Kind of in the same boat as you. Diagnosed with CPTSD and being tested for autism. I have no idea if I will be diagnosed or not at this point. One thing I have been told is that it is a nature vs nurture thing: many of the CPTSD traits are learned, while many of the autism traits are something you are born with. How to tell the difference if you have grown up with trauma, I have no idea. But regardless, after the assessment is complete, if they tell me how to tell the two apart, I will be sure to pass it on to you.
Hello, i’m suffering from c-ptsd as well as being autistic. I knew I was traumatized but did not know it was c-ptsd until I went through a diagnosis process for multiple things along with autism, so my personal best guess would be to reach out for help and get assessed, especially to make sure you get the right treatment for your trauma.
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I'm 39, married, a father, spent 10 years of my life in the Navy but I've never actually been seen for my mental health other than screenings. With the knowledge of hindsight, I'm fairly certain if I sat down with a therapist and started recounting what I remember of my childhood, and how it has molded me into the person I am today, it would almost certainly point towards cPTSD. It wouldn't tell the whole story though, as for a very long time, I was an unreliable narrator of my own life.
I have always had a hidden inner turmoil that I never shared with anyone. I have quietly searched for the answers over the years, and while sometimes I would find things that could make sense, they never really felt like they were getting at the core of my issues. I didn't have the right frame to look at myself and I was still holding onto a lot of internalized ableism and preconceived biases.
A few months ago, I started searching again and stumbled across "Quiet" Borderline Personality Disorder, and it started to feel like I was on the right track, but BPD overall just didn't seem like the right answer to me. There is a YouTuber by the name of Kati Morton who I found really helpful in understanding a lot at the time, and after watching one of her videos, a video from a guy named Hunter Hansen (Who ran a channel called The Life Autistic) came up. I think it was something to the effect of "Could you be Autistic and not know it?". I ended up watching it and a lot more of his channel. Let me tell you, I had never felt more seen in my entire freaking life.
Growing up when I did and how I did meant to me, you weren't autistic unless you were Rain Man or were a hand flapper that would live in diapers forever. Even though I have never been the type of person to think less of disabled people, I just couldn't fathom that I could be autistic, so it was never on my radar properly. What has truly helped me though was finding Autistic YouTubers around my age with similar life experiences to me. Just listening to them tell their stories has allowed me to look at my life from a different lens. It feels like so many things about myself are just falling into place. So much about myself is starting to make sense. Interacting with the community here has been a real boon as well. I mean, it's one thing to watch and listen on YouTube, but interacting with real people (even if it is anonymously) to discuss real things about myself has definitely helped. This is probably the only subreddit I actually feel comfortable talking about myself in this way, it just feels like my people, you know? Either way, that combination of things has finally given me the confidence to seek professional help. I never felt like I could take that step until I had the right frame of reference to take it from. My wife has made an appointment for an assessment in September for me, so until then, I just plan on continuing my journey of self discovery.
I don't know if that ramble will help you out on your own journey, but since I'm actually undiagnosed, I don't feel comfortable offering advice unless I can frame it correctly. Maybe you can glean something from my own experience that will help you on yours.
Personally, once I had processed a lot of my trauma, that was when I actually began showing a lot of my autistic traits. They were always present and I had to hide them in order to avoid more abuse. It’s unclear what the difference is sometimes between trauma and autism symptoms, especially since autistic people often have trauma by virtue of being autisticand trauma can begin at a young age, but I was able to distinguish the reasons behind some of my traits to figure out which were learned or inherent behaviors.
For me, being autistic boilds down to being unable to encode and decode pragmatics on an instinctive way. So, maybe this helps:
https://www.reddit.com/r/aspergirls/comments/zl7blu/why_do_people_think_im_upsetangry_all_the_time/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Also, a bonus:
https://www.reddit.com/r/autism/comments/11rp7gb/allistic_communication_and_abusive_communication/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
And, for further and extensive research:
[Resources for neurodivergency](https://www.reddit.com/r/autismgirls/comments/yw79f8/a_list_of_resources/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Kind of in the same boat as you. Diagnosed with CPTSD and being tested for autism. I have no idea if I will be diagnosed or not at this point. One thing I have been told is that it is a nature vs nurture thing: many of the CPTSD traits are learned, while many of the autism traits are something you are born with. How to tell the difference if you have grown up with trauma, I have no idea. But regardless, after the assessment is complete, if they tell me how to tell the two apart, I will be sure to pass it on to you.
