Stress-Related Psychosis in Autism

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TRIGGER WARNING ABUSE

So I had a very abusive and neglected childhood. I had multiple highly traumatic experiences, and broke in and out of psychosis. After getting control of my life, my psychotic episodes have gone away. My last bit of psychosis was after 55 hours of sleep deprivation during a manic episode, which I think it a totally acceptable situation to lose your head.

I told my psych today about the hallucinations I had at my worst and I feel like it was a bad idea because he seems to think I'm a bomb waiting to go off. Now I just know that they're going to ask me to go on Anti-Psych meds, and I feel terrible...

Mostly because I'm almost certain that my psychosis was a result of the severe abuse I was facing at the time. I was wondering if anyone else here with autism has experienced stress related psychosis, and how you determined it was a reaction, rather than a chronic condition.

I do, every aniversary of my trauma and I never took any antipsychotics because of this.

Ok, first, they can suggest, they can't make you do anything.

I agree, although, perhaps, psychotic episode may be a bit harsh...in our sense? How do I put this? Some days my brain gets "loud", that, to me is a warning to some effect as this.... My brain gets "loud, it's just something I sense, know, feel, something that tells me it is amiss, if I am not careful. I don't always hear it, sense it. Being over tired? My god, freakin set me up? That to me would be like setting myself up, in my old days, for the magic carpet ride. ( sleep isn't always easy, I hear you before you said it) Also, sometimes I went for the rush, depended on it, if I had something "working in my head". That is sort of 'normal'.

What happened in my early 20's was very very intense..huge differance. That was striaght out of hell and it got so bad I liked it and thought it normal. Ptsd kicked it in the ass, over drive, ain't life grand? Nip it in the bud, get a handle on what is going on. Might not be able to fix it, try, but at least understrand wtf is comin round. It ain't really that hard, just a little common sense goes a long ways.

As my stress has gone down, and it has taken years, I feel the differance. What a huge relief.

PTSD is real, you don't state what it is and it is of no never mind here. The question is, how long ago did it happen, and hence, can it be remotely fixed and this is the bad part, as much as we are learning about it, the best part still seems to be we know what and why it is and not much damn fix, however, look into it!! The earlier still seems the better.

I'm sure what I wrote was more cryptic then what I meant it to be, sorry. No damn spell check and... other factors ;p

I think I'm developing catatonia in response to stress....because it happens after stressful episodes.
I also have OCD from traumatic situations at home, which has an element of psychosis in it....

Psychosis can be part of abuse in my opinion. I was mildly that way during the abuse...and you can't tell me that my OCD isn't a reaction to that abuse and isn't a bit psychotic - there definitely are delusions there.

I had one therapist tell me I was struggling with PTSD, because even though my life was never in sudden danger, it was always on the edge of a catastrophe.

Not sure I'm making sense or answering your question, but I do agree with you.

Yes, there are at least two types of PTSD. Both very real.

Just because you have stress doesn't mean it is PTSD, however, if you have another condition where stress sets that off, I think, it can multiply stuff. I used to be non-functioning, or at worse*, functioned very badly in "normal", terms when the stress hit and it really didn't take much. As an added, a life time of this repeated stuff, just snowballed. It really takes a hell of a vacation to get a handle on that and I for one, have never understood the concept of a vacation to begin with. I mean how does one ever really escape from one self? I am finally closer to that and feeling better and this may go against the grain of thought, but by god, some of it just took getting away from the "education" I had gotten at over 16 years of trying meds that did not work and the feeling of constant, I need to know what to say next to the freakin shrinks at the next get together. Thank god I finally ended it, I feel better then I ever have and aiming for better. But, I am lucky in the sense, my first shrink got me 100% disabled and it went through, no problem, first time.

No way am I anti meds, for some it will save their lives. I have no doubt, none. Over 16 years at meds had bad results, and some fabled great, but brief for me, and some good to poor, some way worse then what it was trying to fix. No easy road, not for the faint of heart, ever. You will know who you are by how you feel. If you don't yet, chances are you ok, you'll know the real pits when you see them. The real question will be, can you move to get real help when you're in the middle of the pit of hell. Remember this, the pit can be a friend, odd as it sounds, it is your friend because, after a while, it's all you know. Hard to move from a comfort zone, yes? Move now, please.


* Lol, I was rereading my post and yes, that is correct. "at worse, functioned very badly in "normal" terms".... That's when I ran into real life s**t. When I was more or less non-functioning, the world had a way of building up future hurt, but... I didn't move much. When I was "functioning badly", god damn could I get myself into a world of hurt fast and I did and often for a long time and had no idea why I did it. Some was actually fun and I have good memories from it, but it ain't no way to go about life, not if you expect to get by the ripe old age of 18, and I never thought I would. Freakin hell, I'm 62 and have no idea why. The good die young?