Anyone on the spectrum seek thrills or adventure?

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I was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome/panic disorder a couple years ago (was previously diagnosed with social anxiety/panic disorder about 7 years ago).

I fit a lot of the Aspie stereotypes (engineer, excessively honest, obsessive on favorite topics, socially awkward, profoundly naive, etc.). However, I actively seek adrenaline rushes! It makes me feel free and no longer trapped in my head or stuck in analysis mode. I love things like snowboarding, bungee jumping, riding four wheelers, sky diving, flying, surfing—anything that feels like an adventure. I’m still quite afraid when I do these things, but I feel so happy, confident, and normal at the same time.

This seems a bit inconsistent with my concept of Aspergers and puzzles me enough that I’ve seen three different psychiatrists who have each re-diagnosed me as Aspie. I’m wondering if anyone else on the spectrum feels a similar impulse for thrill or adventure.

I do now, but that's because my anxiety doesn't scare me much anymore. It's reinforces my Aspie-ness when I let loose here and there with adrenaline rushes. The whole point of learning is to use it once in a while. As long as I trust myself, then I'll be confident that I know what I'm doing. If I wish to please others, then I can't take any risks or release adrenaline. That threatens pretentious people that populate certain areas of my life.

I don't like snowboarding or things like that, but I'll go on full speed runs through the rocky hills. Anything that tests my limits I'll enjoy.

All this can be termed counterphobia, something I too have had as long as I can remember. I've been mountain biking since I was a kid, I ski regularly when I can (have been just as long), and I push my bike skills as hard as I can in parks. I've taken a hiatus from the BMX parks lately to study, and it's been extremely taxing. Walks and hikes really aren't a workout for me, long night hikes notwithstanding. Not only do I derive most of my relaxation from adrenaline-triggered endorphin rushes, but a fair bit of my personal identity.

Nah, I'm just a sex addict.

I used to find small ways to pump the adrenaline in my daily routine. I would drive very agressively almost to the point of causing other people to fear for their lives. Oh the look on other peoples faces as I caused their life to flash before their eyes. Going through a roundabout at 45mph is a thrill. But after nearly wrecking one night due to icy conditions and putting a friend at risk I had to break myself of this. I don't have access to any dedicated adrenaline pumping activity outside of day to day driving.

I'll be driving my turbo Saab until I can afford a Koenigsegg. Or another turbo Saab; fast as Corvettes, cheap as Civics, sticky as Subarus. 210hp just isn't doing it anymore, this nut requires 650, and that's if I can't afford 1200. I don't really care that this means I must scrape 4 million dollars together in short order.

Thrill seeking is certainly part of my identity--have pictures of planes and motorcycles hanging on my cubicle walls. I just found it a bit contradictory to need alone time to reset after overstimulation or... jump off a waterfall!? I guess I find relief in the fact that I feel more comfortable in some dangerous situations than others and finally feel "ok" to be afraid unlike fear at a social party.

It's taken me a lot of crashing and jumping off snowy cliffs to get anywhere near that point. I'm still a complete trainwreck in crowds, unless I know everyone. I don't feel like I have enough space unless I'm way out in the woods or alone above treeline.

Definitely for me too. Also I cook professionally, certainly an adrenaline high any busy night. I currently drive an SUV and wish to God it was a sporty import and drive it like one.

Rollercoasters are awesome too; Superman at Six Flags in Massachusetts.

Do you guys get the feeling of being normal (not inhibited or overly analytical) in adventure situations only to be surprised by the extreme-logic, mental mode taking over again later on? That's the part that's most confusing to me and why I use the word "free" along with trill seeking. It seems to be one of the few times I can escape from logic mode and just do something terrifying/exciting.

<--- Would like to be a thrill seeker but he's just a lazy sod.

I get my thrill by getting really close to venomous snakes,like this one.
[img][800:720]http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u660/2lucky4snuffy/a8e99c1bb492344ee917189101d459cd_zps18c979e5.jpg[/img]
A Pygmy rattlesnake,the smallest of all rattlers.

Often I get that impression, but I sure mix a lot of regimen into everything I do. I'll try and repeat all the same tricks on my bike in a row, or ski the same run over and over. I'm always practicing a finite amount of something. My driving is almost entirely uniform - cycling taught me to estimate the tires' contact patches and adjust accordingly, and I rev-match all my shifts unless I'm in a serious hurry.

Ha! I'm glad to know I'm not the only person on the spectrum like that--and nice to have a word for it too. I hadn't thought about it much, but I guess I mix quite a bit of regimen into my adventure activities and tend to always be practicing something new or existing as well. I do tend to get quite obsessive when learning a new feat and prefer to go off by myself to practice it over and over... and over until I feel a degree of mastery and then feel comfortable merging it into one of my routines. I started kayaking a few weeks ago and have been off in a corner of a lake practicing rolls every night for a few hours over the last week.

I do sometimes break from routine like when I jump something big enough snowboarding, I'll feel so euphoric that I'll just make a speed run and impulsively wander all over the mountain going as fast as I can and grabbing little jumps along the way. I get to feel like one of the "cool kids" for a bit until I get to the lodge and start to feel on the verge of a meltdown from too many people and too much activity/noise.

Usually while I'm practicing at http://bouldermountainbike.org/valmontbikepark I'm one of quite a number of riders at the starting mounds, ordinarily very few of whom I can converse with while managing not to show my social inadequacies, when I do happen to be the most experienced one around, things get a lot easier. It's an uphill battle, the cycling discipline I've chosen, and I know a guy with a carbon fiber foot who whups me completely at it. I'm the type to volunteer advice and consistently ask for it, while many NT riders just wait to be seriously impressed before showing any hints of positivity. This is probably one of the weirdest social dynamics I've ever been part of, and I guess I can't really know the why, but my own social life has been on the uptick since I took two whole seasons for it. Luckily friends from my old XC mountain bike development team occasionally stop by the park to train or end their day. Shredding something is a shoe-in way of earning respect for us, I have a sticker on this laptop reminding me to do just that. Many people just don't get me as a whole until they see what I can do with my balance. They just have no way to see where my mind is the rest of the time. All I've asked for on my birthday this year is a slackline!

I love coasters too but I'm all skin & bones. I got minor whiplash from the Six Flags in Denver! It works better for me just being the coaster.

Anyways PM me if you'd like help finding a sporty wagon or hatchback. It's something I do for friends all the time. If I ever find the means to start a car collection, it may be entirely made of those.