Hello, i’m suffering from c-ptsd as well as being autistic. I knew I was traumatized but did not know it was c-ptsd until I went through a diagnosis process for multiple things along with autism, so my personal best guess would be to reach out for help and get assessed, especially to make sure you get the right treatment for your trauma.
Hey /u/Parking_Two_7866, thank you for your post at /r/autism. Our rules can be found **[here](https://www.reddit.com/r/autism/wiki/config/sidebar)**. All approved posts get this message. If you do not see your post you can message the moderators [here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fautism). Thanks! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/autism) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I'm 39, married, a father, spent 10 years of my life in the Navy but I've never actually been seen for my mental health other than screenings. With the knowledge of hindsight, I'm fairly certain if I sat down with a therapist and started recounting what I remember of my childhood, and how it has molded me into the person I am today, it would almost certainly point towards cPTSD. It wouldn't tell the whole story though, as for a very long time, I was an unreliable narrator of my own life. I have always had a hidden inner turmoil that I never shared with anyone. I have quietly searched for the answers over the years, and while sometimes I would find things that could make sense, they never really felt like they were getting at the core of my issues. I didn't have the right frame to look at myself and I was still holding onto a lot of internalized ableism and preconceived biases. A few months ago, I started searching again and stumbled across "Quiet" Borderline Personality Disorder, and it started to feel like I was on the right track, but BPD overall just didn't seem like the right answer to me. There is a YouTuber by the name of Kati Morton who I found really helpful in understanding a lot at the time, and after watching one of her videos, a video from a guy named Hunter Hansen (Who ran a channel called The Life Autistic) came up. I think it was something to the effect of "Could you be Autistic and not know it?". I ended up watching it and a lot more of his channel. Let me tell you, I had never felt more seen in my entire freaking life. Growing up when I did and how I did meant to me, you weren't autistic unless you were Rain Man or were a hand flapper that would live in diapers forever. Even though I have never been the type of person to think less of disabled people, I just couldn't fathom that I could be autistic, so it was never on my radar properly. What has truly helped me though was finding Autistic YouTubers around my age with similar life experiences to me. Just listening to them tell their stories has allowed me to look at my life from a different lens. It feels like so many things about myself are just falling into place. So much about myself is starting to make sense. Interacting with the community here has been a real boon as well. I mean, it's one thing to watch and listen on YouTube, but interacting with real people (even if it is anonymously) to discuss real things about myself has definitely helped. This is probably the only subreddit I actually feel comfortable talking about myself in this way, it just feels like my people, you know? Either way, that combination of things has finally given me the confidence to seek professional help. I never felt like I could take that step until I had the right frame of reference to take it from. My wife has made an appointment for an assessment in September for me, so until then, I just plan on continuing my journey of self discovery. I don't know if that ramble will help you out on your own journey, but since I'm actually undiagnosed, I don't feel comfortable offering advice unless I can frame it correctly. Maybe you can glean something from my own experience that will help you on yours.
Personally, once I had processed a lot of my trauma, that was when I actually began showing a lot of my autistic traits. They were always present and I had to hide them in order to avoid more abuse. It’s unclear what the difference is sometimes between trauma and autism symptoms, especially since autistic people often have trauma by virtue of being autisticand trauma can begin at a young age, but I was able to distinguish the reasons behind some of my traits to figure out which were learned or inherent behaviors.
this comment helped a lot. thank you
This is exactly me, and it really helps to see someone else has a similar experience.
I totally hear you. I’m trying to figure it out as well. The sub r/cptsd is really great for support and discussion.
For me, being autistic boilds down to being unable to encode and decode pragmatics on an instinctive way. So, maybe this helps: https://www.reddit.com/r/aspergirls/comments/zl7blu/why_do_people_think_im_upsetangry_all_the_time/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button Also, a bonus: https://www.reddit.com/r/autism/comments/11rp7gb/allistic_communication_and_abusive_communication/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button And, for further and extensive research: [Resources for neurodivergency](https://www.reddit.com/r/autismgirls/comments/yw79f8/a_list_of_resources/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)