PTSD - How Do You Know If You Have It - Or Not

MDMA is used as Part of Psychotherapy to combat PTSD. 

Give us an E! :) 

Autistics do need to ruminate more than NT's. I also heard of post traumatic growth but was triggered as I haven't grown from my trauma.

That is called complex PTSD. Most late diagnosed autistic adults have it and probably those diagnosed as kids too. I think autistics should be routinely screened for complex PTSD. 

Yes, that's right, but my understanding is that it's not about 'small' events, it's about repeated traumatic events over time which ultimately impact on a person's ability to function well.

There is a therapy called EMDR (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing therapy) which apparently has had success in treating some PTSD. I think the theory is the brain hasn't  properly processed the memory of the experience and once it has, the impact of that experience lessens.

Given the way our Neanderthal brains still work, If an experience has been traumatic it makes sense the brain wouldn't want that filed away and I think this is what the EMDR is meant to do.

A complication is that people with an ASD are apparently more 'suceptible' to trauma because of how our brains process information anyway and it doesn't help that we have no filters so our brains are taking in absolutely everything from our environment all at once.

Replaying over and over and not in control of it happening ,stress can be a trigger ,lots of anger /rage coming from nowhere . Excessively avoiding /anxiety over events that remind . I am not an expert but i would say more over individual events . 

If you think about it i expect there are individual events that cause more of the issues ,the general becomes the fog that blurs the events . This is what i have found the problem sorting things out ,   

Burn out sounds about right. 

I used to walk alot that helped me, but now I live in a city and feeling that walking is a negative thing the surrounding environment is ugly concrete impediments to natural beauty and the litter strewn ground is almost as detestable as the exhaust smothered air. 

I feel the same - wanting to run - but my compulsion to "do the right thing" overrides everything - so I just sit and burn out.

The need to escape at all cost even death, so I sleep if I can to escape it, 

I am normally super depressed when people try to get me out of my room and I am exhausted with the world, I experience the door thumping and the word lazy that for some reason is repeated continuously.

I just want to be left alone when I am depressed. 

I know there’s something called c-ptsd which means complex post traumatic stress disorder I haven’t read up on it at all really but the small snippets I have read to me suggest it’s something caused by a series of small events on someone’s life built up over time causing stress rather than something massive happening very quickly like a kidnapping or NDE or going to war if you know what I mean

Forgive me for asking - but how intense is it?        What do you experience in the moment?

Banging on doors, and the word lazy triggers me. 

Before I realised I was on the spectrum I thought I 'only' had PTSD of some form. Perhaps 'complex PTSD'. I truly wouldn't know how to answer your questions - they are great questions, but probably best answered by a pro of some sort.

I liked Mind's descriptions: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd-and-complex-ptsd/about-ptsd/ 

On the one hand, remembering negative experiences could be classed as 'learning' because it helps in a literal sense to avoid repeating something harmful (like burning your hand on a hot plate).

On the other hand, if it's causing distress, this sounds like something more. When is it 'PTSD'? My guess is when it feels like it's a 'disorder', and not resolving or helping in some way. Whether PTSD is the 'right' label or not probably matters less than seeking support if you feel you need it / want it.

Sometimes it helps to know what the opposite or alternate of something is to find out what defines it. PTGO is a term even most medical professionals don't know about: Sometimes a negative event can push us to do something constructive / good / beneficial etc... - this would be PTGO, post-traumatic GROWTH ORDER. This only happens when the person has overcome the trauma, and can be confused with trying to look like they have overcome it and try to force something good out of it too soon. Charities are sometimes founded after someone's PTGO.

I do believe I had PTSD for a while, but don't know if I still do. I think I did because I had flashbacks that overlaid what I was seeing in front of me. It was a bit like when a photo is double exposed except in video form - I could see what was happening in the now, which was nothing even interesting, and then I could see traumatic events of the past. Both felt as real as each other. It certainly felt very distressing and confusing at the time. Working with a therapist helped me, but I couldn't say exactly what helped or when, I just know those flashbacks have stopped and many things feel easier and better now. I think the flashbacks were triggered by a significant change in my life.

Good luck, hope this helps.