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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?

Parents

  • I am beginning to wonder something similar, perhaps due to my feelings of imposter syndrome around being on the spectrum. Last time I was going through a burnout/breakdown I couldn’t have people too close to me, even walking in the street was a nightmare, why would someone choose to sit next to me when plenty of other chairs are available was another thought I had. It felt they were invading my space and I quickly had to move out of their way, this got better with increased hours of sleep and withdrawal from the expectations of the world. I don’t particularly like strangers sitting next to me on the bus or anywhere really, I feel they are way too close so I tend to avoid public transport. I suppose it’s down to us to venture into the deep parts of our workings and figure out just exactly what it is that’s making us uncomfortable, is it a perceived lack of control over our autonomy? Are we trying to predict the future to avoid an overload of more raw emotions and trauma because we are already juggling the load we have?

  • in reply to Autismman
    Autismman said:
    Are we trying to predict the future to avoid an overload of more raw emotions and trauma because we are already juggling the load we have?

    Yes, I think that is a large part of what is going on in my head. I need to "figure this out" and "get this right" or "these bad things will happen ... again."

  • in reply to Damojo

    It’s such a minefield of possibilities and wanted a definite answer is an important thing for me, like having a diagnosis I can accept fully without question. Some of the things you describe like ;

    Damojo said:
    these bad things will happen

    - sounds very OCD also which some with autism also suffer with. I’ve had symptoms of this in my youth and some even today, I would check door handles till they broke, wipe light switches with my sleeve incase I left moisture on it and someone got a shock and even now I sometimes check that I have put the handbrake down on my car because a lot of these things are just using muscle memory so if I haven’t got a conscious memory of it I start to panic a bit. 

  • in reply to Autismman
    Autismman said:
    following rules and not liking them being broken is most definitely a classic autism trait

    Yeah, when I look at the diagnostic criteria and read, "Excessive adherence to rules", I think, how can that ever be excessive? Rules are rules.

    If I know that rules are going to be broken, I have to tell myself in advance that this is going to happen, that I shouldn't expect otherwise and that I should remain calm. It could be that someone does not know the rules, or someone does not have the capacity to follow the rules, so it's not necessarily that they are bad people. (I learned that from Marcus Aurelius!)

    I think this has a lot to do with the need for events to be predictable. If rules are followed, then events are far more predictable.

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  • in reply to Autismman
    Autismman said:
    following rules and not liking them being broken is most definitely a classic autism trait

    Yeah, when I look at the diagnostic criteria and read, "Excessive adherence to rules", I think, how can that ever be excessive? Rules are rules.

    If I know that rules are going to be broken, I have to tell myself in advance that this is going to happen, that I shouldn't expect otherwise and that I should remain calm. It could be that someone does not know the rules, or someone does not have the capacity to follow the rules, so it's not necessarily that they are bad people. (I learned that from Marcus Aurelius!)

    I think this has a lot to do with the need for events to be predictable. If rules are followed, then events are far more predictable.

Children
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