The Bristolian

Have a look at some of the online forums, where you can ask questions and hear about other people's raw food experiences too. If you eat as wide a range of raw stuff as possible, including nuts, seeds, cold pressed oils... I think that covers most vitamins and minerals. With vegan or raw, people worry about calcium and iron. Green vegetables have loads of iron and calcium, and from what I remember they are more easily absorbed when you are getting plenty of vitamin C, which you will be. I was a meat eater and deficient in iron as my body wasn't absorbing it properly. The other thing to think about before going entirely raw, is how this will fit in with family and friends and any social eating you may do.

Thought I'd say hello, although I'm new here myself. I've introduced myself a bit further down, after discovering in my early 40s that Asperger's fits the bill. Reading the posts, I keep finding more little clues, and pieces I can identify with, and it's interesting to read your experiences about empathy. I remember about 20 years ago seeing a counsellor at university and mentioning that I found it really hard to be with people who were feeling upset or annoyed as I couldn't think of anything to say to them. I had noticed one of my friends was very good at empathising, and it kept her in demand. I wanted to be in demand too! A few years on and I think I'm a bit better at it, probably having watched this friend, more than anything. I still don't get it right a lot of the time, but one important lesson I learnt is to listen, and sometimes say nothing, letting the other person feel their feelings, without drawing conclusions for them. As I say, I'm still not that good at it, and still not very in demand! But I hope you find support here.

Thank you for the reply. I have to return to the GP in 4 weeks to see how the medication is going, so I'll have a think in the meantime. I won't rush to get a private consultation, as it seems to make sense to consider the NHS route a bit more first.

Thank you for taking the time to reply to this. No, I haven't tried the NHS route. About 5 years I begin to root around a little bit for what might be underneath my depression, and I wondered if I might have bipolar. When I went to see my GP and was then thinking of splitting with my husband, I don't think I actually mentioned bipolar, but I did say I had been thinking of requesting a psychiatric assessment. She just dismissed it instantly, in the same way another GP dismissed my request for an allergy test for my son at one point. That does sound sensible advice about the recent partner and in many ways I would like to contact him straight away. It's just that I'm so often impulsive as well as far too honest for my own good. Also, I'm so backwards and forwards and confused, that I feel I owe it to him now to only get in touch after I've tried to sort myself out a bit. Going back to the assessment bit.... I was offered counselling today, and also given anti-depressants. I don't really want the counselling, but they have put it in the system and said it will take about 8 weeks to come through anyway. Might a counsellor be able to refer me? That was the thought at the back of my mind when the GP suggested it. I said I wasn't sure, but to put it in the system and I would consider it.

Thanks for that Alexis, and for your PM about local information. Yes, I'm hoping to learn more about coping strategies on here. This morning I saw my GP and was given anti-depressants - now feeling a bit rough and will go to bed soon - but I wasn't convinced about the counselling he offered. I've had so much counselling in the past and it just seemed to go round and round. I'd much rather more specific practical ideas for coping, and if I'd had these a decade or two ago things might be different now. Then again, I try to accept I'm in the perfect place at the perfect time for "me", and had I had certain information ahead of time, I might not have learnt other lessons or met certain people.

I'm new here too, though a lot older than you! I can identify with a lot of what you say, and also know those feelings of disconnectedness. I haven't yet been officially diagnosed, but the more I read, the more I think I have Aspergers. One book that has really helped me recently is Aspergirls, by Rudy Simone. She has a website www.help4aspergers.com. From what you say, you might have read it already, but if not, it would be the perfect thing to read, particularly at your age. Reading the book for the first time at the age of 41, when I have children of my own, brought tears to my eyes in many places, to see someone really recognising and describing the day to day problems that were always dismissed as aloofness, shyness or impulsiveness with me. Rudy is a woman who has Aspergers, but has also interviewed loads of women who have it, and records their experiences. What is also good about the book though is that she describes the assets of Aspergers women too, and in my life those had been seriously overlooked. With a few broken relationships behind me I was beginning to think I had nothing to offer a partner except trouble, when now, just off the top of my head I can think of three positive charateristics I have - loyalty, honesty and reliability. Hope you find some support on here - hope I do too, come to think of it.

I've just introduced myself on here tonight. I've had depression on and off for about 20 years, with quite a bit of self-harm and anxiety in there. I recently got hold of my GP notes and the things that jumped out at me in psychiatrist and counsellor reports were the difficulty they had connecting with me and really getting anything out of me, as well as the high levels of anxiety and feelings of isolation that usually caused my depression. The depression has always just been accepted, without really considering what might be behind it. Since splitting up with my husband about 4 years ago I have been mostly off medication, and thought I was coping, even though it was tough - I have children too. I started a new relationship which was going well, but I then became very confused and anxious and finished it. Looking at the GP notes, this was when I stopped the medication. The new partner stayed in touch for a long time, but seems to have given up now. It's only in the last few weeks that it has really occurred to me that my anxiety and confusion is depression, and I am seeing my GP tomorrow. I can now see quite a few other symptoms such as low energy levels, lack of focus, waking up early... too. I'm upset about the relationship that broke up too, and have reacted very dramatically to things like that in the past, so I want to keep it all under control. My immediate goal is to get the current depression and anxiety under control, but I'm pretty convinced I have Aspergers, and have been looking into an assessment for this too. I'm in London, and have seen the Hoffmann Institute can offer a private diagnosis. Has anyone any experience of this, or could they recommend anywhere else? The new partner (now old) was very kind and patient, but really had no idea what was going on, and understandably got fed up with it all. I once tried to talk to him about possible depression (although I didn't realise it was that bad then) and he said I should get help. I didn't though, so things just kept going round and round, and I never really committed to him. I've been wondering whether to wait until I'm feeling a bit stronger, and possibly just email him to explain that I have now taken steps to sort out the depression. By then I would be a bit more prepared if he wrote me a kind email but wasn't interested in taking things further. Hope that isn't too garbled.

I was very pleased to find this site. I'm as yet undiagnosed, but after reading extensively about Aspergers in the last few years, carefully studying my medical notes and looking at recurring patterns in my life (I'm 41), I'm pretty sure I have Aspergers. I will write more in a different area.