Can Someone Please Help Me

I am 18 years old. For my entire lige I have had problems socially, and it has gotten progressively worse with age. There are many things about my personality that never stuck out to me before, I just assumed this was simply how I was. My dad has been diagnosed with aspergers syndrome. Lately I've been very depressed because us of lack of understanding in regards to people, and I'm hoping maybe someone could help... Here are some of my problems.

~I simply don't understand what it is people want from me. I recently tried having a boyfriend and we got into an argument because I kept telling him to be more specific. He told me he was saying things plain as day. I didn't understand what he wanted from me.

~When people try to engage me in conversation I become very frightened because I never know what to say to them. I have no idea how to carry a conversation.

~I can't be on crowded public places, it's very stressful for me. For example the other day I was in my college algebra class trying really hard to focus on my work, bit everyone was talking or eating chips and I could just hear everything. I wanted to scream and cry, but instead I just left panicked. This is how I feel when I'm in public.

~I've found that often when I say something in class people will laugh at what I've said or the whole classroom will go silent, and I simply do not understand why. I'm trying really hard to understand what I'm doing that is so wrong to other people.

~Eye contact makes me uncomfortable... I'm not really sure how else to put that. It's not that I can't look at people, I just don't like to.

~I've been told that I lack empathy, and that I need to try to understand what other people are going through. I also struggle with talking to people when they are having a rough go around in life.

I do quite well in school, so I don't think I'm stupid, but I'm becoming very depressed that I don't have a lot of people in my life. My parents aren't around, and haven't been for some time, so I'm having to handle everything by myself and I'm not sure how to seek help, or if I even really need it.

Hello JayJay: I believe this is your first post here on PC. So... welcome to PsychCentral! I hope you find PC to be of benefit.

From my perspective, I think the answer here may be to seek the services of a counselor or mental health therapist with whom you can delve into what you are experiencing & how to remedy it. We here on PC cannot diagnose you. One other thing you could do, just to get started, is to take some of the quizzes offered by PsychCentral. Here's a link to a listing of the quizzes that are available:

Psychological Quizzes and Tests

And then here are links to some articles in the subject of how to find a good therapist:

How to Choose a Therapist and Other Questions about Psychotherapy

How Do You Find a Good Therapist? An Interview with Dr. John Grohol

How to Find the Best Therapist for You

How to Find a Therapist You Love

https://psychcentral.com/blog/10-way...ood-therapist/

https://psychcentral.com/find-therapist/

Continuing to read through & reply to the various posts here on PC may help too. My best wishes to you...

JayJay, since you are 18 can you get to a therapist. I would try to pick one who does a lot of work with Aspergers/ autism. You don't say whether you are in high school or college. If you are in college or headed there next month, there are usually student counseling services available. If there is no one there who works with autism, ask for a referral to someone. They should easily be able to provide that. Please keep posting and let us know what is happening for you.

I am actually still in high school and I live in a very small town, so I'm having issues finding a therapist who accepts Medicaid. Thank you for the reply by the way!