Changeable moods - or not!!

[darkshine]

Is this to do with AS? That I have a dull day. Then someone comes over and I struggle to get into host mode cuz I just want to carry on with what I was doing. Then we have a good time for 3 hours or so. And then of course that has to end and now that it's over I'm down again cuz everyone else is tired and gone to bed, but I'm like some over-hyped kid for a while first and then I slump.

 

I always used to get told this was "mood swings" - but is it really that I'm struggling to adjust to what's happening now, as opposed to my mood being the cause? is it cuz of the events changing? Now that everyone's suddenly gone to bed?

[philtfa]

Is this to do with AS?

Well, it might be...hang on haven't we been here before?

 

Anyway, I often get told I'm a moody b*****. AS or not it's got to be in the mix somewhere.

 

I mean, I can take responsibility for my moods but I don't know why they happen and they're often difficult to predict and control.

[darkshine]

Is this to do with AS?

 

Well, it might be...hang on haven't we been here before?

 

:D

 

ok ok I know we've been here before... but not about changing mood in terms of up as well as down! (up doesn't happen so much)

 

what it is is this... I posted a post about a week ago titled questions and no one answered question one which was:

1. I have several questions that are of interest to me and my learning and would like to know if it would it be best to post these questions all in one post even though they are very different so as not to clog up the forum with my ....bleep....?

 

So.... seeing as I am relying on my opinion, I figured that if I post it all in one giant post, nobody would ever read it all cuz there'd be too much there, and then I figured that it wasn't right to post my entire list of questions in one go either, so I thought I'd just add a couple now and then and try to deal with each properly rather than every single one haphazardly... but most of them will be about whether it's AS or not... I guess I'm just trying to work things out.

 

Am I being annoying? Cuz there's about 20 other things on my list and that's without anything I think of in the mean-time and without anything that happens.....

[littleplum]

Is this to do with AS? That I have a dull day. Then someone comes over and I struggle to get into host mode cuz I just want to carry on with what I was doing. Then we have a good time for 3 hours or so. And then of course that has to end and now that it's over I'm down again cuz everyone else is tired and gone to bed, but I'm like some over-hyped kid for a while first and then I slump.

 

I don't know enough about AS to know if this is a symptom. I do know that this is something I experience a lot. It is as if every encounter with someone else, especially if it is more than one person, becomes an intense emotional experience. I am not talking about brief interactions but where you spend a bit of time in someone's company.

 

I hate saying goodbye, which may seem strange for someone who dislikes meeting people. But it's as if once I have committed to some kind of interaction it becomes the most important thing in the world and I don't want it to end.

 

It reminds me of what I have read about rock stars who come off stage on a high and can't sleep for hours afterwards. Yet what I am describing is banal by comparison.

 

Does this make sense?

[darkshine]

I don't know enough about AS to know if this is a symptom. I do know that this is something I experience a lot. It is as if every encounter with someone else, especially if it is more than one person, becomes an intense emotional experience. I am not talking about brief interactions but where you spend a bit of time in someone's company.

 

I hate saying goodbye, which may seem strange for someone who dislikes meeting people. But it's as if once I have committed to some kind of interaction it becomes the most important thing in the world and I don't want it to end.

 

It reminds me of what I have read about rock stars who come off stage on a high and can't sleep for hours afterwards. Yet what I am describing is banal by comparison.

 

Does this make sense?

This makes total sense!!!!

 

I also dislike meeting people and weirdly hate saying goodbye, it's as though once its going good I don't want it to end or something, and have difficulty with transition of normal events like saying hello (like extended meetings) and saying goodbye are emotional rollercoasters that people I know don't struggle with.

 

The rock star thing is how I feel, except the things I do in life are definitely banal by comparison too...

