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Autism or cPTSD? Which?

Damojo

I have a suspicion I have complex PTSD, but I don't really know if some of my traits are just plain old Autistic traits and not cPTSD at all. How would I know the difference?

For example, I feel extremely aware of people in the space around me (in public or private). I am constantly trying to predict how they will move or act or interact and trying to plan how I will deal with all possibilities, particularly if they might do something irritating, or something against the "rules". A lot of the time, I feel threatened (anxious rather than terrified) and under siege (from the relentlessness of it all), particularly if I have no easy means of escape (perhaps I'm masking and trying to stick it out to appear "normal"). It is exhausting and really stressful. Is that Autistic hyperawareness, or cPTSD hypervigilance, or just overthinking, or something else entirely?

Does anyone else have similar experiences and do you know how they might relate to Autism vs. cPTSD?

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  • Damojo said:
    I have a suspicion I have complex PTSD, but I don't really know if some of my traits are just plain old Autistic traits and not cPTSD at all. How would I know the difference?

    There is an interesting article explaining the two here:

    https://neurodivergentinsights.com/ptsd-and-autism/

    For the terminology, PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) typically results from a single traumatic event, while cPTSD (Complex PTSD) arises from prolonged, repeated trauma over time. Both share similar symptoms, but cPTSD includes additional challenges like emotional dysregulation and difficulties in relationships.

    You can be autistic and suffer PTSD and/or cPTSD, the symptoms are the same but autism means we experience the symptoms differently to neurotypicals.

    To work out which aspects of PTSD/cPTSD can be attributed to autistic experiences, the following diagram is useful:

  • in reply to Iain

    Very informative,  thank you for posting 

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