Support for Mental Illnesses + Aspergers

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I am 26 years old and have Aspergers and severe Depression, Social Anxiety disorder, and OCD.

I find that there are groups, therapists, social workers and doctors for the mental illnesses, but these people are not very good at helping me with the illnesses as they relate to Aspergers. For example, I am terrified of people and social interaction. My psychiatrist and my social worker said that to get more comfortable around people, I have to be around people. That's all very well but I've been around people all my life and I've just gotten more afraid of them as time goes on.

My psychiatrist sees me less than once a month, and my social worker has said she doesn't know what she can help me with. I am very poor at communicating because I don't know what should be said or what needs to be said, and I'm terrified of conflict.

I went to an appointment with a social worker today, and got my hair cut, and went to a 2 1/2 hour group in the afternoon. When I got home in the mid-afternoon, I basically had a melt down and started getting angry with strangers online and trying to cut myself because I felt so bad and so stressed out. I never see why I am acting a certain way until it's too late and my emotions and behavior has spiraled. That's what social interaction does to me.

My psychiatrist wants me to go to a live-in care center for several months, but then I'd be around people 24/7.

I don't think they really understand. Is there some type of person/service/group that I could go to that would address my mental illnesses and my Aspergers, together as a whole? Because I don't think this is working.

Where do I start to reply to all of this? For starters, it has been my experience with several of the so-called mental health professionals, that they simply can not, or will not, provide much help, especially to those of us with A.S. I have gotten more from this forum, than anywhere, or anyone, else. Specific questions seem to get a lot of very good advice and help from the forum members.

The social issues are indeed difficult to deal with. They are very draining, mentally, physically and emotionally. I spent several years in the military and having to be constantly around other people 24/7 almost drove me over the edge to a complete breakdown. It took me 3-4 years of living alone and only being around others at work, to even begin to recover. It sounds as if you might need lots of alone time to unwind as well. I have read posts here stating that in some areas there are classes that aim to teach A.S. folks social and communication skills. Perhaps this might be an option for you.

Thank you for your reply. I do need lots of time alone, especially after being around other people. Thanks for the advice.

Hi booksandcats - I understand completely because I've had the EXACT same problem. It's why I started the Bipolar/Aspergers support thread. I went from psychiatrist to psychiatrist looking for someone who specialized in both Aspergers and Bipolar so they could understand how they interacted but it was a lost cause, so I settled for a bipolar specialist who is very open-minded to Aspergers related issues and has a working understanding of symptoms and possible interactions (although I discovered a lot of things for myself).

As AspieWolf has suggested, your best bet is to go online to find likeminded people, and also do you own research - I have researched all three conditions that I have extensively and also shared my knowledge and conclusions with others as much as possible. I suppose it helps though that I am a psychology undergrad and have read large sections of the DSM IV multiple times.

oh, my other disorder is ADHD.