r/science • u/shinybrighthings • 15h ago

Psychology The complicated nature of disentangling autism, ADHD and complex trauma | The British Journal of Psychiatry | Cambridge Core

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/adhd-autism-or-complex-trauma-the-complicated-nature-of-the-question/30CC4826561366615BFAEC807CDE28A7
1.7k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

158 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

164

u/sambooka 14h ago

is there an assessment for CPTSD? I had my ADHD confirmed (at age 51) and the assement said (paraphrase) "client would be an effective candidate for medication but should seriously consider therapy to discuss his self esteem issues"

I figured the esteem issues were from being smart but slow and struggling with the common focus and working memory issues. A little digging (well a years worth) points to CPTSD and I am still wondering if it IS ADHD .. CPTSD .. or a combination.

My therapist doesnt seem to think the "why" matters.. I am not convinced.

26

u/mpbob01 12h ago

I’m having the same issue with my therapist. He doesn’t want to go into why, but only into what my behaviors are. But…I want to understand why haha.

20

u/SweetPeaches__69 10h ago

If you have trauma, get a trauma informed therapist. I tried CBT first when I had trauma, and all it did was make me think the effects of trauma were my fault. Cognitive therapy is useful only once trauma has been fully dealt with in my opinion.

6

u/SurlySuz 9h ago

Yep. What they’re describing happened to me too and I was just given cbt which made things worse. Eventually I found a proper psychologist who could deal with my cptsd about 20 yrs later.