Are you actually autistic or are you really an introvert? (5 Ways To Know the Difference)

At 62, I feel like a child in an adult world that I am not privy to and don't understand.

The part about making friends made a lot of things suddenly click for me: I don't want to make friends, I want to have friends.

I have been depressed for a long time, but after taking shrooms few months ago, l feel much happier and highly motivated and my ADHD gone , lost a ton of anxiousness and had a few epiphanies about how I should live my life. I decided to buy an ounce for backup, but haven’t yet felt the need to take any more since then.

Psychedelics are just an exceptional mental health breakthrough. It's quite fascinating how effective they are against depression and anxiety. Saved my life.

The reason for not having many friends: trying to be social always ends up with someone trying to take advantage of me, which causes me to distance myself from them. It's easier to avoid having "friends".

One is a preference, the other feels like survival. Great video Paul

Disclaimers for the video. As an autistic person: you can be completely unaware of why you are struggling, unaware of the anxiety you are feeling or any sensory issues. How do I know, because I'm 36, recently diagnosed and have only gradually learnt these things over decades when other people have explicitly pointed them out to me or I've had an extreme reaction to something and finally recognised the why. It's why it is so beneficial to listen to the lived experiences of other autistics to recognise similar experiences within ourselves. The second thing to note is as a neurodivergent person you naturally surround yourself within a neurodivergent bubble of people and places that you find easy because you speak on the same wavelength and adjust the environment similarly so they aren't hostile. How do I know? Because both my children have very quickly identified neurodivergent peers to be their friends and our family's friends/relatives kids are all neurodivergent as well. It is why we didn't realise for years we are autistic as the "normal" behaviour of our children was the same as our family and friend's kids until each of them gradually got diagnosed. It's why I don't like the us vs them style videos as I would have once considered myself introverted or typical and you just end up feeling like an imposter and go back to your "safe" label instead of a journey of self discovery, acceptance and improvement.

I was sure I was not from this planet when I was little. I thought my parents were not mine and were lying to me. I am AuDHD

It's amazing I used to think I was just severely socially phobic when I was a teen in the late 90's. But then in my 20's it was oddly easy to overcome social anxiety, but still couldn't ever seem to fit the wavelength of the world and was always struggling ending up alone. All makes sense now.

> clicks video > Premieres in 2 days > "oh okay, see you in 2 days"

this "life on hard mode" is a really good description of how I feel all the time. I've never been diagnosed with autism, but the more I learn about the experiences of those who are diagnosed, the more I feel like I should get diagnosed as well, cause it seems to explain all the difficulties I have in life.

Except with my closest friend, interactions online are so much more restful than in person. Working from home since COVID has really been a revelation!

I thought myself as introverted all my life. 6 years ago I got an autism diagnoses and oddly enough a week ago I started wondering if I was never really introverted. Weird how your episode came out right when I needed it. I once again have more evidence I’m just autistic.

Im 58 and this has solved the self esteem destroying screwups and problems I have had my entire life. People cannot figure out why I am so smart but struggle with so many things. Besides having an ADHD dx, Ive been given loads of misdiagnosis over the years but it turns out from this and other things.. I have Autism. I am completely in this Autism list. People cannot get me.. Im a bit like "Rain man" when people get me onto a topic that I am good at. I cannot deal with gaslighting despite having a brilliant education in psych. I can analyze it later, but not deal with it at the time. I cannot stand bright lights, strong smells, lots of noises etc Can you imagine how hard it was being an RN ? I was totally sensory overwhelmed. I literally shut down half way through my shifts. I need alone time because I am too confronted outside in the world. I cannot negotiate normal social conversations.. they make no sense to me.

About three years ago, I considered whether I was autistic or not. After going over some of the traits, I leaned towards not and I never got an assessment because of that. Recently, I started listening to autistic people about their experiences. Now listening to this video, I am really starting to question whether I am or not and I think I need to get an assessment. Thank you for sharing your experiences

am literally diagnosed formally by multiple psychs and still I doubt

I can check most of these boxes. I don’t really like going to stores and malls and avoid them if possible but I can do it if there’s a specific reason or thing I’m shopping for. I remember as a kid my mom and grandma dragging me around on shopping trips and getting really irritable with them and not knowing why. They told me there “must be something wrong with you.” I also have 4 kids. When you’re a parent, you do whatever is necessary for them even if it’s uncomfortable to do so. I guess you could say I get grumpy if I’m interrupted or something I’m not expecting pops up out of the blue, but a lot of times I internalize it, suck it up and cope with it the best I can, even though inwardly I’m uncomfortable. I don’t have tons of sensory issues, but I’m pretty sensitive to certain sounds and smells. At almost 73 years of age I most likely won’t pursue an official diagnosis but videos such as these help me understand what may be behind some of my “quirks.”

My autistic husband never needed to be particularly social, and so he preferred to keep to himself and do things on his own. Just goes to show the experience across the spectrum is very varied. Some autistic people are very social, some less so, some struggle with being social but want to be, and some just don't have the need.

Dad: Want to go to Wal-Mart? Me: (checks internal nopeameter) (Curls up under blanket) Sorry too tired just thinking about it.

Me, being both autistic as extremely introverted: going out? What? 😆