Aspergers and Complex Ptsd

I have had CBT hypnosis an Austic counsellor she's who said I need to get treatment for cptsd quick it's already taking over my life I'm on psychologist list but the lady who ring me up says how u feeling no different to years ago when I first had my episode and psychosis episodes to I will never go bk on antipsycotoc tablets they put my health in danger they were wasting my muscle away once I had blood test at hospital medication just mask everything to fix what is going on in my head have to b brave and try EMDR I'm no worse off now and am on Sertaline 150g for GAD and Depression.

I don't think EMDR is the right therapy for cPTSD, EMDR seems to work best when you'e talking about a single incident or period of life, such as a soldier in a war. EMDR, from my understanding seeks to build a mental bypass around the traumatic event/s, with cPTD there's often no single cause of trauma, it starts early in life, often in infancy, when one is unable to process abstract thought or emotions, is dependent on a care giver to feel safe and nourished emotionlly and physically. Where do you start buliding your bypass if it's your whole life or early life?

Another thing to consider with anything like CBT or EMDR is symptom substitution, I'll use me as an example, when I started driving at the age of 36, I was very nervous, then the nightmares started, always the same being stuck in a car I couldn't control, I'd wake up sweating and shaking. I'd get up, do some yoga, have a cup of chamomile tea, read a bit and try and go back to sleep, only to fall straight back into the dream. It was so bad I gave up driving for years. I went to the doctor and was sent for CBT, I was sceptical to start with, but open to it. I can now drive again but only under certain circumstances, not on motorways or anywhere that I don't know, or I have panic attacks. So it worked to an extent, but a few months later I started feeling reluctant to go out and started to have the same sorts of fears and nightmares about social events. This new social phobia is a substitute symptom for driving phobia. I honestly don't feel that much better off than I did before the CBT, when I was recomended EMDR, I was wary as it seemed like CBT with knobs on. I think I was right to be wary, I did a bit of research, and found a fair bit of evidence doubting the effectiveness of EMDR as a therapy and for cPTSD in particular. EMDR is often sold as some kind of magic bullet for PTSD and it's absolutely not. I can't comment on whether it works for autistic people as I wasn't diagnosed then, but honestly I wouldn't recomend it and would advise someone who was seeking it to do a lot of research. There are other options for dealing with cPTSD, they're long and painful, but I believe having done it, ultimately better, I have managed to come to a place of acceptance and peace with it all, but you may have to look outside standard theraputic models.

I have to say I was given EDMR for trauma related PTSD and found no benefit. I could not fathom how looking a lights moving side to side would do anything. I kept thinking that I should be feeling something and that thought blocked the processing of the lights. That was prediagnosis. I have tried CBT as well and that did not do well either. I could understand the concepts at the time in general but could not understand how I could apply them to my life.

Now I am officially autistic I'm waiting on talking therapy but its a long list.

Time to crawl back into my basket me thinks!!!!

Ellie b said:

it describes exactly how my brain is with blocked unprocessed memories which cause ptsd in the first place

Can you tell us what techniques your therapist(s) have tried with you?

Most start with "unpacking" the experiences to understand what happened and the impact it had and then work on ways to accept it (since you cannot change it).

PTSD is a widespread issue for autists and there are many other techniques to deal with it which are established and widely practiced.

Looking more into EMDR gives me significant cause for concern:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapy-types/eye-movement-desensitization-and-reprocessing-therapy
Despite numerous studies showing that the technique works for some patients, it has been highly controversial ever since it was introduced in 1987. No universally accepted theory has been put forth to explain how lateral eye movements are integral to the treatment. Further, the evidence is not clear that EMDR is superior to classic forms of exposure therapy,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_movement_desensitization_and_reprocessing
The eye movements have been criticized as having no scientific basis. The founder promoted the therapy for the treatment of PTSD, and proponents employed untestable hypotheses to explain negative results in controlled studies

https://www.psychology.org/resources/emdr-therapy/
Overall, the majority of meta-analytic studies (studies of studies) show inconclusive evidence

There is a lot of arguement over studies showing it is effective being funded by EMDR themselves while other organisations seem to support it.

This lack of clarity and evidence based approach would prevent me from trying this, especially as it needs to be modified to work for autists and of the few practitioners of it there are likely to be even fewer who understand our complex needs.

Good luck if you do choose this route and please let us know how you get on.

EMDR is my last hope that's why and it describes exactly how my brain is with blocked unprocessed memories which cause ptsd in the first place I been suffering with it for years night terrors flash backs reliving like a video rewinded pause rewind I want to get out of this cycle once and for all break the negativity of being afraid of life.

Ellie b said:

Is there anyone who could recommend that does EMDR for trauma and is qualified in autism

I would start with looking for your location in this site and looking through the list to find one that feels right before arrangng a trial session

https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/counselling

I'm curious why you specifically want EMDR ( Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing ) as I note it is not been reliably adapted to work for autists ( according to https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613221080254 )

In this online survey study, we asked 103 EMDR therapists about barriers they think autistic people face when trying to have EMDR and what adaptations they use in their everyday practice. Four barriers were highlighted: client-related characteristics, therapist-related characteristics, differences in the therapeutic relationship and broader issues. Therapists identified a range of adaptations that can potentially be useful for autistic people, relating to being flexible, communicating clearly and having an awareness of individual differences. Many therapists emphasised the importance of not making assumptions about a person based on their autism diagnosis. Overall, the study findings suggest adaptations to EMDR are likely to be useful, but how relevant they are depends on each person.

Looking through the services the UK therapists offer, EMDR us not even on the list as it is still so experimental.

Would the conventional approach for dealing with PTSD for autists not be more accessible and reliable for you?