@actuallyautistic things like walking you through the process of renting or buying property, budgeting, etc. It's all so overwhelming and scary, but for my own mental health I need to move out the family home once I have enough saved up and hopefully get my Cytech. Even travelling alone outside London freaks me out. I don't know if traditional #CBT works for this type of anxiety. I feel scared to do these things, because all I have is this big blank with no personal experience. #autism #anxiety

@actuallyautistic

It's important to remember that everyone, no matter who, is apprehensive and often fearful when it comes time to leave home. And I really do mean, everyone. Also, that no-one knows how to do things like opening their first bank account or renting property. This is why parents generally have to go with us and help us through these things for the first time. If we're lucky, that is. Otherwise, it's generally just blunder along and hope that you're helped by a friendly member of staff.

The autistic anxiety that goes along with these things is, though, unique to us. A lot of it comes from simply not having the relevant information. Of not being able to prepare ourselves with doing the research and thinking through the various options ahead of time. There may also be anxiety that is more indicative that you're trying to move too far outside of your comfort zones, too quickly. This, I think, should be listened to. For example, you may not want to leave London, because you're comfortable there and know you have a far greater chance of coping there, than anywhere else. It's always worth remembering that our anxieties and fears may only look irrational from the outside and to someone who doesn't understand us. They're often based on perfectly logical reasoning, from our point of view.

If you have no luck finding help from the various organisations, or mentoring programs. Perhaps you could just pose your questions to the autistic community here. Most of us are older, have gone through this and may well be able to give you the information you seek.

@actuallyautistic thank you. I've been trying to explain to my CBT therapist but she doesn't understand at all.

The feeling I get when I think of these things is that void. Travelling within London to new places also made me so anxious I avoided it for a long time, but now I can carry a map on my phone (and I screenshot every map area I need just in case) and can use street view to see beforehand, I can fill in that void and can break past the anxiety.

@actuallyautistic unfortunately my therapist is taking the approach that my anxiety comes from thinking bad things are going to happen, whereas it all comes from being uncomfortable around anything unpredictable and unfamiliar, including people and places.

I asked her to research autism related anxiety over the Christmas break, because after 6 sessions, I've made no progress. She's focusing on self esteem but that's a side effect, not the cause!

@actuallyautistic that’s one problem with CBT: personally I think CBT seems to be all about side effects and nothing about causes. It’s very facile. But it can help to develop a little resilience, to then engage in more in depth therapy. Unfortunately, it is difficult, if not impossible, to access anything other than CBT on the NHS