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autistic+struggling to deal with not feeling valued by friends

Giggyy
Community Member

hi, I have autism and I find it really hard to understand the limits of friendships and how they work, as such i am quite clueless and naive in relationships and have been taken advantage of for laughs because of this when i was younger. I am very sensitive to rejection and find it catastrophic mentally, it makes me feel like they never truly cared about me in the first place and that i was tricked. I rationally know that sometimes people cancel because something unexpected happened, however after a situation (a long time ago) where i was lied to by someone repeatedly so that they could purposefully avoid spending time with me i am hypersensitive to rejection. How can I break this thought spiral and believe that my friends actually like me (i believe that they probably do (they're very nice), but my brain tells me otherwise)? i enjoy spending time with them but I can't get close due to this irrational fear, it makes me feel lonely even though i have friends 😞

any advice is appreciated, thx

1 Reply 1

Matchy69
Blue Voices Member
Blue Voices Member

Hi Giggyy and welcome to the forums.I to have Autism and so does my 18y.o daughter and 10 y.o son.I understand what you say about friends and trusting them and if they really like you.I remember when I was in school that people use to pretend to like me and be my friend but only to be the butt of their jokes.Their are genuine people out there who will except you for who you are.I think trusting people and knowing that you are a good kind person and that real friends will see this and except you for who you are.You will trust these genuine people in time.