Skip to main content Skip to bottom nav

Trouble Controlling My Emotions amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

User Profile: ScruffyTV1971
ScruffyTV1971 April 1st, 2020

Hello all,

I was diagnosed with PDD-NOS (which is on the autism spectrum) during my early childhood years. While I have worked with numerous therapists over the years to become a better person and overcome my difficulties, the unprecedented time of the Coronavirus outbreak has caused me to freak out, scream, and bang the floor, which disturbed the members of my immediate household. This is recidivism of my former habits before I received therapy. I screamed when I lost my job. My heart stopped when I could no longer hang out with friends, do my favorite outdoor activities, go to my favorite restaurants, or sing with my chorus. My dad had the sniffles last week and my reaction was to slam doors HARD. I totally lost it when I couldn't even spend time with a close friend outside playing frisbee. I understand that this is causing many people to panic and worry, but for someone on the spectrum like me, my reaction is 10 times worse. Why do I revert to these unacceptable habits? Why do I hurt my family with my emotional outbursts? Some things that help me occupy my time and keep me calm are my new job stocking shelves, sudokus, crossword puzzles, piano, walking around the neighborhood, family games, video games, and even grocery store shopping (which I don't normally care to do). Even with my seeingly extensive list of activities, I fear that this is not enough to keep me busy during the pandemic where there is little to do or look forward to. What can I do to control my emotions, keep myself occupied, and even help others during this crisis?

Any help would be appreciated. Sorry this was so long.

7
User Profile: loyalMelon3714
loyalMelon3714 April 1st, 2020

@ScruffyTV1971 Actually l have been having emotional outbursts and am stressing me and everyone around me. I think l should listen to music more and sing along to my favorite 80s love ballad songs, sit outside on the porch and spend a little bit time by myself and then some quality time with my boyfriend. Oh yeah, l live in a pch with 35 other people, Now 5hat we aren't allowed to go anywhere cuz of 5he coronavirus things are gonna get Interesting around here.

1 reply
User Profile: ScruffyTV1971
ScruffyTV1971 OP April 7th, 2020

@loyalMelon3714

Thanks for the reply, music definitely helps me out. Playing piano is a good hobby for me to complement the music I like to listen to. My favorite musc so far has been mashups of popular songs from different time periods mixed with the Sega Genesis or an NES 8-bit sound font. For example, if you go on youtube, and type in "Daft Punk Sega Genesis", you will find the "Up all night to get lucky" song but instead of its usual sound, it will sound like it's from a Sonic the Hedgehog game. It's wicked cool, and there's so much else like it. There's also this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0D4kvSYeGQ . There's actually an amiated video for this one.

And OMPG, 35 other people?!?!? Yikes. What do you mean by pch? Are you all in different rooms? Is it apartment-style living? And are you forced to change your living plans because of this? I hope you are safe....

load more