Latest / Aspergers & Autism Podcast [The Aspie World] AuDHD / Autism Social Anxiety SUCKS! (Here’s Why)

Transcript

Autism Social Anxiety SUCKS! (Here’s Why) · Aspergers & Autism Podcast [The Aspie World] AuDHD

• 0:01
  Hey guys, what's going on? So here's a video about how
• 0:03
  social anxiety kicks my butt. So I was kind of basically at my
• 0:07
  desk working as I do. I'm working on my autism
• 0:10
  courses, which is super cool. So and that's out super soon.
• 0:12
  So if you're interested in some of the new amazing things I'm
• 0:15
  doing, drop me an e-mail. So I'm sitting there and I get
• 0:18
  this like text message through e-mail.
• 0:20
  So it's like a ring from YouTube, and YouTube is
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  basically saying, hey, we want you to come to this Labor
• 0:26
  conference event in Liverpool, be an ambassador for us and do
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  this, you know, whole YouTube thing and shake hands and stuff.
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  And I was like, okay, look, I haven't been to an event since
• 0:35
  the lockdowns happened in 2020 and 2021.
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  Kind of like a bit overwhelming for me.
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  And so this kind of gives me social anxiety, right?
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  So the first thing I need to do was really figure out like, I'm
• 0:45
  not going to be able to go into this alone.
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  So I texted my friend Ian. I was like, Ian, dude, you got
• 0:48
  to come with me. Like it's going to be super
• 0:50
  awesome because I know he's, he likes labour and stuff.
• 0:52
  So it's kind of like good for him, but it would also be good
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  for me because he could come as support.
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  And so then I could feel a little less anxious or at least
• 0:59
  lower the social anxiety to that experience at that time.
• 1:01
  So it was actually on a Sunday. And so me and Ian set off pretty
• 1:05
  early because another thing is that you get all this kind of
• 1:07
  Sunday traffic on a Sunday when people kind of commuting home.
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  And that gives me a lot of anxiety because I want to arrive
• 1:12
  on time. I don't want to be the
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  Youtubers, although like being late to things and stuff like
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  that. So we get in Ian's van, we drive
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  and as we're driving, we hit traffic, we hit a traffic jam
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  and we're like, oh, shoot. So then we have to go like a
• 1:24
  different way. And as we go the different way,
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  we're adding time to our journey.
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  We re estimate the SAT NAV and the SAT NAV says that we're
• 1:30
  going to be there dead on doors opening.
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  Now this gives me super bad anxiety because I don't want to
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  be arriving there as the doors open because I'm not going to be
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  there when the doors open. I'm going to be arriving in the
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  car park and then I'm going to get to the venue.
• 1:42
  The whole faff. When you arrive late to things,
• 1:45
  there's like a big faff or a fuss about you because you've
• 1:47
  got that late and stuff like that.
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  Again, the same thing. So anxious.
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  I was like, Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness, we're going to.
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  Needless to say, we were trying to make some good time and we
• 1:54
  just had to bite the bullet there.
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  But I was feeling horribly anxious because it was the first
• 1:57
  event I hadn't been anywhere. It's horrible, isn't it?
• 2:00
  Like, anxiety starts creeping up on you and it's like this, like
• 2:02
  weeds and vines growing and they're kind of going for your
• 2:04
  neck. And you're like, So as we get
• 2:05
  closer to the actual event building, I realize that I only
• 2:08
  have the address for the event. I didn't actually have an
• 2:11
  address for any parking. And usually big events like
• 2:13
  venues in cities, they're not usually, you know, surrounded by
• 2:17
  car parks and all this stuff. So I was like, oh, goodness.
• 2:19
  So I was like, oh, Dang it. I had to then call my buddy who
• 2:24
  was a local from the area to find out where I would park.
• 2:27
  Like what's his recommendations for parking?
• 2:29
  And so he gave us your recommendations.
• 2:30
  I did like a quicker Google as well because if I can Google
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  ahead of time helps lower a lot of my anxieties.
• 2:36
  And so I Googled it and we found some packing again, such anxiety
• 2:39
  creeping up for me thinking like packing going on.
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  Like if I can't find packing for an event, I'd freak out.
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  It's absolutely crazy. So as we get closer to the
• 2:46
  event, I realized I have to take my medication, right?
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  Because I take my medication at 8:00 PM every night.
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  But this event was running from 6:30 in the evening until 10:30
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  in the evening. So it would be right smacked
• 2:58
  bang in the middle of this event when he took my medication.
• 3:00
  So I was like, Dang it. So I brought my medication with
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  me so I could take it, but the only thing I didn't have was
• 3:03
  water or anything to take the medication with right, But I
• 3:06
  didn't drink water anyway. So I was like, look in my head,
• 3:09
  as soon as I get in there, I can get some water, I can take my
• 3:11
  medication and it's going to be absolutely fine.
• 3:14
  And I can just get on and enjoy the event as it is.
• 3:16
  OK, So we walk into this event and holy smokes, guys.
• 3:19
  Like I, I kid you not, like there was like a bazillion
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  people there. And I looked where the bar was
• 3:25
  where everyone was getting drinks and water and stuff.
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  And it was about 50 people deep in this line.
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  I was like, so I'm starting to freak out thinking I'm not going
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  to say eradication. Whole thing's going to be
• 3:34
  ruined. I kind of like a panic attack or
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  like a meltdown in the middle of the event and everyone's going
• 3:38
