Ouchies, that's a lot of stress-inducing stimuli you're dealing with. I don't really know what to suggest, if you're even looking for suggestions, other than... Me-time is very important. Of course it's good to spend time with others, but you need to build in me-time to your routine, even if it means losing out on a bit of work time. Too much work/other-time and too little me-time can cause your body to cave in, and you don't want that.  Me-time relieves stress as you relax and focus on doing what you enjoy.

That aside I'm behind you if you need any support. I can't do your school work for you, but you know.

That aside I'm behind you if you need any support. I can't do your school work for you, but you know.

You might be able to find somebody else who can...

my social anxiety, which means I prefer being around machines, and being around large crowds makes me really anxious

I know how you feel. People? Socialising? Urrgh...

Last I checked, my heart rate in a crowd was 117 bpm (yay smartphones ) it's normally 70 or so.

Also, you mentioned brain freezes: I'm fairly certain you don't mean the thing that happens when you eat ice cream too fast, but I'm also somewhat certain that you don't mean anything else on here, since the one about psychology talks about the "tip of the tongue" phenomenon.

Anyway... for loss of better words, good luck and I hope you do well in your film stuff. You're certainly good at it, I can see that, and you deserve to do well on it.

Brain freeze! Brain freeze! Ahh! It hurts! Too much ice cream!

I'm with Jimbob here, me-time is important, and hopefully that will help you out. Just don't become one of those #nosociallife, self-absorbed, "it's all about me" selfie-a-minute people in the process. You'll hate it. I really hate it... the #nosociallife bit, that is. I'm not about to be like that other stuff.

which means I prefer being around machines

Siri: "What I can do for you?"

HAL 9000: "I'm sorry Siri, I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

I know how you feel on several of these things.  These I can offer sympathy and understanding on.

I have a mild form of autism, as well as ADD.  I can deal with people in person, but I don't like it.  Online, I can filter things down to a manageable level.  Fortunately, I haven't had to go to a large party in years that didn't have the option of finding a small alcove and chatting with one or two people of similar interests.

Time to recharge is very important.  I hope you'll be able to get plenty.

Also, what's with small talk?  I do not see how talking about the weather, or the quality of the miniature quiches, without any objective, point, or reason is helpful, good, or useful.  I also can't figure out how to properly do it without either sounding like I hate the person or like I'm trying to communicate in secret code.

I hate small talk.

My body likes to flip me off, too... but not as badly.  I have to deal with what appears to be the starts of the same set of long-term musculoskeltal issues my mum has had for many years, a set that has no real name because the doctors have had no idea what it is.  It may be related to fibromialgia.  Basically, my muscles tense up, and will do like a slow-burning, less intense cramp for up to three hours... and everything is tight.  I had to stop practicing martial arts due to that.  Much less severe than what you describe, but I understand how hard and stressful it can be.

You are lucky when it comes to brain freeze, though.  Your nose feeling frozen is not as bad as when it feels like there's a shard of ice poking up into your brain, most likely.

Brain freeze can hurt.  A lot.

Siri: "What I can do for you?"

HAL 9000: "I'm sorry Siri, I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

A.L.I.C.E.: "There's no need to apologize."

I don't think I've ever gotten brain freeze more than once, if at all.

I'm basically in the same boat that you are. I have Asperger's, OCD, ADD, ridiculously high anxiety, and gender dysphoria. I've seen a few different psychologists and a psychiatrist.

@JimbobJeffers Yeah most of my time is probably going to be spent gaming, learning Finnish, writing scripts for the Anime project, listening to Emylou Harris music, and watching Interstellar and TLM over and over

@ Too late on the #Nosociallife school already took care of that for me , and as for selfies... *shudders* I am not putting my picture on the Internet...

@aidenpons Yes I'm actually talking about that eating ice cream (or cold things) too fast thing Also, I like my homework, it's fun stuff like watching film and operating film equipment.

@noghiri Finally someone who agrees with me on small talk, I hate it, topic is film, I can talk for hours about film. Though I'd more be the one dissecting and ruining them for everyone else

Bleh, I hate cramps, especially ones you get after running too much. Though I'm more likely to throw up then get cramps after running.

@BobaFett2 Don't you wish that Gender wasn't such a big issue in our society? It's more trouble than it's worth imo.

I dissect movies too, much to the consternation of my family (until I learned to control it better). I probably dissect them differently than you, though, as Ihave no training on the subject.

Yeah.

@noghiri Finally someone who agrees with me on small talk, I hate it,

Oh, so now you ask my opinion on small talk. In my opinion inb4 rant it's a complete waste of time and effort. If somebody can't tell what the weather is then they have a problem. And how many times has somebody said "Good day" when it actually isn't? And when you ask "How are you," do you really expect a honest answer which may well me "I'm so sad, my dog died and my parents divorced?" (I made that up on the spot BTW) Precisely: you don't and so therefore there is no real need to ask that question apart from niceties which are pathetic things.

(If you know me on Steam, I'm rather frank and to the point )

@noghiri Finally someone who agrees with me on small talk, I hate it,

  Oh, so now you ask my opinion on small talk. In my opinion inb4 rant it's a complete waste of time and effort. If somebody can't tell what the weather is then they have a problem. And how many times has somebody said "Good day" when it actually isn't? And when you ask "How are you," do you really expect a honest answer which may well me "I'm so sad, my dog died and my parents divorced?" (I made that up on the spot BTW) Precisely: you don't and so therefore there is no real need to ask that question apart from niceties which are pathetic things. (If you know me on Steam, I'm rather frank and to the point )

Siri: "What I can do for you?" HAL 9000: "I'm sorry Siri, I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

A.L.I.C.E.: "There's no need to apologize."

