Long story short: for reasons that would take, um, "too many characters" to explain, I'm feeling really overwhelmed by Bluesky neurodivergent community. I'm beginning to understand this at long last, and how my autism seems different from others, and that maybe social media is not healthy for me. 1/ - ThreadSky

strayautisticcat.bsky.social • 103 days ago

Long story short: for reasons that would take, um, "too many characters" to explain, I'm feeling really overwhelmed by Bluesky neurodivergent community. I'm beginning to understand this at long last, and how my autism seems different from others, and that maybe social media is not healthy for me. 1/

Comments

elemental1025.bsky.social•103 days ago

I am late diagnosis too (also pnw 👋), and this has been overwhelming for me as well, with the tidal wave of new people/new posts/reposts (tho likely not to the same extent as for you). I’ve been sticking to the OnlyPosts tab trying to get acclimated. You have to do what’s best for you tho. 💕

elemental1025.bsky.social•103 days ago

I’m suspecting that the new activity will ease up a bit in a little while. This kinda feels like the gym in January when everyone starts their New Year’s Resolutions to get “healthy” but by February most of them are gone again.

strayautisticcat.bsky.social•103 days ago

Good points!

tim-dunn-defunct.bsky.social•103 days ago

Also adult diagnosis autism spectrum disorder. Also Pacific Northwest.

I think it's an instinct for autistics to head this way.

While the Dark Side may have cookies, we have Amazon, Boeing, Costco, and Microsoft.

elemental1025.bsky.social•103 days ago

Also cooler weather, 4 seasons (but milder) and plentiful forest walks. 🌲🍂🍁

strayautisticcat.bsky.social•103 days ago

"I think it's an instinct for autistics to head this way."

That's an interesting thought. Hmm. I love it here, for the forest trails, the ocean, the rain.

ashley.autisticinnovator.com•103 days ago

Bluesky is a bit hard to get used to. This app has the lowest character limit of all social media, so it’s hard to know what to post and how to say it in so few words. I’m not sure how much effort I’ll put into growing this account. Don’t have headspace to learn a new social media app.

strayautisticcat.bsky.social•103 days ago

Thanks for that. Yes, I have a hard time condensing my thoughts to a few words. It feels like I can never say what I want to say.

ashley.autisticinnovator.com•103 days ago

On my Mastodon server we have 10,000 characters. On X I have 10,000 characters. So I’m used to that.

andyclarke.bsky.social•103 days ago

Don't leave or switch off. The autistic community here needs different voices, even if some don't speak as loudly or as often. Muting words/people can filter out the noise - or just follow a small group of people. There is also a "mutuals" feed (just shows people who follow you back).

mskittysoftpaws.bsky.social•103 days ago

I get you. I have to try and balance my desire to stay alert to what’s going on in the world with my capacity to be emotionally overwhelmed by it. I’m an emotional sponge and feel *deeply* but also feel a responsibility to keep myself informed even if it’s about difficult/traumatic stuff.

strayautisticcat.bsky.social•103 days ago

While part of my self, my brain, gets information here, which I crave and want more of, I feel as if I'm a different species: somehow I just don't fit in. Same story as my entire life. Autism, for me, is turning away from the world, looking obliquely, not directly. It's too much. 2/

strayautisticcat.bsky.social•103 days ago

This pushes me to turn away, and it's not always a conscious act. And that's the story of my entire life in a nutshell. That's what happened in school, and with work, with everything except the quiet forest paths I walk on. 3/

strayautisticcat.bsky.social•103 days ago

You all seem so excited and outgoing, so successful and productive and accomplished. It's dazzling. It's not that I haven't been that way, just not consistently, and at the moment, I'm downright hikokomari.

https://www.britannica.com/science/hikikomori

mskittysoftpaws.bsky.social•103 days ago

I don’t feel successful, productive & accomplished at all.
I’m an unpaid carer, disabled by my unmedicated ADHD.
I feel like a lifelong under-achiever; insignificant compared to others - inc other neurodivergent folk who have significant achievements under their belt.
But being small is also safe.

sarahakin.bsky.social•103 days ago

I suspect the autistic community is made up entirely of people who don't feel they fit into the autistic community.

I have noticed how every bio here is just a list of accomplishments. It makes sense if you're selling something, but sometimes it's just a proof-of-worth thing. Makes me feel awful.

strayautisticcat.bsky.social•103 days ago

Yes, that's what I noticed too. and I think you're right, we all feel like we don't fit into our own community.

I've been away from social media for 6 months, so maybe it just feels intense right now for me, coming back in.

strayautisticcat.bsky.social•103 days ago

No doubt this diatribe of mine will slide away into oblivion, and perhaps I should slide away with it.

End.

axewave.net•103 days ago

🫂🫂🫂

I wish I had more to add than that.

be kind to yourself.

zojionfire.bsky.social•103 days ago

i know how you feel 🫥

strayautisticcat.bsky.social•103 days ago

Thank you, appreciated.

strayautisticcat.bsky.social•103 days ago

Correction: hikikomari, not hikokomari.

strayautisticcat.bsky.social•103 days ago

And now I get that familiar feeling: delete, delete, delete.

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply