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Joe90
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08 Feb 2015, 6:48 pm

My boyfriend says I can be erratic. What does this mean?

I am not offended, as he is just being honest and it is not a bad thing to be erratic, but I'd like to know what it means exactly.


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TheAP
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08 Feb 2015, 6:58 pm

From Dictionary.com:
1. deviating from the usual or proper course in conduct or opinion; eccentric; queer
2. having no certain or definite course; wandering; not fixed

He probably means you can be unpredictable. That's not a bad thing; most people are a little unpredictable.



starkid
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08 Feb 2015, 7:07 pm

Your behavior is not stable; it differs widely and randomly.



corroonb
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08 Feb 2015, 7:07 pm

He probably means you wander off in an unpredictable manner. Or not.

What he really means is that he doesn't understand your behaviour and that's the best word he has to describe what you do. Perhaps you should ask him to define erratic. Some people have odd ideas about what words mean. Erratic comes from the Latin error which means to wander, miss, make a mistake and so on.



ToughDiamond
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08 Feb 2015, 9:42 pm

I don't think it means you make errors. I'd ask him for a couple of examples to clarify it. Prone to change mind without warning? Impulsive decisions / behaviour? Mood swings?



Joe90
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09 Feb 2015, 12:20 pm

Well I do panic a lot. I think I'm one of those people who ''lives on the nerves''. I also see the funny side to nearly everything, except anything emotional like a death or other things that are sad or upsetting, etc. I get really emotional when it comes to that sort of stuff (I cannot cope at funerals). But otherwise, I always have the urge to laugh at a random object (I don't laugh at people though). Maybe he means erratic with my emotions. It's common for Aspies to have a ''flat'' tone or voice, blank expressions, etc, but I seem to be the opposite. I am full of expressions all the time, but I don't mean the wrong expressions for the wrong emotions. I just mean I use expressions a bit excessively.
Also I often get an urge to be ''hyper'', and I find it hard to remain calm and cool. That's the only thing about social situations I dislike; I have to put on this calm and cool front, when inwardly I just want to talk nonstop and not sit still and be the center of attention, but my social anxiety stops that. So when I'm comfortable with someone, I feel I can be myself. That is me. I always thought I had ADHD more than AS, being so stuff affects me the ADHD way (can't think of another expression to explain that), but when you already have AS and you think you may be ADHD instead you get told that ADHD doesn't exist and that it's just your AS symptoms making you behave like that.


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