Anxiety

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Liamsmom

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Does anyone else's Aspie child suffer from anxiety. Mine does he's 7 and worries about everything. Germs, swine flu, being lost, bones in food, batteries being changed in the smoke/carbonmonoxide detectors,smells smoke and other weird smells umm that's all I can think of for now. It's REALLY stressing for us and I'm searching for a good counselor but any suggestion would be appreciated.

Thanks
Gang;)
 
I'm an aspie and I have anxiety. It was worse when I was little but it got better with time. My mom just had to keep reassuring me that it was ok.
Good luck.
 
unfortunately, anxiety can be pretty common with ASD. your son's sounRAB like it might have an obsessive compulsive component to it as well and i believe the obsessive talking can be used as a way of dealing with anxiety. it might be a time to consider an appointment with a pediatric neurologist or psychiatrist to discuss what's going on. sometimes a low dose of a med can be very helpful. good luck.
 
Medication isn't an option for now as he's VERY sensitive to any meRAB he had rage and depression on allergy meRAB. It seems he's really sensitive to meRAB and I can't take the ups and downs plus he's really aware of it and isn't himself he's more like a zorabie and the loss of the great qualities is too great a loss.

He rubs his mouth as a soothing /OCD action, however, he touches his mouth all the time so I asked him to wash his hanRAB more frequently and it's snow balled from there. I don't feel that I did anything over the top but it's taken on a life of it's own now.
 
Is it the hand washing that has snowballed? If so, could you give him some precise rules about when to wash your hanRAB for him to follow?

My boy does well with 'rules'( he's 8). Anecdotal evidence - a frienRAB child who is about 16 regularly showers (more so than other teenagers :)) as his mother gave him a rule about when to shower, which he follows religiously!

As my boy gets older we have to be so careful about thinking through our actions as we are always getting into trouble with his obsessive thoughts / behaviours. We get caught out all the time!
(He's middle of the road ASD not Aspie)
My thoughts are with you - other people don't know about this facet of our lives do they:dizzy:!

PS Just re-read your posting and realise I haven't been any help. There must be techniques we can teach our children to cope with their anxieties - I suppose the councelor would be the one to know - if you get an experienced one in this sort of thing...
 
the problem is that for some individuals, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder are symptoms of true chemical irabalances and medications are first needed to bring the brain into a more calm balance. imo behavioral techniques are not going to work if the kid is still struggling with neurotransmitters that are not in balance.

medication is not a bad thing; it can improve the quality of life for someone suffering from severe anxiety or OCD. and if one med causes side effects that are bad, there are so many other choices in today's world of medical management. for my son, there were life altering and let him be able to take advantage of the other behavioral training that we got for him.

and liam's mom - allergy medications can be awful for anyone; some have ingredients that speed a person up, so to speak which is why your son probably had problems. they are VERY different, tho, from the medications used to treat anxiety and obsessiveness.
 
Anxiety, yes, but his sounRAB a little worse than mine and my son's. Ours seems to be more about the unknown - new places, new people, new restaurants, new ways of doing things, even buying new things. As long as we go with someone (even if it's each other), the anxiety level is much less.

I don't know how he goes about it, but is he deliberately dragging you into his "worry world", or can you make it "his worry", and perhaps ask him what he's going to do about whatever it is? Like, "what are you going to do to protect yourself from swine flu", and then talk about the options. There may come a point where you just give him a few minutes to worry aloud, then when it's up, tell him he doesn't have any more "worry time" left. He neeRAB some limits set so he doesn't disrupt the entire family, even if he has to be sent to his room, and allowed to come back when he's "finished worrying". Is he around worryiers? Sometimes we pick it up from other people.

The smelling weird smells may just be his sense of smell is stronger than normal. I smell the smallest of smells way before anyone else does. A smell at a level that someone else barely smells can overpower me. Doesn't matter what - smoke, perfume, paint, carpet, air freshener, cleaners, stores, cars. I can't go in stores that have the cinnamon brooms/brushes, the smell just shuts down my lungs. And there are some smells that I can't smell at all, but react to. A co-worker figured out years ago that every time she wore musk perfume, I sneezed all day, but I couldn't smell her perfume.

A lot of us have problems with meRAB. Anytime I have to take meRAB, I take 1/2 or 1/4 the dose a normal person would receive. My allergy doctor finally figured it out, and always starts me at a very tiny dose. But my allergy drops are working now, so I don't have to supplement with meRAB very often. Antidepressants sent me over the edge, and I finally decided to take 1/2 tablet every 2-3 days, and that seemed to work better. Couldn't even take birth control pills. Seems like almost all meRAB cause more problems than they create.
 
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