Mental Health
Welcome!
This is a safe place to discuss, vent, support, and share information about mental health, illness, and wellness.
Thank you for being here. We appreciate who you are today. Please show respect and empathy when making or replying to posts.
The rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:
Rules
1-Posts promoting paid products and services of any kind are not allowed here.
2-All posts and comments must be helpful and supportive. Do not put vulnerable people at risk.
3-Do not DM or ask to speak privately to any of our members unless they specifically request it.
If a person from this community disturbs you in a comment, please report the comment. If you receive a DM you did not request, send a screenshot of the DM in a message to a moderator. This is a bannable offense.
4-Suicide, Self-Harm, Death-- Extended discussions are STRONGLY DISCOURAGED here. First, mods and community members are caring people, but not experts in crisis situations. Second, we want to avoid Lemmy becoming like many commercial social media platforms, where comments can snowball into counterproductive talk.
If you or someone you know needs more help than can be found here, please refer to the pinned resources.
If BRIEF mention of these topics is an important part of your post, please flag your post as NSFW and include a (trigger warning: suicide, self-harm, death, etc.)in the title so that other readers who may feel triggered can avoid it. Please also include a trigger warning on all comments mentioning these topics in a post that was not already tagged as such.
Partner Communities
- Therapy
Neurodegenerative Disease Support
Friends and Family of People with Addiction
To partner with our community and be included here, you are free to message the current moderators or comment on our pinned post.
Community Moderation
Some moderators are mental health professionals and some are not. All are carefully selected by the moderation team and will be actively monitoring posts and comments. If you are interested in joining the team, you can send a message to ZenGrammy for more information.
view the rest of the comments
I think I where unemployed so much because I used to be so insecure thinking things like "I have nothing to give this company" I acted like I was sorry for breathing the same air as others and I've been scared to say my wants and needs or almost anything at all because I never knew when I would be scolded. (it's a bit more complex than that, but that's a story for another time)
So I've always agreed to those around me and followed along.
But not anymore, after I moved away from home and later got my autism diagnosis, I'm much much better at everything tbh.
I am a frontend dev now, previously I was an electrician (never got a job as that) and a forklift driver, I do have some experience with that.
I like to think my softskills are fairy good but it might take some more time for a NT to see them as I express them in a different way and usually not as obvious. I think.
People don't often give clear answers when asking about these things.
I've been thinking about asking to have the interview (or part of it) outside their office, like, if we take a walk or something just to get out of that stiff and understimulating room.
Oh cool ok, so we're in a similar area of work and it's great that you've got a diagnosis and that it's been positive. Autism was pretty prevalent within my previous team, my best developers happened to be somewhere on that spectrum. I suspect it was more on the end of what used to be called Asperger's. Those individuals' ability to apply logic and learn/focus deeply, hugely outweighed any social inhibitions or accommodations we needed to make.
My tactic for the last 5 or so years has been to appear to care a bit less. I overprepare to give myself confidence, but I've noticed a pattern - the more relaxed I appear, the more successful I am. Probably not helpful advice because it's easier said than done, but I do suffer with high anxiety, and worrying more just causes me to worry more.
Being up-front about your communication style helps. I've had people start an interview by saying they're nervous, and that's visibly helped them to relax. I've had others tell me they can come across as blunt, and that's good to know, and wasn't off-putting.
Asking for the accommodation of getting out of the office would come across well to me. It says you know yourself, you're confident enough to ask, and it's only a request - they can say no (though that also serves as a good measure of how accommodating they will be).
Autism now a day has 3 levels which are used to describe how much support one needs afaik. level 1 is no or little support, which is where Aspergers is. Levels 2 and 3 require a lot of support, idk much about the levels tho.
I've noticed that too, when I don't take it as seriously I'm also more relaxed and that makes me do better.
It's really hard to not care about something important, I kinda feel like I'm going to be dead before the year ends if I don't manage to get a job. It's not true of course, but that's how important it feels.
I like to say I'm nervous too.
I'm not sure how to describe my communication style, I'll have to read about that! ^_^
That's comforting to hear, do you think I should ask before the interview, at the beginning, or both?
I wouldn't be surprised if I fell into that first level, I've spent much of my life trying to decode what people actually mean.
It's slightly risky asking for moderate accomodations, so I might not try it for the first time on a job I desperately wanted, and an agency or small place is more likely to agree than a big corporate. I'd ask them beforehand, I think it would be too awkward and unexpected if suggested during the actual interview.
I'd make it a casual request by email when the interview date is confirmed. E.g. "I sometimes find interviews stressful, would you be open to visiting a local cafe? I completely understand if that's not possible". It could be worded better, but I wouldn't be put off by that. Coffee interviews are a thing, and I like them - I get to expense a nice coffee! I'd pick a quiet place with good seating.
However, unless you do find it hard to be in an office at all, I'd want to make it clear during the interview that I'm normally fine with offices, so they don't get the wrong impression (that you'll refuse to work in an office) and I also wouldn't dwell on it. They've made an accomodation, so they'll expect you to be more relaxed. If you're still visibly stressed, that might be a red flag.
Anyway, I'm rambling now, but I do feel for you, it's very stressful.
ooh yeah, it is a bit risky, and I don't even know for sure if it will help with the stress. I think I would fit better in a smaller office where they have a bit more freedom.
I don't mind offices in themselves, it's more that interview thing that makes me super nervous.
Thank you so much for all the input! 💕