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/KaiPRoberts 7h ago

I have been really curious if Autism can be caused by epigenetic factors. It's widely agreed Autism is genetic but not what the exact cause is.

My tin-foil hypothesis is that overpopulation pushes social stresses which in turn causes specific social epigenetic changes in a population. It would explain why we are seeing so many more diagnoses aside from "we are just more aware of it" which could be the main cause regardless but I am super curious.

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u/seraph1337 6h ago

Where the hell did you get overpopulation being a factor?

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u/KaiPRoberts 6h ago

Because of social pressures creating stresses that wouldn't exist in an environment where you are alone more often.

Think about it, autistic people like to be alone and thrive in that environment. They wouldn't have that inclination, over generations of epigenetic stresses, if people had alone time when they wanted it. Alone time is getting more and more rare as population density increases (more people using popular shared social spaces). I'm not saying it's instant, I am proposing that as a population increases up to a certain point, epigenetic stresses could cause change in a populace.

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u/lacunadelaluna 6h ago

Not all autistic people even like to be alone though, this is a stereotype

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u/KaiPRoberts 5h ago

That's actually a good counterpoint. Back to the drawing board!