Autism And Possible Post Traumatic Stress

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I have recently been diagnosed as an adult with Aspergers and have been verbally abused for it through out most of life. Sometimes when I go to do things I become very anxious and discouraged if they are related to minor mistakes I've made because of my condition. I was also yelled at for not behaving properly in social situations, and I grew up in isolation without understanding why. Before my DX I had clinical depression and suicidal thoughts related to the abuse and my AS. I'm off meds right now and I'm no longer depressed but I think I may have Post traumatic stress from my family's poor understanding and ill treatment towards me before the DX. My mother would never admit that she was abusive but my close friends and co-workers have told me to move out and stay away from her. I live with my parents because I'm technically saving for College but the reality is that I have too much difficulty looking after myself and I need help and reminders from other people to do things that need to be done to maintain certain aspects of daily life. I'm getting some form of help with this from my doctor but she told me only 10 percent of people who are like me on the spectrum can successfully live on they're own. With the stress around my parents it's hard to live at home and I would like to move out, but right now my doctor and I think it's not a good idea. Should I be seeking help for possible Post traumatic stress? Has anyone else been in this kind of situation before?

I seriously question that figure. I think most people at the higher end of the 'spectrum' can manage living by themselves. Its maintaining a steady source of income that's the tricky part.


As far as PTSD goes, I don't think there's any 'post' to it - Having Autism means living with stress pretty much constantly.

I live on my own but the local medical clinic authorized Meals On Wheels and a woman comes weekly for 4 hours to help me. I live on a disability pension that began with General Depression and eventually PTSD and AS were added. Doctors are not much use in these matters - can you speak to a social worker? Sometimes hospitals have 'community resources' - that would be the sort of place where they know what's available.

As for families, I can't get far enough away from mine.

Keep in touch and let us know how you go.

Dear person,

I know exactly what you mean. I was dx at 36 and many years of severe trauma under my belt. I will not go into it now, but you can PM me if you like.

All I can say is that I "divorced" my mother for 10 years so I could heal and forgive. And Willard is right, in my case anyway. I can function relatively well and have held good jobs but I have had much time in psych units and on disability payments.

Take good care of your precious self. There are ways of getting through this.

Mics

sometimes anxiety is caused by PTSD, sometimes its just general anxiety. Its hard to tell. PTSD is a relatively new term, and is often diagnosed for any slightly "traumatic" reason. Such as a minor car crash, or a relationship break-up. It's up to the doctor what qualifies as traumatic. Which is silly, because some things seem totally okay to some people, and then one event which others don't see as stressful can cause a breakdown. Nobody can really tell you if you have PTSD. There are some noticable brain changes but unless you get a full scan of your brain, who knows.

Most of us here at WP have PTSD. life as an aspie makes us prone to trauma, and our different thinking processes make it difficult to deal with the trauma right away, because few of us understood AS at the time of the trauma we either didnt get benefit of any offered help because it didnt work/hold true for us, or we didnt seek help because we long since learned that the help offered from NTs seldom did anything. chances are PTSD plays a major role in your life and dealing with it is crucial, especially if you suffer panic/anxiety attacks, nightmares etc.