Can It Be Possible That Traits Get Worse As One Gets Older?

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First of all, it is only when I joined this site that I found out that aspects of my character were autism traits. When I first joined I only had one trait to go on and I joined to find out what I later found out were called "Shutdowns" actually were. (I had spent all my life trying to find out what was wrong with me in this way as I was not able to describe them effectively to the right people who would understand, and I was going off in the wrong directions trying to find the cause (Which took me right away from the real cause)).
But in the last decade and a half or so I would say that especially in the last three to five years (After the last few burnouts), things have gone a lot worse which if anything have vastly exposed what I would say had been minor traits and amplified them so I could no longer ignore them.
I have asked myself if it is because I did not know they were traits before, but this does not really explain what has happened, even though looking at my past and things have flared up on various past stressful occasions...
I understand myself more now though so that is good. It is actually great, as about a year and a half ago or more, facing the issues I have without knowing what they were or understanding the cause etc.. No way would I want to be in that position again! It was just horrible!! !

I will concentrate on the autistic traits as I have not been diagnosed yet (On a waiting list), but in my life, when I look back it is like things came to a head and in the past I was better able to cope with things? It gives me the impression that if it is autism, it can get worse as one gets older?
Or is it that the effects of successive burnouts where each one has hit me much harder then the last have caused me to think this? They feel a bit like some sort of mental breakdown but on a smaller scale? As they effect me both mentally and physically.. The physical bit is very noticeable.

But anyway. I will add a pole to make it easier to answer.

Hmmm...

It gets better as one matures with time, knowledge and experience, and develops adaptations or coping strategies overtime.


It gets worse as life becomes more demanding, with age related issues or changes that may cause (physical/mental/emotional) health issues, and with mismanagements that leads to burnouts.

And effects of burnouts in longterm tend to be like injuries that are hard to recover from, that likely does not make one stronger or worse.


Also overall, all initial factors can fluctuate overtime whether or not burnouts or life circumstances are involved.



In my case, my traits fluctuates very wildly overtime. I don't even had to get frequent burnouts or life changes for that happen.

I vote undecided. Because I'm still investigating my own factors. And I've been investigating for over 6+ years now.

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my definitely have gotten worse as to whether that's because it fell apart and i'm left with worse than I had. and It's always been the same level o difficulty I'm not sure. I functioned alot better pre-burnout. I functioned alot better when i was younger in general.

mine have gotten better to the point where I can practically pass as NT sometimes. on the other hand, my anxiety and depression get much worse with each passing year.

Autistic traits, being genetic, can't get worse over time. However, emotional problems, often misconstrued as autistic traits, can definitely get worse over time. There's no cure for genetics but emotional problems can be overcome. I know because I did it. I think they often get worse because most people don't want to get better. It seems like everyone wants to be a victim so they can avoid their problems and blame everyone else for them. If anyone wants to get better, I'm able and willing to help.

I voted "yes" though I'm not sure if my traits have gotten more noticeable due to the extra pressure and stress that come along with being an adult or if I'm just more aware of them because I've learned so much more about autism and am still learning more and more each day as I've gotten older.

Don't know if the actual traits change or not - depends how they're defined I guess. But the severity of the disorder as judged by the impact on the person's life, and the degree to which the traits are noticed, I think they can change.

I had little trouble till I was 9 or 10 years old, then things got worse, then better, and over the past few years some aspects seem to be getting worse. Sensory issues are much worse - I felt reasonably comfortable for a long time but not any more. I think the resilience of youth played its part. It's hard to know which changes were down to absolute shifts in me and which were down to changes in the environment.

I've heard of cases deteriorating, and I've heard of success stories.

Yes, definitely - as they get reinforced by many factors: repetition, environment, family, politics, cynicism.

You have to make a conscious effort to reduce the effects of these factors, or you will become a cranky old geezer who never stops pushing your opinions on others.

I'd like to edit my earlier post. Genetic conditions can get worse if they interact with non-genetic factors. For example, seasonal allergies are believed to be genetic but getting worse due to higher pollen counts. So if autism were caused by a genetic reaction to pollen (or another environmental factor) it could get worse over time.