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?Alexithymia

Draziwekans

Alexithymia - I came across this word, which appears to describes myself, does this resonate with others on the spectrum ? Does cPTSD in autism contribute or cause this, or could it just be (c)PTSD. Especially repeated shutting down over time. How do you know if shutting down is the autism, or ptsd?

Parents

  • Prior to my autism assessment, fortunately, I knew about alexithymia. It was a difficult personal journey to accept that I experience it, and to understand that not being able to describe or identify emotions didn't mean I was unfeeling and "malfunctioning". It still didn't prepare me for how difficult I found it to answer the question "What does happiness feel like?", and the excruciatingly uncomfortable silence during the assessment while I tried to "find" the feeling. 

  • in reply to Sia

    I had the same question at my assessment, followed by the same silence. Eventually all I said was that I’m neither happy or sad, I just seem to exist.

  • in reply to Roy

    I think I said something similar. Then I explained that I know what I look like and do when I'm experiencing a "bad day," so if I'm not engaging (or disengaging) like that, I'm usually "happy".

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