Desert Flower's Recovery Journal

[Papa Coco]

Desert Flower,

I am glad you are working to find the right help and I am sending you all the love and encouragement I can. It's wise to explore all the possible reasons for the distress.  Whether it's ASD or not is a tough call. It's a spectrum so, technically it could be a light case or a heavy case, or it could be CPTSD disguised as ASD. If the cures help, who cares if the diagnosis is accurate? Trying out the cures, like Hannah suggested, using some ear plugs or sunglasses, will help you to see if they help. IF they help, they help, no matter what the official diagnosis turns out to be.

I'm pulling for you! 

[Desert Flower]

Thank you dear friends, I do appreciate your responses and comments but I do not feel I have the capacity to write on the Forum atm.

 

[Chart]

 

[sanmagic7]

it's ok, as you know, to take your time.  we're still here for you no matter what.  love andhugs

[SenseOrgan]

No worries Desert Flower. Sometimes other things deserve our time and energy. I hope you're doing well. 

[Desert Flower]

Dear, dear friends. I am so sorry for abandoning you like this, please forgive me if you can.

I've been away abruptly and a lot longer than I thought I would.

It turns out I did need to turn my time and attention to this subject of autism. I wish I could tell you the outcome of this, but I can't yet. I'm now seeing the third mental health institution since I was here and I am now in the right place, I trust these people to be able to distinguish between trauma, personality disorder and autism as far as possible at all. I will let you know as soon as I can, it will take some more weeks/months unfortunately.

I see many friends are still here, continuing to support each other. It really is a beautiful forum. I hope you are doing well and if not, please hang in there, take care and take it easy as much as you can.

I am doing reasonably well considering the circumstances, even enjoying some holiday-like days now and then.

I've been a bit apprehensive to return to the forum because I figured my problems may be related to autism rather than CPTSD. But then again, (unrecognised) autism may have contributed considerably to the traumas endured.

I do wish all of you all the best. Big hugs for everyone.

[SenseOrgan]

Hi Desert Flower, I'm so happy to see you! And that you're in the right place and doing reasonably well! Please don't feel bad about not visiting the forum for a while. Life happens. And I can see what you're investigating is very important. Whatever the outcome, I hope it brings you clarity, validation, and positivity. And more holiday-like days.   I'm always happy to hear from you, no matter the diagnosis. You're in my thoughts. Good luck out there! 

Much love.

[sanmagic7]

hey, DF, so good to see you again!  sounds like you've been doing a lot while you've been gone, but hopefully, as you said, the place you've now found will be able to tell the differences needed and you'll get some beneficial answers.

i'm a bit cuspy myself, and i can see that neurodivergency may have complicated some parts of my life, especially in the confusion category, but i don't think, at least for me, it takes the place of c-ptsd and the remaining trauma.  don't know if it works that way for everyone, tho, so i'm glad you're going to get some clear information for yourself. 

whatever happens, keep taking care of you, ok?  love and hugs

[TheBigBlue]

Sending support and thoughts!
 

[NarcKiddo]

I'm so happy to see you. Thank you for the update. I'm really glad to see that you are now in the right place and are getting help. Please do stay in touch as and when you feel right to do so. I think it is quite possible for people to have overlapping conditions and even if one turns out to be more dominant, that does not automatically erase another.

 

[Hope67]

I am also happy to see you.   

[HannahOne]

Hi Desert Flower, I was glad to see you here. I do think unrecognized autism can lead to trauma. That's my experience within my own family, a dear one to my was undiagnosed for a long time and with a more sensitive sensory system, plus pragmatic langauge problems where body language and facial expression and tone are harder for the person to read, it can definitely lead to relational trauma. The person is hard to soothe because of the sensory needs, that can be experienced as being neglected or abandoned. The person finds it difficult to read people's expressions, and that can be experienced as scary, or isolating. And that's real relational trauma. Not being understood, not being seen for who you are, your needs not being met, all of that when happening over and over and over is relational trauma. So, in my opinion, you absolutely belong here, if you want to be here, whether you get the autism diagnosis or not.