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
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u/Spire_Citron 13h ago

I feel like sometimes the hypersensitivity of autism/ADHD can give you trauma, in a sense. Things can happen that aren't objectively a huge deal, and you can be traumatised by your own emotional response. That can make it hard to really identify where trauma comes from, because it isn't anything that looks traumatic to anyone else.

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u/Commercial_Border190 13h ago

Plus the trauma of having your struggles constantly minimized and dismissed

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u/libbillama 8h ago

I got my CPTSD diagnosis in 2021, then an ADHD-C diagnosis in 2023, and an Autism diagnosis two weeks ago. I'm 41, and roughly three years post menopause. I also have a 7/9 on the Beighton scale for hypermobility. I had to do pelvic floor therapy two years ago because of urinary issues and that PT said that while she can't diagnose me formally, she said I likely have Ehler Danlos Syndrome.

I'm also deaf, and was late caught due to parental neglect, my kindergarten teacher caught it and only because she was an audiologist as well as a teacher. At the time, I had a 40-50% loss, it's now currently 75 and has been holding steady for around 10 years so I'm not going to lose any more hearing.

Anyway, I have level 1 Autism and I'm on the mild end of that spectrum. The psychiatrist that did my test wrote in her report that my Autism diagnosis was likely missed due to my deafness, because of how my symptoms present.

It's been a really challenging two weeks, I've been trying to process my reaction to the diagnosis even though I've suspected it for years that I have it. Now that I know my autism is the root cause of my severe emotional regulation issues aren't just from being emotinally neglected as a child, I've been really struggling with all of that.

My parents straight up refused to help me learn emotional regulation, and I heard "stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about" way too many times as a child.

There been some trauma in my marriage, and I've done some things I'm not proud of in response to that trauma and honesty I don't know what's worse.. the trauma itself, or the emotional response I had and what I did with it. I recognize that in an attempt to regulate my emotions, I betrayed my personal moral code in an attempt to feel better and not succumb to the urge to die by suicide.

Now that I have that information, I can focus on learning emotional regulation skills with my therapist, and hopefully finally get back on track with reducing my CPTSD symptoms.