Nurture vs nature

Post Reply New Topic

Okay so as a disclaimor to this I would like to say that I was abused quite a bit by not only people at school but my family as well.

The thing is I have horrible fear of other people hurting me when I am out in public. To the point where I rarely let peope be behind me and such.

My question is, is it common for people with asperger's to be afraid of people unjustly or does it more have to do with my abuse?

Hypervigilance - what you're describing - is a possible symptom of PTSD, which you can get from long-term abuse.

I never really thought of that. Thank you. I just found out about AS and since so many symptoms that I have match the criteria, I am just trying to sort stuff out so I can get help for things that can be helped. My anxiety level is getting out of control these days.

I also suffered a lot of abuse as a child, and, like you, I have symptoms that are clearly related to Asperger's, symptoms that are clearly related to my past history of abuse (such as being hyper-vigilant and having violent tendencies), and others that could be a mix of both influences.

I would recommend finding a counselor or therapist in your area, preferably one with past experience dealing with Asperger's, who can help you improve the areas of your life you currently feel are suffering due to your behaviour. They would be the best equipped at helping you trace these issues you're having back to their specific sources.

That is sort of my plan except I have this huge gapping hole that I can't get insurance and obviously cannot pay for this stuff myself.

One thing to be aware of is that there's a lot of symptom overlap between PTSD and AS, especially for those who develop it as children. I've even found threads by people with PTSD talking about stimming and social difficulties. It also mimics a lot of the features of ADHD.

This doesn't mean you can't or don't have both, just something to know.

I am scared of having people behind me because I'm afraid they will touch me and I can't keep track of them. That would be AS, not PTSD. If you think they will actually harm you I'd think it from prior abuse.