Can autism make you angry without knowing why?

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starfox
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12 Jun 2015, 12:44 pm

Sometimes I feel very angry and want to run away but I don't even know why and I'm not usually that way.
All of my life though I've had periods like this but most of the time I'm okay. It's been confirmed I have no mental health problems or physical. Is it because of ASD?


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btbnnyr
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12 Jun 2015, 12:49 pm

This is normal, often people can feel emotions without knowing why, they may be able to figure it out after thinking things over or talking things over with someone else who offers different perspective, in some situations they may not figure it out for years or ever.


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ASPartOfMe
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12 Jun 2015, 12:49 pm

Yes. It might be stress built up over time from previous incidents, or a not obviously apparent sensory overestimation.


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Doom1991
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12 Jun 2015, 1:41 pm

Yes its normal as a lot of people with Autism have a hard time connecting with emotions. Over time it gets better. Just keep working at it.



BeggingTurtle
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13 Jun 2015, 7:11 am

I don't know. I have a mood disorder, so hard to say.


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MollyTroubletail
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13 Jun 2015, 8:20 am

Something is probably triggering your anger and if you think about it you could figure out what it was. Maybe it's people crossing your personal boundaries and not caring how you feel about it.



BirdInFlight
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13 Jun 2015, 9:14 am

I agree about this being to do with something you can figure out the cause of, because it's about connecting to one's reactions and emotions (or rather, having trouble doing so).

I experience this too and sometimes it takes me a lot of analyzing of what just happened, to find out why I'm so upset. But there's always a reason I manage to join the dots about, in the end.



LadyLuna
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15 Jun 2015, 7:29 am

I think that what I used to think was stressed for no reason is actually an autistic emotional reaction.

I will get upset over things that do not bother most people. Sounds in the background or a change to my routine. But my reactions did not make sense to me (being ignorant of autism) so I gradually began to think of them as stressed for no reason.

I remember trying to explain to therapist I saw in my teens. I had a meltdown because someone interrupted part of my daily routine. And I was not able to complete my routine. My therapist felt that could not possibly be the cause of such an extreme reaction. I must be upset about something else and was just transferring my feelings.

So now I am attempting to make the switch. I am not stressed for no reason. I am just stressed for reasons that do not make sense to most people.



ToughDiamond
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15 Jun 2015, 11:35 am

I certainly can get angry or upset without knowing why, and I think it's something to do with alexithymia. With time I can often fathom the reasons behind my feelings.

Most recent example: I was in a kitchen with another person. We were looking for a bottle of vanilla extract. A girl walked in and found it for us. From the moment she entered the kitchen, I felt very angry with her and I just wanted her to go away and never come back. I was astonished at the intensity of my negative feelings, I've not felt that angry for a very long time. She'd done no harm, in fact she'd done good, so why did I feel that way? It'll take a day or two for me to piece that one together. I sense a few clues already, but it's still very cloudy.



starfox
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15 Jun 2015, 3:55 pm

I have an example from today. I have a job where I must ask people questions before they catch public transport. This man refused but instead of saying he didn't want to do it, he said he didn't have the time.

He did have time though because it was only 2 questions that took 30 seconds. It made me real angry when he didn't have time but his bus wasn't due for 5 minutes.

I knew what he meant but he didn't say the true thing that he didn't want to answer.


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ToughDiamond
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15 Jun 2015, 8:01 pm

starfox wrote:
I have an example from today. I have a job where I must ask people questions before they catch public transport. This man refused but instead of saying he didn't want to do it, he said he didn't have the time.

He did have time though because it was only 2 questions that took 30 seconds. It made me real angry when he didn't have time but his bus wasn't due for 5 minutes.

I knew what he meant but he didn't say the true thing that he didn't want to answer.


But you knew the reason for your anger - he lied to you.



zer0netgain
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16 Jun 2015, 7:18 pm

I'd say "no" because even with hormonal issues, you always have a "reason" for feeling angry. You may not recognize it or realizing how much you are responding to it, but there are few conditions where a person feels something for no reason at all...certainly where anger is involved.

As autistic people are sensitive to stimulus, that can make us really react to little things we aren't accustomed to coping with.



Caelum
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24 Jun 2015, 1:42 pm

Just because there might be a reason out there, doesn't mean you know it.

I have the problem that sometimes something will set me off and other times it won't. Why should I get angry about nothing? I want it to be nothing, and most of the times it is nothing, but for that brief moment it is suddenly something that makes me angry, and I don't know why.



Octobermoon
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24 Jun 2015, 8:07 pm

I don't know but I do have a friend with AS that gets in a mood for no explainable reason and when that happens I just kinda stay away until he's in a better mood.



MjrMajorMajor
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24 Jun 2015, 8:51 pm

Yes, but like the others I can piece things together. I had a pretty extreme reaction today, and looking back it was a combo of routine disruption and an authoritarian tone given to me. There was a lot of pent up frustration too.

This is after an hour of walking and a nap to calm down somewhat. Now I just feel anxious and on edge.



Waterfalls
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24 Jun 2015, 9:13 pm

ToughDiamond wrote:
starfox wrote:
I have an example from today. I have a job where I must ask people questions before they catch public transport. This man refused but instead of saying he didn't want to do it, he said he didn't have the time.

He did have time though because it was only 2 questions that took 30 seconds. It made me real angry when he didn't have time but his bus wasn't due for 5 minutes.

I knew what he meant but he didn't say the true thing that he didn't want to answer.


But you knew the reason for your anger - he lied to you.

He lied and also a lot of the time when someone doesn't answer they aren't really responding to the other person as a person, which I think happens a lot when people don't understand you, they're less likely to respond to you as a full person.