Duncan Ainsworth
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Stories (17)
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Life on the Autistic Spectrum
My name is Duncan Ainsworth, I'm 29, and I have Asperger's Syndrome. I was first diagnosed with Asperger's as a teenager, as my parents particularly felt that a Dyspraxia diagnosis, didn't quite cover all of my unusual quirks and my lack of social skills.
By Duncan Ainsworth6 years ago in Psyche
Photography as a Hobby
About seven years ago I started taking photos using a Bridge Camera, something of an in-between a point and shoot camera and a fancy DSLR camera. I thought I could do with a creative outlet and photography came easy-ish to me. It didn't feel like a major effort to teach myself the basics; it's all I needed to know really. I knew I was never going to be a professional or full-time photographer. I wanted to have some fun and see where it took me. I have had fun learning how to use cameras and how to shoot the best shots that I can. Today I’ll be writing about my experiences as a hobby photographer, things that I’ve learnt, and things I want to try.
By Duncan Ainsworth8 years ago in Photography
Video Games and Depression
I've been enjoying video games in some form or another for almost two decades, but more prevalently since I bought an Xbox 360 in 2007. What started out as an occasional hobby became something that I love doing, a place where I made friends and somewhere to distract me from suicidal thoughts and to make me feel happy. They are something I can do to focus on something other than how I feel; they can make you feel so many different things over the course of a story. They also allow you to go places you wouldn’t ordinarily go, places you wouldn’t imagine, both real and fictional.
By Duncan Ainsworth8 years ago in Psyche
Describing Depression
This picture is of me (on the far left) and my siblings at a family wedding in October 2017. What you won't necessarily be able to tell but will have probably guessed from the time of this post is that I have depression. I was diagnosed with depression at the end of May 2012, about 3 months before I was due to go to university. I was on a college course, not failing, but not meeting my expected grades either, although that statement probably underestimates how badly I was doing within myself. That particular episode was not the worst depressive episode I've had, those came later, but I was far from alright. I now feel it is important to discuss mental health openly, particularly for men and men my age, as suicide is a highly prevalent problem for my age (mid to late 20s).
By Duncan Ainsworth8 years ago in Psyche
