This started with an uncharacteristic decision to live alone by the mountains in Switzerland for three years. I’ve always known I was different, but I’ve only embraced that in the last few years. It was when I finally accepted that I was different and worthy, exactly as I was, that the clouds started to shift and I started to own the space I occupied. I thought I was broken and needed to fix myself.

I didn’t think I was enough just as I was. The worst years for my mental health coincided with when I had the least self-awareness and acceptance of who I really was. But I don’t think it’s a given, or permanent. anxiety, depression, OCD, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder.Ĭould I really have all of those things at once? Apparently, with autism, you really can – it makes you much more susceptible to other mental health issues.

But really, my autism – even if it’s mostly invisible to others – has been at the centre of everything.ĭuring my teen years I felt like I’d been diagnosed with (or at least tested for) everything…. It hasn’t been a barrier to living well as much as anxiety and PTSD. I think that’s partly because autism is just who I am. However, I’ve never gone into it in as much detail as my experiences with PTSD and anxiety. If you’ve read my writing for a while, I’ve hinted at my background with autism spectrum disorder (or Asperger’s) before. This post was first published in 2021, but has since been republished with some of the best new books for women with autism. When you buy through these links, I may earn a commission.

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Sarah bargiela