Asperger's versus Post-Tramautic Stress Disorder

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we are all unique, and depending on the severity of your condition it may be hard to tell. There is definitely no cookie cutter symptoms or anything, i experience a wide aray of symptoms from what i would say is as, autism and nld, very varied. But yes you could have some ptsd, im sure i do, my life...just in general having suffered so much probably can produce the symptoms. I have had severe social anxiety for a long time and terrible self esteem, sure ptsd could happen, i experience most of the symptoms from ptsd too. Does it mean you don't have as, well if you exibit a lot of as traits you may very well have it or to a certain degree. But especially in your situation ( i have never had those things happen to me, but i am convinced i might still have some ptsd symptoms as well) it could happen.

Many people with PTSD suffer with extreme sensory issues.

After years of believing all my difficulties were from growing up in extremely abusive home. It was a revelation to understand and consequently be Dx with HFA later in life.

I have the traumatised child within me that says in times of great distress, "I am in so much pain I will surely die" THAT'S TRAUMA and nothing to do with my autism. Whilst I can be totally overwhelmed by my autism/sensory issues and got into meltdown, yet my pulse and level of adrenaline is not pumping like my life is in danger.

I would say for me that what sets my PTS apart from my autism is my unusual mannerisms, interests and eccentricities.

A useful image to offer here would be that of a large rope consisting primarily of two interwoven ropes wound together.

One rope would be my neurology the other my psychology. That's neat. However, life throws this off balance as the ends of the rope are frayed and bitty. Trying to discern what goes where (neurology or psychology) is impossible, as one pulls on the other NATURALLY.

I understand your comparison with PTSD. I sometimes wonder if I have PTSD when I cannot get the bullying from years ago out of my head. But I know its down to AS because I am just reliving the events and conversations etc from that time. But although it makes me angry and stressed I doubt it is as bad as people who relive their time in the war etc. Which must have exposed them to some horrific experiences. I am not saying that bullying is not horrific (for the victim), but it seems bullying is normal NT behaviour. So most people in the world may have experience of bullying and been victims but they have not responded the way an AS would perhaps. So I would say PTSD is a specific problem regarding a specific event. But AS is non specific in that we seem to relive events whether they were traumatic or not. I sometimes relive conversations with people that were not traumatic at all. I can relive good events too.

This is the current definition of PTSD:

Diagnostic criteria for 309.81 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

A. The person has been exposed to a traumatic event in which both of the following were present:

(1) the person experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with an event or events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others
(2) the person's response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror. Note: In children, this may be expressed instead by disorganized or agitated behavior

B. The traumatic event is persistently reexperienced in one (or more) of the following ways:

(1) recurrent and intrusive distressing recollections of the event, including images, thoughts, or perceptions. Note: In young children, repetitive play may occur in which themes or aspects of the trauma are expressed.
(2) recurrent distressing dreams of the event. Note: In children, there may be frightening dreams without recognizable content.
(3) acting or feeling as if the traumatic event were recurring (includes a sense of reliving the experience, illusions, hallucinations, and dissociative flashback episodes, including those that occur on awakening or when intoxicated). Note: In young children, trauma-specific reenactment may occur.
(4) intense psychological distress at exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event
(5) physiological reactivity on exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event

C. Persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma and numbing of general responsiveness (not present before the trauma), as indicated by three (or more) of the following:

(1) efforts to avoid thoughts, feelings, or conversations associated with the trauma
(2) efforts to avoid activities, places, or people that arouse recollections of the trauma
(3) inability to recall an important aspect of the trauma
(4) markedly diminished interest or participation in significant activities
(5) feeling of detachment or estrangement from others
(6) restricted range of affect (e.g., unable to have loving feelings)
(7) sense of a foreshortened future (e.g., does not expect to have a career, marriage, children, or a normal life span)

D. Persistent symptoms of increased arousal (not present before the trauma), as indicated by two (or more) of the following:

(1) difficulty falling or staying asleep
(2) irritability or outbursts of anger
(3) difficulty concentrating
(4) hypervigilance
(5) exaggerated startle response

E. Duration of the disturbance (symptoms in Criteria B, C, and D) is more than 1 month.

F. The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

Specify if:

Acute: if duration of symptoms is less than 3 months
Chronic: if duration of symptoms is 3 months or more

Specify if:

With Delayed Onset: if onset of symptoms is at least 6 months after the stressor

If you don't meet the criteria for this, another possible outcome of abuse is Reactive Attachment Disorder:

Children with this mental disorder, associated with care that is "grossly pathological," fail to relate socially either by exhibiting markedly inhibited behavior or by indiscriminate social behavior.

Diagnostic criteria for 313.89 Reactive Attachment Disorder of Infancy or Early Childhood

A. Markedly disturbed and developmentally inappropriate social relatedness in most contexts, beginning before age 5 years, as evidenced by either (1) or (2):
(1) persistent failure to initiate or respond in a developmentally appropriate fashion to most social interactions, as manifest by excessively inhibited, hypervigilant, or highly ambivalent and contradictory responses (e.g., the child may respond to caregivers with a mixture of approach, avoidance, and resistance to comforting, or may exhibit frozen watchfulness)
(2) diffuse attachments as manifest by indiscriminate sociability with marked inability to exhibit appropriate selective attachments (e.g., excessive familiarity with relative strangers or lack of selectivity in choice of attachment figures)

B. The disturbance in Criterion A is not accounted for solely by developmental delay (as in Mental Retardation) and does not meet criteria for a Pervasive Developmental Disorder.

C. Pathogenic care as evidenced by at least one of the following:
(1) persistent disregard of the child's basic emotional needs for comfort, stimulation, and affection
(2) persistent disregard of the child's basic physical needs
(3) repeated changes of primary caregiver that prevent formation of stable attachments (e.g., frequent changes in foster care)

D. There is a presumption that the care in Criterion C is responsible for the disturbed behavior in Criterion A (e.g., the disturbances in Criterion A began following the pathogenic care in Criterion C).

Specify type:

Inhibited Type: if Criterion A1 predominates in the clinical presentation
Disinhibited Type: if Criterion A2 predominates in the clinical presentation

I have suffered from PTSD. It is very different from AS. I would much rather live with my AS than PTSD.

Because I have AS I can become overwhelmed in situations where it's too noisy or there are too many people. I have tremendous social anxiety because I regularly deal with "foot in mouth" syndrome - I have an odd way of talking that is almost guaranteed to insult people who don't know me well unless I am extremely careful about my wording. I get nuts over my husband's constant schedule changes. We can have a plan that is changed no less than three times in the course of 15 minutes because of how he conducts his life. I have actually considered divorce in the past because it derails me so badly. Certain smells make me nauseous. My son's need for constant contact it totally opposite of my avoidance of it. I don't always enjoy being touched and it's really easy to literally rub me the wrong way. This has always been part of my life, long before anything happened to me.

Post traumatic stress? Ah, if I never deal with it again it will be far too soon. At sixteen I would destabilize completely in the wrong room setting and be transported to a different point in time where I could see and hear and smell everything associated with the experience. I would be thrashing, punching the air and screaming "GET OFF ME!! SOMEONE PLEASE GET HIM OFF ME!" and crying. I would be totally inconsolable until it passed. Very ugly. Typing this is making me feel a little ill.

I hope this helps.