Does Autism Raise the Risk of PTSD?

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https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti ... k-of-ptsd/

The two conditions share many traits, but the connection has been largely overlooked until now

By Lauren Gravitz, Spectrum on October 1, 2018

Does Autism Raise the Risk of PTSD?

Having autism can sometimes mean enduring a litany of traumatic events, starting from a young age. And for many, those events may add up to severe and persistent post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Before Gabriel could even talk, his father’s girlfriend at the time told him his mother had abandoned him. At age 3, he was sexually abused by a cousin. He was mercilessly bullied once he started school, showed signs of depression by age 7 and by 11 began telling his mother he did not want to live. About three years ago, while at summer camp, he almost drowned. Shortly after that, he experienced life-threatening heatstroke when he went to get his Legos from the car trunk and accidentally locked himself in. Six months ago, just after his grandmother died, he attempted suicide.

“He’s been hurt and had so much disruption in his life that he’s having problems realizing that he has stability now,” says his mother, Kristina. (Kristina and Gabriel’s last names have been withheld to protect the family’s privacy.) “The world is chaotic and crazy for typically developed people. For him, it’s overwhelming and confusing.” Gabriel, now 13, started seeing a therapist about five years ago and last year was diagnosed with PTSD.

(read the ret of the article by following the link)
https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti ... k-of-ptsd/

Every day of my life is traumatic, just dealing with sensory input.
It would be traumatic even if I was the only person on the planet (without social issues).

My nervous system is not designed for the onslaught of relentless stimuli in daily life.
Sunshine itself disables me.

It's traumatic knowing I can't go outside or open my eyes when I need to.
It's traumatic being captive in my house because I'm avoiding a smell, or a sound.
It's traumatic being on high-alert sensory overdrive 24/7 and even in my sleep.
I can never relax.

Add then all the social pressures for conformity.
Add my communication difficulties and my lack of non-verbal comprehension.
Add mutism and not being able to say what I think or feel, verbally.
Add the real traumas like bullies and abusers who have attacked me since childhood.

Yes, I believe all people with ASD have some degree of trauma just from existing.
Some of us have it even worse if we fell prey to predators.
Our neurology is not equipped for the stress of life whether social, emotional or sensory.


DX:
C-PTSD, Acute PTSD, Sensory Processing Disorder, General Anxiety Disorder, Agoraphobia, Mutism, Scopophobia, Alexithymia, Major Depressive Disorder and ASD2. Then throw in a couple of strokes for good measure.

How others react to autism causes PTSD.

Well, for many it affects social development and interactions, so you could have very traumatic situations, which could affect your future interactions and lead to the development of PTSD.

It sure did in my case.

Are you diagnosed with PTSD? ^

My current understanding is that originally PTSD was only for "shell shock" type cases - people who had been battle zones. Later it was extended to other situations. Now people talk about cPTSD.

I once read about a child who needed surgery, but was too young to understand what was going on. This child's experience was being taken away from parents, put in a room with too bright lights and strangers wearing masks (medical personnel) strapped to a cold metal table and gassed to unconsciousness. After the surgery the child woke in pain.

For most people having surgery is not a traumatic experience, for this person it was and the PTSD followed him/her into adulthood.

Autism is often associate with hyper- and hypo-sensativities. I think Isabella described hers well.

Bullying and simply being laughed at or excluded can hurt. Some people are aggressive, or competitive - what to them may seem to be "playing the game" to me may feel like abuse.

I try to sort out my own hyper reactions to certain situations - it is a autism related hyper-sensitivity - or PTSD related hyper-sensitivity. I don't know. But when I hear other people describe PTSD some of it seems familiar. I have neither a PTSD nor an Autism diagnosis (working on that one) at this time, but I certainly have autistic traits. Some things in life really knock me off balance for hours or days. They are often associated with painful memories - things that other people, in the same situation, may not experience as traumatic, but maybe I did. Or maybe trauma, like autism, can occur in many shades of grey - or on a spectrum.

I have been thinking about this recently.

I feel like autism is something which increases the possibility of PTSD-type reactions to adverse events.

In spite of everything I don't think I have PTSD. But the way this world is going...

Yes… and. Most likely intensified the PTSD …and possibly visa versa….. :roll… but if you are not killed somehow in the process , And you realize that Autism does have its own deficits, even before you knew of Autism . You can
Try to adapt. Or you can go to extremes, Coping can be hard to impossible but if you get through it , maybe mentally fried somewhat , but you sometimes pick up healthy avoidance skills , possibly that could help you out as you age ?