually warm up to people, but I haven't had a normal conversation with anyone in my life (not even myself, lol).

I'm always very stiff around people, and no matter what happens, I just stare ahead with a blank face. The other day someone threw something towards me, not seeing i was walking by, and it almost hit me. I didn't even flinch or turn my head, even though I saw it coming. I just kept walking.

Which brings me to another point. In social interactions, I never know where to look or how to sit. I've realized that i should look at whoever is talking, but what if no one is talking? And i can't even look at the person if they are talking. I end up looking like a creep staring at them with a blank expressionless face, even when they made a joke and everyone else is laughing. but i can laugh at jokes when i'm alone in my room, which is why it seems like anxiety.

I don't have motivation to do anything, either. Even when I want to do something (working out, art, ect), I just sit in my room and procrastinate. People have to force me to do stuff, i won't do anything on my own.

There is so much more though. Like I lots of body ticks when around people, like constantly shrugging to readjust my shirt. Inappropriate laughter, too (which I've always thought was anxiety related).

I always look really angry and people are really scared of me, and i can't figure out what to do. I seriously look like a serial killer.

I feel like I'm missing a lot, but I didn't want to make this too long (it already is lol). Any questions you have would be nice to help me remember stuff.

I dealt with similar problems. I went to see the psychiatrist about depress and social anxiety issues; but, that lead to an Aspergers Diagnosis. As social anxiety goes hand in hand with the problems with socializing in autism. Autism and Social Anxiety are different issues; however, you can still fix the social anxiety better if you know the root cause is autism. Thus, you can build up the underlining socializing issues with autism to help break the cycle of anxiety.

It is also possible to have both as well.

Social anxiety= fear of socialising and fear of being negatively judged when socialising.

Autism= Bad at socialising no matter how you feel about it (there's other symptoms, but that's the social component).

I know I have social anxiety, but I'm just not sure if I have autism in addition. I don't want to get a diagnosis because it would be really embarrassing if my parents found out lol

Anxiety is often comorbid with ASD which makes sense given our deficits in communication and socialization. Social anxiety can arise for other reasons too.

From the info I have given, do I seem autistic? Any more info I should give?

Socially, chances are:

. If you do not have great difficulty distinguishing between emotion, and/or relating to emotional concepts, you are less likely to be autistic.

. If you understand non-verbal body language and perform it subconsciously, you are less likely to be autistic.

. If you are not prone to interpreting social conversation literally, you are less likely to be autistic.

. If you have a vivid social imagination (including dreams), you are less likely to be autistic.


IMO the social characteristics of autism should be looked at last, because they're the most shrouded. By that I mean there are many disorders that can (especially if comorbid) present as autism does, although the underlying mentality is entirely different. You could meet all these things, and still not be autistic, as your answer is subjective and personal to you. It remains true that autistic social difficulties are not just frequent social blunders and misunderstandings, as most people are prone to these things.

I would also suggest to search for what is normal, rather than what is autistic, as there are so many misconceptions resulting from nobody having done this. Stimming is a great example, as many mistake stims common to the general population and other things such as nervous movements or tics for autistic stims. It is of course more complicated than that.

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Unapologetically, Norny.
-chronically drunk

What you are describing really sounds like you could have both. It's not either/or. Social anxiety is a common comorbid to autism.

My answer is what I think. From what you wrote you do to see a specialist as you are confused.

Autism is a pervasive condition therefore to be Autistic one needs to have more then social difficulties. There is usually repetitive routines . obsessive "special interests", difficulty with change ,planning and organization, hyper or hypo sensory sensitivities. You not not have to have all these traits but most to be autistic. Sometimes these traits are masked, or not thought of as traits because you think everybody else has them.

It seems from what you wrote your issue more then anxiety, but have significant difficulties in understanding other people and visa-versa. There are a few labels used for people with impaired social communication but not full blown Autism. Sometimes this is labeled Broad Autism Phenotype or Atypical Autism. The newest label is "Social Communication Disorder"