Anxiety largely unstudied in Autistics

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http://sfari.org/news-and-opinion/colum ... y-symptoms

They should look at Wrong Planet once in awhile

It is esp. important to study more about anxiety in autistic people who can't communicate anxiety problems verbally.

Sometimes, psychs regard anxiety as inherent to autism, but I think it is more harmful than helpful to think this way. It is more helpful to think of moderate to severe anxiety as distinct from autism, and important to figure out ways for autistic people to reduce anxiety instead of just saying that autistic people just have high anxiety, that's just autism. Anxiety can have as much impairing influence as core traits of autism, but it is possible to reduce anxiety.

My husband has Aspergers, but his anxiety makes everything 100% harder.

He could learn better social skills with a little practice. He isn't stupid. The anxiety makes this literally impossible. The fear and dread are just crippling.

Toss in major depression to the mix, and the Aspergers almost becomes unmanageable.

Perhaps people with autism are more likely to suffer co-morbid anxiety because of sensory processing issues and struggles with socialization. Anxiety is not intrinsic to autism, but because the environment is hostile, anxiety is the reaction.

I still struggle with the difference between worry and anxiety. For me, my worries are definitely not caused by sensory processing issues or struggles with socialization. Rather, my worries seems tied to the fact that I am sooooo detailed-oriented. I constantly think about the details. I will obsess about every little itty, bitty detail. I model them in my mind and look for alternative scenarios. I look for errors and inconsistencies. I tend to over-think everything. And, then I worry about everything.

By the way, I know I am not OCD. So, is this worry/anxiety because of Asperger’s? I have no idea. I do know that, if I wasn’t diagnosed with Asperger’s, I would likely be diagnosed with OCPD. However, I cannot be diagnosed for OCPD (as you cannot be diagnosed with a personality disorder if you have a pervasive developmental disorder).

It is the same with My Husband. The anxiety He is experiencing after a complete breakdown in 2013, is by far the most disabling symptom. It stops Him from being able to operate in so many ways. He also has increased OCD symptoms but the anxiety over the most simple changes in his day completely takes over and stops Him from doing the things he once really enjoyed.

OCD can manifest as compulsive thinking. It has for me. I'm not sure if it's directly related to autism.

I have anxiety quite often, and sometimes it is very debilitating.

When it gets really bad it tends to go one of either two ways.
I become largely unresponsive to the outside world or I get a panic attack and completely freak out (though I usually still stay quiet, just behave erratically).
In both cases I become unable to think logically, form coherent thoughts, and temporarily have short-term memory loss.

I sometimes wonder if anxiety is the key to the whole thing. I am extremely anxious all the time, yet people often comment about how laid back I appear, I think it is because even letting people know how I feel make me feel uncomfortable, so I am one level withdrawn, I can communicate but I withhold a lot. I can see a logical extension of this for someone with even more anxiety would be to become even more withdrawn and not communicate at all, which could explain why some with classical autism withdraw so completely because of the sheer discomfort, perhaps the learning difficulties are a result of that not a separate factor. Obviously I cannot speak for those with classic autism, this is just a theory.

You hit the nail on the head. We're frantically treading water to keep our heads above water, but all NTs see is the calm demeanor. I think fellow folks with ASD can pick up easier on the anxiety signals. I'm always shocked when people (my mother included) say I have a "calm" presence. I'm not calm. I am in constant motion inside.

It helps that I don't talk to people about these things. I've tried but they just think it's boring. What concerns me is daily minutia, constant self-questions, intrusions of creative ideas. I look still, but I'm rehearsing a conversation for them later.

If I get interrupted, my catchphrases are "Oh?" and "OK." Those cover most situations. But inside I'm designing a spaceship for a future colonial journey. Or mentally reordering my wardrobe. Or rehashing a painful conversation. It's all mixed up in there together, and the anxiety only goes away if I sit still and alone long enough. Once I've had contact with people again, it mixes in again.

We have an organisation in Australia called "Beyondblue" which does good work in the community in offering help to those suffering depression and at risk of suicide. It's latest focus is on anxiety as a leading factor in contributing to depression and attempted suicide. It makes no referrence though to the autism community in its advertising and on its web site. I found this disappointing as the autism community is part of the general community and suffers a greater incidence of attacks of anxiety than the general community. I therefore find it rather disappointing that Beyondblue makes no reference to the autistic community in its current advertising campaign on the focus area of anxiety.

I wasn't aware that there were any organizations that recognized that, but I think it's important to note.
It is often after several days of feeling very anxious that I get really depressed.

One of my main reasons for coming back to WP was that people here "get" anxiety and OCD/perfectionism. I'm so sick of hearing "just stop worrying/just relax" as if I didn't think of that a million times already

When I have severe anxiety or panic, my other autistic symptoms become much more severe.

For example, I am a highly verbal person, but in severe anxiety I may have difficulty expressing thoughts in coherent sentences.
Likewise, my ability to plan and schedule becomes much worse when I am anxious.
Severe anxiety reduces my ability to understand other people and increases the likelihood that I will not recognize people that I know.

My conjecture is that this will be true for some other people with anxiety and ASDs and that helping them to manage their anxiety will have a positive impact on their overall functioning. At least, I think that is the way it is for me.

I think that severe anxiety would cause decreases in verbal, EF, and/or other abilities for autistic and non-autistic people. Anything that someone doesn't do well, anxiety will make them suck more at it or not be able to do it. What they do well, they probably won't be able to show their peak of ability with severe anxiety. Autistic adults with lots of anxiety should get therapeutic help with the anxiety, it is really important to get this help instead of attributing severe anxiety to inherent nature of autism and failing to get help for it as a result. Esp. with non-verbal people, it seems that many psychs attribute some anxiety behaviors as inherently autistic, without considering that it may be due to anxiety, then the person doesn't get help with that.