Can Abuse Increase the Severity of Asperger's?

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I've been mistreated by people over the years and I've always been this way, but my Aspie traits seem to be increasing in severity. Can abuse potentially make AS symptoms worse or am I suffering from PTSD as well? (Rage, increased introversion, bouts of depression, increased sensitivity to touch, more frequent sleep problems etc.)

I'm no professional, but I'd say a neurology you're born with is what it is, though being abused can both cause PTSD and trigger reactions that are Asperger's based. In other words, if you've been abused and also tend to shy away from people, the abuse can definitely make you want to shy away more and be even less trusting. That's not the same as making your Asperger's worse. It's really just causing certain traits to show more. In other words, it's the behavior that's changed, because you've been provoked by the way you've been treated.

If you're wondering how much is due to what, I recommend seeking the aid of a professional you trust, if you can find one who is knowledgeable about both Asperger's and PTSD. Then you can try to sort this out.

I hope this response helps, and I wish you well.

It could be the PTSD interacting with your Aspergers', but since I don't know you, I can't be sure.

You are kind of born where you are at and more or less stay there when it comes to level of severity (there may be a lessening of obvious traits in adulthood in some people), because ASDs are neurobiological, but certain traits can increase in severeity due to environmental factors, such as.... we can become more withdrawn or mitrustful due to bullying, but these problems can be helped quite a bit with therapy.

http://www.robertkellerca.com/causality.htm

Read that. That is Chinese medicine theory of why disease occurs. Take the flu. Why do some people die of the flu and others will either not get it or it'll last 2 days for them and they'll be fine? Everyone has constitutional weaknesses, in our case it's Aspergers or some other neurological issue. The problem is, due to our weaknesses, we cannot adapt to the stresses placed on us as well as others can.

So take someone getting chronic infections. The bacteria is the "source" of the infection. So you can treat it with antibiotics. However, since the infection is chronic and keeps coming back, it's because the body's immune response cannot adapt to overcome the infection. So to resolve the problem, you can take antibiotics forever (which we found out the bacteria adapt themselves against antibiotics,) or try to figure out strategies to strengthen the body so it can be better adapted against infections.

When people die of aging, besides talking about cases like getting shot in the head or car accidents or something, it's because the cummulative stress placed on their body was too much and their body's ability to adapt has been used up and they no longer have the ability to adapt and overcome, thus how they'll die of a flu a teenager will get the sniffles from.
How this relates to your question, everyone only has certain amounts of mental fortitude. You eventually will start breaking if stress is applied and nothing is done to repair or counteract the stress. And again, Aspergers we can conclude makes us deficient in handling stress already. Also having Aspergers, while in itself pretty neutral, will generally cause a certain amount more stress to happen in the person's life. The people that survive it or thrive either naturally have better adaptation in their body/mind, or have had less stressful lives or a mixture of them both.

Sorry if this is a bit vague of an answer, but I hope you understand the concept.

I believe PTSD is a common co-traveler with AS. That being said, have a perusal on a web search.

The good thing is that you can help symptoms of PTSD and enjoy a better quality of life. The government employed trauma specialist where I live is a big believer in Mindfulness Meditation and endorses John Kabat-Zinn's approach: http://www.jonkabat-zinn.com/

You can also find him on you tube.

I suggest professional consultation, if possible, of course - but I thought it worth mentioning this resource for your consideration as an adjunct.

I can readily admit that this statement is somewhat true.

Though most of what I suffered as a child was enduranced over a long period of itme (primary parent was guilty party), i would say it didnt worsen my condition as an autistic, I will say it probably exacerbated my Axis II diagnosis (SPD), I dont trust people at all, and I have other issues that go along with it.

Thank you for the feedback everyone. My difficult experiences have occurred over an extended period of time (verbal abuse and other types of mistreatment at the hands of a parent and grandparent) and I wanted to have an idea of whether or not it was indeed making my AS worse. I see now that the symptoms of PTSD are similar to some of my AS traits, but worse; not that the PTSD is actually worsening my AS.

My dad was a bully in a number of ways (in fact, he still is, although slightly improved).

Another thing, living in a hostile, untrustworthy, unpredictable environment delayed me in developing skills I needed to develop.

Abuse and neglect can by themselves trigger behaviours that mimic AS symptoms, so it would make sense it can also worsen existing symptoms.