Autism Trauma and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) - What's The Overlap?

The symptoms of autism trauma and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) can look very similar.
So what's the overlap? And how are they different? Can childhood trauma cause autism? (Hint: No, there's a very important distinction)

In this video we'll explore complex trauma and how the polyvagal theory and principles of trauma informed care can help improve autistic mental health.

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// WELCOME TO ASPERGERS FROM THE INSIDE!!

My name is Paul and I discovered I have Aspergers at age 30.

Yes, I know, I don't look autistic. That's exactly why I started this blog, because if I didn't show you, you would never know.

As the name suggests, this channel is devoted to giving you insight into the world of Aspergers.
This blog started off being just my story, but I've learned SO MUCH about my own condition
from meeting others on the Autism Spectrum that now I make sure to feature their stories as well.

I've come a long way in my own personal journey.
Now I'm sharing what I've found so you don't have to learn it the hard way too.

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// WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS BLOG

You can expect me to get to the point with concise useful information.
I focus on what is most important and don't shy away from difficult topics.

The best way to learn about Autism is to see it in real life ( i.e. via the stories of many, many people on the spectrum).

In this channel I endeavour to show you what Autism and Aspergers look like in real people and to also give you some insight as to what's happening on the inside.
I upload a new video every weekend with some bonus content thrown in mid-week too.
There's always new stuff coming through so be sure to check back and see what you've missed. (Is this where I'm supposed to tell you to hit that subscribe button?)

Topics Include:
- What is Aspergers/Autism?
- Aspie Tips, coping strategies, and advice on common issues
- Learning Emotional Intelligence (this is my special interest!)
- Autism in real life: stories from special guests

Everything I do is and endeavour to go deeper and take you 'behind the scenes' to understand what may, at first glance, seem 'odd'.
oh, and I love busting stereotypes and turning preconceptions upsidedown :)

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// ABOUT ME

I discovered I have aspergers at the age of thrity.
It has been my life's mission to understand these funny creatures we call humans.
My special interest is a combination of emotional intelligence, psychology, neuroscience, thinking styles, behaviour, and motivation. (I.e. what makes people tick)
My background is in engineering and I see the world in systems to be analysed.
My passion is for taking the incredibly complex, deciphering the pattern, and explaining it very simply.
My philosophy is that blogging is an adventure best shared.

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// EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE TRAINING

I also run autism friendly online emotional intelligence training. So if you like my direct, systematic style, and would like to improve your own emotional intelligence skills, check it out here:

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// CONTACT

Blogging is an adventure best shared which means I'd love to hear from you!
Feel free to leave me a comment or send me and email at any time and I'll do my best to respond promptly.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this channel!
I look forward to hearing from you!

Peace,

~Paul

[TarkMcCoy]

I had a shrink ask me if I'd been through any traumatic experiences and I told him that I generally found LIFE to be a traumatic experience.

[reggiep]

THIS!! THIS is what I've been waiting for as I grew up in a mentally & emotionally toxic environment where I was traumatised and yet victimised for another persons problems as well as my own autistic problems and made to feel ashamed for how I was hence the reason I suspect I also suffer with cPTSD. The shame and blame was enough to make me feel suicidal... even as a kid.

[fadista]

I was speaking with an advocate the other day and I explained to her how having autism as a child allowed my brain to survive years of abuse. I don't think I would have survived with my sanity if I had not been on the spectrum.

[Maria-upyv]

You seem to have such a sweet personality and are so generous to make these videos and inform people . And you do it so well.

[kathleenmaryparker]

I have tons of both - my father chose me as the scapegoat child - and signed me out for extra abuse - *because* I was autistic ... my hypersensitivity made tormenting me more "fun" for him ... However, in the years since his death, my C-PTSD symptoms have slowly receded - and a much more cheerful autistic personality has begun to emerge - though I still have anxiety about how I will fit in with the rest of the world ...

