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I'm living a very, very stressful moment in my life. This doesn't play well with ASD, which worsen all forms of anxiety. The result is recurring thoughts about stressful events, difficult to sleep, reduced productivity at work, the list goes on. It started to become overwhelming, and unfortunately, for people that don't know about my condition, it seems it's immaturity (although I can guarantee I'm more mature that 90% of guys of my age that I know). Some people even go on to try to take advantage of this "perceived immaturity". The only medication it helps relive the symptoms are benzodiazepines; I try to use them very sparsely because I know they can quickly cause addiction and lose effect from prolonged use, causing more problems.
Well, one day I woke up 5AM having a anxiety crisis. For those who aren't autistic, an autistic anxiety crisis is a neurological phenomena that is almost impossible to rationally control, even if you are aware of it. Think about it like when you drink beer: it doesn't matter if you know you are drunk and just want to get sober, the chemistry of your brain won't allow it. But, in this case, the brain is flooded with stimulus and thoughts to the point that the back of your head really hurts. It makes you want to not exist, rock your head back and forth, hurt yourself, etc. You can kinda control your actions, but not so much your feelings.
My first idea was to use benzodiazepines, but they were running low and I didn't want to medicate myself. However I noticed that the simple thought of my footed pajamas brought some relief to the symptoms. I have a pair of light blue one imprinted with teddy bears and white sleeves, very innocent looking. It wasn't cold that day, but I dressed it anyway and returned to bed. The moment I laid down, the symptoms almost immediately stopped, better then when I use meds. After some time I felt asleep and slept 3 more hours, waking up 9AM completely at peace, a peace of mind that I didn't experienced for months. Since then, every time I wake up in a similar state I dress my footed pajamas, to similar effects.
I'm writing this post to bring awareness of an aspect of "ABDL" ( I don't like this term) that is not that discussed: the therapeutic effects. I mean the real, medication-like or therapy session-like effects. Many times we focus on the "kink" and/or "quirk" aspect of it, which can lead to the "accept it or reject it" mindset. For some, lime me, this is a genuine tool to make me function better, live happier, even in vanilla activities. Our image could greatly benefit from bringing this topic more often to the discussions with the media/society. A tool that can help autistic (and other) people relive real life psychological symptoms would be 10x more accepted that "that kink of quirk that the person does because it wants to".
If you are reading this, because you found this post trying to understand a relative that is into ABDL, please take it in consideration. It can be a life changer for some.
Well, one day I woke up 5AM having a anxiety crisis. For those who aren't autistic, an autistic anxiety crisis is a neurological phenomena that is almost impossible to rationally control, even if you are aware of it. Think about it like when you drink beer: it doesn't matter if you know you are drunk and just want to get sober, the chemistry of your brain won't allow it. But, in this case, the brain is flooded with stimulus and thoughts to the point that the back of your head really hurts. It makes you want to not exist, rock your head back and forth, hurt yourself, etc. You can kinda control your actions, but not so much your feelings.
My first idea was to use benzodiazepines, but they were running low and I didn't want to medicate myself. However I noticed that the simple thought of my footed pajamas brought some relief to the symptoms. I have a pair of light blue one imprinted with teddy bears and white sleeves, very innocent looking. It wasn't cold that day, but I dressed it anyway and returned to bed. The moment I laid down, the symptoms almost immediately stopped, better then when I use meds. After some time I felt asleep and slept 3 more hours, waking up 9AM completely at peace, a peace of mind that I didn't experienced for months. Since then, every time I wake up in a similar state I dress my footed pajamas, to similar effects.
I'm writing this post to bring awareness of an aspect of "ABDL" ( I don't like this term) that is not that discussed: the therapeutic effects. I mean the real, medication-like or therapy session-like effects. Many times we focus on the "kink" and/or "quirk" aspect of it, which can lead to the "accept it or reject it" mindset. For some, lime me, this is a genuine tool to make me function better, live happier, even in vanilla activities. Our image could greatly benefit from bringing this topic more often to the discussions with the media/society. A tool that can help autistic (and other) people relive real life psychological symptoms would be 10x more accepted that "that kink of quirk that the person does because it wants to".
If you are reading this, because you found this post trying to understand a relative that is into ABDL, please take it in consideration. It can be a life changer for some.
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