JMS Wellbeing Centre

30/10/2026

This is relevant to what Ive witnessed in my personal experience as an autistic person, and my professional experience as a psychotherapist who has experience of working with autistic people and neurotypical people.
What I’ve seen is that when you experience things like monotropism, black and white thinking, which can become good versus bad thinking, rumination, perseveration, moral OCD or OCD like thinking tendencies, there seems to be an increased likelihood of also struggling with this. I think masking comes into it too. I truly believe most people mask (configurations of self) but for some autistic people, being less themselves can feel like they are lying and they may struggle with that. The cost can be higher because of our sensitivities to the the things we feel, including the systems we build and live by.
Super complex to fit into a video but I’m talking about the increased tendency to struggle in this way if your personal profile on the autistic spectrum happens to land in this way and why this might be particularly difficult for some of us.

28/10/2026

28/10/2026

Lonely for depth

27/10/2026

Sunday started as a normal day. There was a storm but nothing many people haven’t navigated before. We went out to buy birthday presents for my stepdaughter. While we were out, our neighbour rang to say a tree was coming down towards our vehicles.

We got home as quick as we could to a tree completely engulfing our family car and my husband’s work vehicle.Suddenly we’re dealing with damage, insurance, potential financial consequences and questions nobody can fully answer yet. Its been so stressful that I’ve come out in a stress rash.

And in the middle of it, I’ve been practising something I talk about a lot.

Happiness is my job. It isn’t my brain’s job, my brain’s job is survival.

Over time, I’ve set rules inside myself about what I believe about me and what I live by. I’m allowed to feel what I feel. I’m allowed to be upset. I’m allowed to be stressed. And I am capable of getting through hard things. My life has given me plenty of evidence of that.

This is stressful right now, it might not let up yet but it won’t be stressful forever. My brain can and does give me every possible worst case scenario. But I can also deliberately give my attention to what has gone right. The kindness of people we know and strangers. The things I still have.

I’ve also reminded myself of the burnt toast theory. Thank god it hadn’t fallen towards my neighbour’s house. Or what if somebody had been underneath it? We might have a financial dilemma ahead. But people are not replaceable. Things are.

I can be stressed about the vehicles and still enjoy a cuddle with my cats. Worried about money and still notice something good in my day.
My deeply monotropic autistic brain can get stuck on worst case scenarios and what ifs. So I have to actively counter it or it consumes me and my mental health. Still waking up and practising gratitude. What has gone right today. What I can appreciate, and truly feeling it.

That’s what I mean when I say happiness is my job.

I’m allowed to feel the hard stuff. I’m also allowed to make room for the good stuff so it doesn’t become my evidence for everything I see and experience.

I hope this helps someone ❤️

27/10/2026

3 things you need to hear when you’ve spent your life hiding your struggles

26/10/2026

5 weirdly specific ways
black and white thinking hides behind perfectionism

24/10/2026

5 weirdly specific signs
you experience viseral/emotional empathy but may struggle with cognitive empathy


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23/10/2026

5 weirdly specific signs
that you became someones
manic pixie dream girl

22/10/2026

The autism superpower debate often misses our individual profiles, circumstances and support. For me, the same attention that takes me deeply into painting can hold me in something painful. For someone else, the biggest impact might be sensory sensitivities, processing differences or social struggles. Money, accommodations and practical support can make a huge difference to what someone gets to experience as a strength. There’s also value in noticing where our traits help, where they hurt, and what our attention is amplifying.

21/10/2026

Video 2 on just how many ways monotropism shows up. When that’s unfair takes over your entire autistic brain