[Dezzyyx]

"Recognise that a person's "problematic" behaviors and responses may be their attempts to protect themselves and to cope with stress." Wow... how life could have been if this was recognized, and how much less "problematic" one would feel. Because that has always been the key word hasn't it, we're "problematic". I always thought, why am I problematic, I am just doing what I can to cope. It's so up-side down. You already struggle to cope, and then you have to go on and defend yourself for doing that, because it's problematic to most others in most situations.

[mikmik]

You probably already know you’re doing an objectively good thing, but I just have to thank you personally for your channel. It mayyyy have saved my life, and I doubt I’m the only one. Thank you. So much.

[neurodimensions]

When you said “endless chain of broken relationships”, that sums up my life so far, unfortunately. I am really trying to break out of some of the unhealthy patterns I have developed over time through trauma. When I was a young kid, I was distant from other people but was so happy. Interpersonal and family trauma has burnt out my trust and emotion regulation. I never really learned to set boundaries or manage conflict so I feel like I have to build from the ground up :(

[MCLamb]

I spent the first 36 years of my life thinking all my issues were due to trauma from growing up. But since my last breakdown in summer 2021 and the assessment I had with a mental health nurse, I am now on the pathway to diagnosis for autism. This mental health nurse was the first person in my entire life who looked at my history, looked at ME and revealed that he saw autism in me. Since then every piece of autistic information I have read is like a lightbulb going off in my brain. How many times my “weirdness” or character traits have been ignored or misunderstood. It makes me feel like I am finally beginning to understand who I am and that there was never anything “wrong” with me! That all my life feeling different, now means that I understand I am different! Not in a frustrating and scary way, but in a way that I now know wasn’t my fault.
I was treated terribly by my father especially growing up. Really hatefully and terribly, so I’ve spent my life thinking it’s just the trauma from that. I now understand whilst yes that was traumatic, I was also grossly underestimated and misunderstood.
It’s videos like these that make me feel like I’m not alone. Thank you ❤

[sophieallan]

The part of the video that clicked for me was realising that the more I heal my trauma, and live in a way that is supportive of my anxiety and depression, the more I experience the ability and safety to have self-stimming behaviours, engage in my special interests, and communicate with others in a way that works for me.
Thank you for this video.

[DamienTronVlogs]

I thought I just had PTSD but looking back I've been realizing I was also autistic from birth with that PTSD compounded upon me. It's such a confusing path, but this channel has been helping me a lot, thank you.

[jonmars]

A good topic. I remember a video with Tony Attwood speaking of what he called' "Autism Pure" and then how through stress and circumstances, various disorders can pile on. This can be particularly the case for those of us not diagnosed early.

[jenniferreisch]

Nothing like a good cry on a Sunday morning because someone finally describes and understands your experiences. One way that I feel alien is that I need to cry to release my intense feelings, whether from PTSD or just being Autistic. People are upset by tears and are always either raising the fire alarm or doing anything, including being harsh, to get you to stop. Crying makes people uncomfortable and I need to cry to release energy and emotions, whether they are mine or ones I feel from empathizing to intensely with another being--so I constantly make people uncomfortable. I have two stims that society views as symptoms of anxiety and depression: I need to bounce one of my legs or I need to cry or shake my body. Most of my adult and adolescent life, even before I felt "generalized anxiety" and the paralyzing effects of my PTSD, I was told I was "anxious" and "nervous" because of my bouncing and also "dramatic" or a "crybaby" and "too sensitive." Because I was so easily upset, I quickly became a scapegoat for a variety of bullies in my life, including my older brother, my boyfriends, my friends, my teachers. I don't know how many times people told me how much "fun" it was to give me a "hard time" and tease me because I got so upset.

I have found pockets of relief when my "symptoms" can become superpowers, such as showing up for others who are in distress. I don't always get it right, but my ability to just hang out and let others feel negative feelings without trying to fix them has definitely helped others and made me feel like I was worth something.

I also don't know how to give short comments, or not overshare! Oops. I was curious if you use any sort of mindfulness practice for working some of the symptoms or characteristics you describe in this video. More specifically, I have found the most healing from reading the works of American Buddhist nun Pema Chodron, starting with _When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times_. I am currently reading _The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times_ for the fifth time in six years I think. I appreciate her teachings because you can listen or read a short chapter or teaching and "chew" on it in your soul and mind for months, it doesn't have to be something you sit down and read in a few weeks, or "check mark done" learn it and "I am fixed."

