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Anxiety on the Spectrum

A personal reflection on living with social anxiety, autistic overwhelm, and the relief that can come from finally finding words for what is happening.

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The heading Comparing Anxiety versus Autistic Anxiety: Key Differences and Overlaps, on a pale blue illustrated background.
The guide is also written out below so it remains accessible and searchable.

For most of my life, I did not even know what was happening to me.

The pain in my chest. The sweating. The overwhelming rush of emotion. The feeling that I was losing control of my body and everything around me. I genuinely thought I was having a heart attack.

Turns out, I am autistic—and I also have social anxiety. Some of what I experienced was anxiety. Some of it may have been autistic overwhelm or sensory overload. For a long time, I did not know how to tell the difference.

I am not saying this means you are autistic too. It may not. I am saying that it helps to identify what is happening inside you. Maybe, with the right words and the right support, someone else can begin addressing what troubles them a little sooner than I did.

I finally have names for some of the things I experience. I have learned to accept them, and I am still learning how to live with—and care for—my autistic mind and my social anxiety.

I only wish I had understood myself sooner.

A Venn diagram comparing general anxiety and autistic anxiety. General anxiety includes future-focused worry, fear of criticism, catastrophic thinking and panic-like symptoms. Autistic anxiety includes environmental triggers, sensory overload, social decoding, unpredictability and difficulty sensing body cues. The overlap includes physical feelings, difficult transitions, sensory sensitivity, withdrawal, meltdowns or shutdowns.
A simplified comparison of possible differences and overlaps. People can experience both, and individual experiences vary.

Further reading

This is personal reflection and general educational information, not a diagnosis. Anxiety, autistic overwhelm, and sensory overload can overlap, and individual experiences vary.