 

I wonder sometimes if I just don't know what my own emotions are, like when I like someone, I get it confused with wanting more (even though I possibly don't want more) god its confusing cuz on top of that you got the whole struggling to interpret other people as well as interpreting yourself

[indiscreet]

Is this to do with AS? That I have a dull day. Then someone comes over and I struggle to get into host mode cuz I just want to carry on with what I was doing. Then we have a good time for 3 hours or so. And then of course that has to end and now that it's over I'm down again cuz everyone else is tired and gone to bed, but I'm like some over-hyped kid for a while first and then I slump.

 

I always used to get told this was "mood swings" - but is it really that I'm struggling to adjust to what's happening now, as opposed to my mood being the cause? is it cuz of the events changing? Now that everyone's suddenly gone to bed?

Maybe it's because you have to struggle to get into host mode. You make a great effort - and it works - and that leaves you 'up' because you've been successful. Then, when it's over you experience a 'down' equal to the original 'up'. Does that make sense?

 

When I have to go to a social event which I really don't want to attend I'm anxious and edgy beforehand out of all proportion to what is actually involved. Then, when it's over I experience a corresponding feeling of euphoria.

 

It seems logical that mood swings are associated with AS because those on the spectrum are stressed by so much in everyday living that those not on the spectrum take in their stride.

[darkshine]

Maybe it's because you have to struggle to get into host mode. You make a great effort - and it works - and that leaves you 'up' because you've been successful. Then, when it's over you experience a 'down' equal to the original 'up'. Does that make sense?

Yes that makes total sense - and if I were to rate it on a scale it then yes, I'd rate the up as being equal distance away from middle as the down.

 

When I have to go to a social event which I really don't want to attend I'm anxious and edgy beforehand out of all proportion to what is actually involved. Then, when it's over I experience a corresponding feeling of euphoria.

 

It seems logical that mood swings are associated with AS because those on the spectrum are stressed by so much in everyday living that those not on the spectrum take in their stride.

It seems logical yes, but fact? I dunno

 

I get the thing you describe - that happens to me too and I get another thing similar to the one you describe - where I am anticipating an event (usually one that should be fun) and I totally dread it out of proportion and then when (if) I get there its actually not as bad as I thought

[philipo]

The biggest factor in all my life has been SLEEP PATTERNS,or lack of them.When i can tire myself out in the day i sleep better.The hight is lovley becasue i can hear myself think alot better,but then again many people find this to be true.Withot a few days good sleep I'm ratty lose focus/concentration.I think sleep is the biggest factor that can make a positive contribution,daily exercise and sleep.many times i 've found that quiet noises at night can make me more insomniacal.I'm thinking of taking up drinking,at night before i sleep.never been a boozer in my life but am thinking of self medicating when my sleep patterns go out.I'd rather do this than pills.Pills don't work after a couple of days unless you increase the dose.i think the metabolism of as/asd/hfa/autisim whatever people quickly rejects many medicines,far more than a 'nt'(rather than say 'normal') people and while its easy to get lost in the mind,i think that the 'condition' is fundamentally one of BIOLOGICAL difference and thats why for many food/clothes/sensitivity to noise and light are important factors.its not a mental illness,its a biological inherited 'difference' with many plus's.

[littleplum]

many times i 've found that quiet noises at night can make me more insomniacal.I'm thinking of taking up drinking,at night before i sleep.never been a boozer in my life but am thinking of self medicating when my sleep patterns go out.I'd rather do this than pills.Pills don't work after a couple of days unless you increase the dose.

 

About twenty years ago I started using wax earplugs at night in bed. This was because of a dog barking in a neighbour's garden. I put them in every night and have few problems with noise now.

[darkshine]

I don't think using booze to sleep on a regular basis would be a good idea....

 

I don't like pills either but they have their uses sometimes whether we like it or not. I don't think that relying on them as a cure all helps, but some people need them as a helping hand in order to help them to help themselves. Like using a crutch when you hurt your ankle, it doesn't mean you should use that crutch forever or use a crutch because you can't be bothered to build your ankle back up - but you might use it while you couldn't walk without it...

 

I have to take pills at the moment, I don't want to, but I have to, its a trap I am working out and trying to understand how to get off them, which unfortunately I can't do at this point.