I am curious what other Autistic folks or folks with PTSD may find helpful or not about her work: I find that as the world grows ever stranger and more uncertain, learning to have compassion and unconditional kindness towards all my thoughts, feelings, and experiences, really has helped me to heal myself from the constant trauma of living in a world "not designed for me." I have to keep returning to the lessons I learn, but she offers that sort of "trauma-informed" teachings that you speak about in this video.

I will stop this short novel on your comments section now and hope it isn't the end of the world because you understand.

[arasharfa]

I grew up in an abusive household, I was bullied in school, I developed narcissistic personality traits that I mostly healed through finding good friends where I learned how to take care of relationships, . during my upbringing I had recurring depressions and I began to think I might be bipolar. It wasn't until I had nervous breakdown a few years ago my difficulties became so many and my coping skills vanished completely that I began searching for serious help. After many years of misdiagnosis (bipolarism, borderline, mentalization based therapy that didn't help and loads of different medications that didn't help we finally arrived at autism and ADHD, but I have been questioning it's accuracy because of how some of my issues became visible because of the serious trauma I experienced, and it took a long time for me to see the internal problems I had before my breakdown. So I have often thought maybe I was sub threshold autistic during my upbringing, but because of my severe burnout I entered diagnosable autism territory. either way I finally have the hope I might be able to live a bearable life, and maybe even might be able to thrive. Life is still not easy, I'm still struggling with the most basic things and I seem fully normal and functioning to most people I know, even my closest friends, masking is a grey area where I'm not sure I'm even fully aware at what level I mask. i'm at home alone 95% of the time, I just had my mother over and I felt physically ill while she was here, but after a while of engaging in my interests in hyperfocus I was back to baseline.

[lesleymcneill]

This makes sense to me. I was diagnosed just before I turned 60. I had blamed my difficulties in life on my difficult upbringing, even though we appeared to be a model family without “problems”. But I never felt nurtured. Now I believe my mother was also autistic, but possibly she just suffered trauma herself as a child which impinged on her ability to mother. In hindsight I’d say her trauma and my autism affected how she mothered and today it is difficult to see where one starts and the other finishes, but the Venn diagram makes a lot of sense.

[tiiaj]

We’re looking into this now too. Pretty sure I have cPTSD issues. Besides the fact that autistic people can feel traumatized by even “lesser” events, I’ve had a few actual traumatic events in my life, and along with the late diagnosis AND I am very likely ADHD TOO, I figure I’m pretty much a shoe-in for the PTSD stuff. I’m thinking I’m going to start adding all the acronyms I’ve accumulated after my name in emails etc. Maybe people will confuse them with with accreditation initials and think I’m just insanely intelligent and educated. 🤪

[whoever]

Always remember that if the world treats you like you're weird, you can always treat them like they're the ones who are weird or we can all learn to accept that there are different people in the world.

[t-ci]

I was late diagnosed because I have c-ptsd and it was a lot more recognized than autism. I didn't get diagnosed until I had a total breakdown. The burnout was severe. I'm wondering now if autistic burnout could actually be the way ptsd shows up for us.

[eme.]

Due to varied and extreme trauma during childhood, I struggled with CPTSD to such an extent that I tried to kill myself in my teens. I felt incredibly disconnected from my body and was perpetually exhausted emotionally from having to constantly mask how little I understood or was understood by my peers. I've grown fascinated by the shocking similarities between my character traits and those of Aspies.

[tomwaters]

As a child I was quiet and disconnected, had a tendacy to wander off. Wandering off got me into a serious traumatic incident, afterwhich I completely went into a shell, did not speak and I remember feeling lost and having difficulting processing what was going on around me.

I have dealt with this the rest of my life slowly emerging out of it but as you can imagine I have struggled with all aspects of life.

I have learned to hide my disconnection with my surroudings but sense that people perceive that something is wrong.