To continue the quotes:

 "Everybody good? Plenty of slaves for my robot colony?" -- T.A.R.S

Eh, I'm not a fan of small talk myself, but I do see it as more than a nuisance. E.g. it's great for breaking the ice on a first date, or first conversation with a potential friend.

Eh, I'm not a fan of small talk myself, but I do see it as more than a nuisance. E.g. it's great for breaking the ice on a first date, or first conversation with a potential friend.

If I'm meeting someone for the first time I usually talk about film, I mean, everyone's seen a movie. Though I don't really think of it as small talk.

 

Eh, I'm not a fan of small talk myself, but I do see it as more than a nuisance. E.g. it's great for breaking the ice on a first date, or first conversation with a potential friend.

If I'm meeting someone for the first time I usually talk about film, I mean, everyone's seen a movie. Though I don't really think of it as small talk.

 

I use music, books, movies, or in-depth philosophical discussion.

I don't think that qualifies as small talk.

I would try shared interests, but I don't seem to share a lot of interests with a majority of people.

Suffering as I do from Lyme Disease, I can sympathize with your plight. I have seen enough doctors and popped enough pills to last a lifetime.

Nor is stress any stranger to me, therefore. I still manage to experience it, despite doing very little in the way of anything this year.

And while the benefits I gain from Aspergers generally outweigh the hindrances, I still find, due to the combination of it and my fatigue, that I occasionally experience an inordinate amount of social anxiety.

Re small talk: I do try to avoid it, but I regrettably find myself slipping into it occasionally. But I usually find some common ground on which to converse. I am also skilled in turning a conversation in a direction more to my liking.

I use music, books, movies, or in-depth philosophical discussion.

It has been far too long since I've had the latter with anyone other than my relatives. I still fondly recall having a Theological/Metaphysical debate at a school dance, during my Sophomore year of Highschool. I don't think that it is common to be greeted by a girl at such an event asking if one is "still a Pelagian."

I find that Doctor Who and History make good conversation topics.
 

I also use actual answers to "How are you".

I do this a good deal more often than I should. Being tired all the time, in spite of looking quite healthy, compels one to do this.

Anyway, enough about me. I hope that you feel better, Ace. Perhaps you can take some comfort in knowing that you aren't the only one whose body seems to be in open rebellion.

And no, I'm not a Pelagian.

Yeah.

"Roley-poly Fish heads are never seen drinking never seen drinking Cappuccinos in Italian restaurants with oriental women. Yeah."

I've always seen Asperger's as a gift, but the downsides are clear. The great thing about most downsides of Asperger's is that you can get over them through experience without losing the benefits.

Technically speaking, I saw doctors almost every day for 18 years, because both my parents are doctors (and they have a ton of doctor friends and employees who come over).

Technically speaking, I saw doctors almost every day for 18 years

because both my parents are doctors

oh

Anyway, the gripe I have with "How are you" is that it isn't stated as a question. The vocal influence: the raising of the voice to mark a question: is nonexistent and it isn't intended as a question... so why do people ask, as opposed to state, it?

And to continue with the robot quotes: "Stress overload detected. The facility will implode in. Six. Minutes." -- Syntax* (slightly snowcloned)

*Syntax is indeed from Freedom Planet.

I've always seen Asperger's as a gift, but the downsides are clear. The great thing about most downsides of Asperger's is that you can get over them through experience without losing the benefits.

This has been my experience with it too, the only thing that's kind of gotten out of control is the social anxiety.

Technically speaking, I saw doctors almost every day for 18 years

because both my parents are doctors

Anyway, the gripe I have with "How are you" is that it isn't stated as a question. The vocal influence: the raising of the voice to mark a question: is nonexistent and it isn't intended as a question... so why do people ask, as opposed to state, it?

And to continue with the robot quotes: "Stress overload detected. The facility will implode in. Six. Minutes." -- Syntax* (slightly snowcloned)

*Syntax is indeed from Freedom Planet.

"What are you doing?" is often stated with the same inflection, and expects an honest answer.

Oh yes, social anxiety is awful. It's kept me from doing quite a few things I wanted to do.

 

 

Technically speaking, I saw doctors almost every day for 18 years

because both my parents are doctors

oh

 

 

Anyway, the gripe I have with "How are you" is that it isn't stated as a question. The vocal influence: the raising of the voice to mark a question: is nonexistent and it isn't intended as a question... so why do people ask, as opposed to state, it?

 

And to continue with the robot quotes: "Stress overload detected. The facility will implode in. Six. Minutes." -- Syntax* (slightly snowcloned)

 

*Syntax is indeed from Freedom Planet.

"What are you doing?" is often stated with the same inflection, and expects an honest answer.

No... I don't think it has the same inflection at all. It seems to actually have a question mark stuffed on the end, unlike "How are you" which ends on a full stop. Certainly with me (though I understand that I'm one of the least reliable sources around for this ) it ends with a question.

Also, when my cousins came across from South Africa and stayed with us they'd say "How're you." I'd say how I was feeling: 'reasonably fine, but I didn't get much sleep last night so I'm a little tired. Plus, I'm peckish' or something. They'd then crack up laughing and I was bemused, thinking "did I say something wrong?" It took the intervention of my sister after a good couple of weeks for me to understand that "How are you" was not intended as a question.

I still answer it as a question to people I know well (and it says something about my social ineptness that I know very few people well and that does include my cousins )

Try saying "What are you doing?" with the same inflection as you'd use for "How are you?"

Still a question, still expects an answer, and matches in inflection.