Hello fellow Aspies, my name is Mike. I've been struggling with severe anxieties since I was 14 years old, and that's only the tip of the iceberg. It was sparked by a really bad bout of bronchitis; it started with just health anxieties, but it just kept on multiplying into so many others, and it's just been ruining my life. A lot. It prevents me from fully enjoying life and it ruins my relationships with people. I've never been able to manage it on my own, and I tried. My parents grew more and more desperate, just not knowing what to do. It led to many quarrels and arguments because I always just cycle over these anxious thoughts over and over again, seeking reassurance and never believing anyone when they try their best to calm me down. I get all sorts of intrusive thoughts entering my mind, each and every day. This is only the tip of the iceberg. My entire life I've had trouble controlling my emotions, and this was way before the bronchitis. I tend to have impulsive outbursts of anger and end up hurting the feelings of the people I love. I've also had terrible social skills from the very start, very few friends and just keep feeling lonely all the time. I tend to drive people crazy with my anxieties, outbursts, and lack of social skills and I just push everyone away. I'm also extremely immature for my age, but that's actually fine with many folks. I also suffer from low self-esteem, which can get to the point of self-hatred much of the time. Anyway this is only an intro so I won't get into too much detail just yet. After being unable to fight these inner demons and letting them ruin my relationships with people I decided to see a psychologist. That psychologist has been teaching how to manage my anxious thoughts - the anxieties are the dominant topic of discussion that I have with him, but I let him know about everything else. He thinks I have Asperger's but hasn't officially diagnosed me yet - for that I'd need to see a specialist. This man recommended that I join an online Aspie community, so here I am. I'm thinking about posting in the forums and using the online chat, and I believe being a member of AspiesCentral will help me better manage my inner demons, in addition to weekly sessions with my psychologists. I just joined this site today and am eager to get things up and running. I'm really tired of living this life, and people always tell me that I'm a good guy - without me asking them to. I don't think I've even known anyone with Asperger's, but again I never had a lot of friends and oftentimes I'd be lonely for years. So guys, I'm very eager to participate on here and get more insight on my struggles.