Feeling Claustrophobic and Uptight at Work

The things you're describing sound a lot like how ASD would affect a person, rather than OCD. But all of this is worth discussing with a professional therapist (if you haven't already). In regards to the workplace situation, I think there are 2 things that will have to happen - First is your communication with the supervisor about your feelings. Some of the things you might say could be: - having someone do the same job as me at the same time can get overwhelming, and makes me work less productively - I tend to feel claustrophobic with someone working that closely to me and I've noticed it makes me irritable - If you feel comfortable, you could discuss ASD and how it affects your work. This would open the door for you to request specific accommodations that could help you feel more comfortable in your work environment. Some acc.s I would ask for might be a chance to explain your system to the coworker so they follow it with you, instead of doing their own thing; if possible you each do 1 half of the decorating tasks (you do the 1st half, they finish the 2nd half) so you still have a separate task that is yours and you aren't worrying about someone else doing it for you; anything that might help you relax if you start to get agitated like just taking a 5 minute cool-down every so often. The supervisor is not required to provide any acc.s, but you can negotiate with them if you have some specific ideas that could help you. Now the second thing! I genuinely think this is not a bad workplace environment. The people you work with don't seem to understand the things that cause you stress, but that is going to fall on you to be clear about what is bothering you and what they can do instead. HOWEVER, I think you are going to need to be open to a level of compromise here. At the end of the day, if the boss says to do something, that's what we need to do right? 😒 so even though this partnering situation is not something you want, at least for now it's something you'll need to cope with. Acknowledge that you have tried to get them to meet your expectations, but in the end they get the final say on whether you will work alone or not. Again, I'd recommend asking for some specific alternatives to your current setting (even if you don't bring up ASD or accommodations). Things that will make BOTH you and the supervisor happy. It might also help to psych yourself up a little bit 🤷🏻‍♀️ if we fake a smile for long enough it can change our mood entirely, so let's use that to your advantage! Before these shifts, tell yourself that you are going to enjoy it because it means less stress for you (even if NONE of that is true 😂). Tell yourself it will be fun to work with someone or that it will be fun to teach someone what you know. It doesn't have to be how you really feel, but putting yourself in a good mood before work can easily help you keep that anxiety down. Good luck with this and don't let a difficult situation turn you away from a job you really do enjoy!