Autistic Self-Compassion Begins Here |
Find a therapist to help with autism
Autistic people's mental health issues are sometimes linked to how they view past experiences.
An autism diagnosis can help people reinterpret their lives with greater understanding and self compassion.
Self judgement often develops from misunderstanding autistic differences rather than personal failings.
Viewing the past through an autistic lens can support healing and improve well-being.
When I went to my GP to ask about an autism assessment, several years ago now, he asked me what I felt I would gain from it. Amongst other things, including seeking out the right type of therapeutic support and having clear self-care measures in place, I told him it would help me make sense of my life up to that point.
For context, it was a life filled with questionable decisions, failed relationships, and a very chequered job history. It felt like a life of unfulfilled potential, characterised by uncertainty and doubt, through which I'd somehow ploughed with anxiety, OCD, and eating disorders. All of these things had affected my self-esteem, and I felt that an autism diagnosis, by helping me understand those experiences, would allow me to offer myself self-compassion based on deep understanding.
I can understand why this was at odds with what the GP was asking. He was working in the world of illness and injury, and, as our........