  to like laugh at me and there's going to be a whole thing.
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  And you don't want to be that guy that draws attention to
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  yourself, right? You ought to be the person who's
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  there to do the things that you've been asked to go there
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  and do shake hands and, you know, be a YouTube and all that
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  kind of stuff. Just at my most like horrible
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  crisis moment, the YouTube partner manager, Stella, she
• 3:56
  steps in to save the day. Stella's like, hey, what up,
• 3:58
  Dan? I was like, oh, Stella, she's
• 3:59
  like, do you need a drink? I'm like, yeah, I'd love some
• 4:00
  water. And like, as if I'm magic, she
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  disappears, come back with some water and then I'm able to take
• 4:04
  my medication. OK, so now we're on locating.
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  So me and Ian there in this event, there's a bunch of
• 4:09
  different stuff going on. There's like people speaking on
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  the stage, people like city calm, who's like the Mayor of
• 4:13
  London. But if you guys know who that is
• 4:15
  and there's other bits and pieces going on.
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  And then there was a talk from Alice Lomax, who is the managing
• 4:22
  director of YouTube in the UK. And my goal was to kind of
• 4:25
  discuss autism and mental health and that kind of stuff with
• 4:28
  Alice. Because I think that YouTube
• 4:29
  have such a big hold on helping people with things like, you
• 4:33
  know, talking about mental health and social anxiety and
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  all those kind of things. So I wanted to speak to Alice,
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  which is kind of cool. And to my surprise, actually,
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  she came over and I was introduced through Stella and
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  Alice actually watched my videos.
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  So she was aware of me and aware of my work, which is kind of
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  dope. I was kind of taken aback by
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  this, but it was really cool. She was a lovely woman and I
• 4:50
  think we're definitely going to do some work in the end
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  together. So my anxiety at this point was
• 4:54
  kind of relatively, you know, kept on track because I wasn't
• 4:58
  overly anxious because I was getting the tasks and the goals
• 5:02
  that I needed to get done at that moment in time.
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  And I take my medication. So it was kind of a good world
• 5:06
  for me. So now I've shaken the hands of
• 5:07
  people that I wanted to meet and, you know, talk to.
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  I'd shaken hands and met some really cool Youtubers who were
• 5:13
  like in the health niche, which is pretty awesome since I'm in
• 5:15
  the health niche as well. And it was just a really good
• 5:17
  day. Oh, I also bumped into a guy
• 5:19
  called Ed Miliband who used to be the leader of the Labour
• 5:21
  Party, but he's quite a nice bloke.
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  So I took a selfie with him, which I'll insert here, and me
• 5:26
  and Ed spoke for a little while because one of the constituents
• 5:28
  was autism. We discussed my book and stuff
• 5:30
  like that. And FYI, guys, if you didn't
• 5:32
  know, my book, Autism for Adults is out right now and you can get
• 5:36
  it from autismforadults.com. As the crowd started to kind of
• 5:39
  like dissipate around about, I don't know, 8:30 nine o'clock at
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  night, meaning it felt like it was our time to go because the
• 5:45
  crowds had thinned out when we were able to go.
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  But before we went, one of the most interesting things
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  happened. I actually stumbled across a
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  woman and her partner who create these like little key chain
• 5:57
  opener gadgets. It's for people with bad fine
• 5:59
  motors, girls like myself and you know, key chains.
• 6:01
  You have to like use your nails to open up that little kind of
• 6:03
  like metal disk thing and then you have to slide on the key.
• 6:06
  Well, it's always difficult, right?
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  But this little gadget helps it. So I'm going to leave a link for
• 6:10
  them down in the description down below so you can definitely
• 6:12
  check them out. Pretty amazing.
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  Anyway, this is a really cool product and I was like, wow,
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  like, you know, you just bump into some amazing people here.
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  So when you come across benefits like that, your anxiety kind of
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  dissipates. And I feel like it's an exchange
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  of good experiences versus anxiety.
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  The more good experiences you can pack into an experience,
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  then the less anxiety you will experience.
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  I said experience will watch us then I feel so much elation from
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  actually having to go do an event, overcome anxiety and
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  really try and kick some mental health issues in the butt.
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  You know, like taking control of the fact that like I haven't
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  been to a proper event since, you know, the lockdowns and
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  stuff. So to me this was triumphant and
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  it's kind of given me this like fires have it to do more of it.
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  So guys, if you also suffer from mental health issues, I highly
• 6:53
  recommend using better help. It's an online therapy for
• 6:56
  counseling and other types of stuff.
• 6:58
  So you can go on there within 24 hours.
• 7:00
  Find somebody who's specific in like ADHD or autism who can give
• 7:03
  you therapy over the tablet or your computer or your phone.
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  Super awesome. The link is down below and if
• 7:08
  you use that link, it just help me out a little bit.
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  If you have fun and think this video is interesting, please
• 7:12
  share it guys. I'll see you in the next one
• 7:15
  piece.