A Patient-Therapist Perspective on Autism and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

[@progressnotperfection1839]

This happens to me in therapy when I dissociate or depersonalize, there’s a complete disconnect for me. My therapist will ask, “What are you thinking,” and I’m just sort of in a moment, frozen, with nothing going in or out.

[@siennaskye_journey]

This happened to me in EMDR all the time!!!

[@desiraangelle9844]

I am late in life realized autistic and a year later realized DID. I have a therapist now and she says I'm leaps and bounds along in my treatment and it's in part to you!!!!!😊 Much gratitude

[@thectadclinic]

That is wonderful, we hope for the very best in your therapy!

[@imjustjules]

Autism and DID co occur way more than what we’re seeing in research, I’ve noticed. There’s an entire Reddit thread about folks who are late diagnosed level 2 autistic and also have DID. I’m really curious about the correlation as someone who is a self suspecting system and is formally diagnosed with autism. I’m so excited to come back to this and watch in full when we’re dissociating less lol! Already off to a wonderful start that grounding is so much more difficult for us, ugh totally. Thank you so much for this M, nice to meet y’all :)

[@imjustjules]

I’m just leaving a second comment bc we finished watching it! We were like woah how are they so integrated… oh M went to your clinic haha. But seriously thank you for instilling hope in us! The most crucial part of this we felt was toward the end when y’all discussed how traditional cbt (and as M said, cbt in general) isn’t greatly suited for many autistic clients, but especially autistic systems. Exposure therapy isn’t the same for us since we have inhibited habituation and we cannot habituate to social and sensory input that is distressing for us due to autism. If there’s trauma aspects then hopefully our distress can decrease with treatment. Like M, we went through tons of this for our agoraphobia and it made things worse. Going out autonomously to get squishmallows has rly helped us because it’s something our system wants to do. We can plan that 90% M discussed and accept and cope with the 10% that transpires unplanned. Along with that yes we need bottom up therapy!! Therapists in the US think they do phase 1 of trauma therapy by giving us DBT and some grounding techniques, mindfulness etc. but as y’all said, it is certainly not enough. We need an individualized plan. And as autistic systems I think we need a lot of somatic and sensory based supports. Again that’s why our squishmallows have been so important to us! They’re our anchors. Anyway lots of rambles but thanks again!! I’m so excited this resource exists and that some autistic systems are getting formal treatment that is helping with integration and trauma recovery. 😌🎉

[@AuDHDID]

@@imjustjules I appreciated all the rambles. DBT has some helpful insights but I always found the emotional mind vs wise mind impossible to master in the moment due to delayed processing. When I’m near melt down the only wise mind I can muster is go be alone. After the fact it’s a great tool.

[@LittlePsyCrow]

This is so interesting to me, as a female with an autistim diagnosis, questioning also being a system!

[@imjustjules]

@@AuDHDID yep! I don’t think dbt is all bad. I just think it needs to be modified for autistic people. And Sonny Jane’s workbook for it is not modified dbt. It’s just the skills they approve of. I really wish more modalities were made with us in mind. Because as you discussed, a big skill we’re strong in as autistic people is often coping at the book ends. I used to be a therapist and in my internship we did a “cope ahead” worksheet with the middle schoolers before a holiday. I kept that sheet and used it with clients. My autistic clients loved it and even asked me for the sheet before stressful events ! It makes a huge difference. But as you said, afterward… we need to process.. what happened? Why did it happen? What were our triggers? Why do we have those? Who in the system is holding onto those? And could we have done anything differently if we happened to endure a similar situation again? The worst is the last question.. sometimes the answer is no. I think having control is so pathologized as a trauma thing but for autistic people it’s actually really important in grounding us and giving us autonomy. As your 90/10 formula posits, we sort of need a certain percentage of control too.. and that makes us more likely to get through difficult situations. Lastly this reminds us of your point of identifying what in the situation was about the other person / their nervous system and not you. That’s something we’re still figuring out because we love Joanne’s Twombly’s proposed skills especially having a sort of shield for those situations… but we haven’t figured that out either. Like you, other ppl’s nervous system states do rly contribute to overload and even our chronic illness symptoms. We’re grateful y’all named that.

[@CharlieTheMad256]

Do you mind me asking what the Reddit is called? I can’t find it 😭

[@MultiplicityAndMe]

Thank you so much Mike and M! This was very informative and so helpful for me to understand the nuances in autism and DID. 😊 lots of reflection around the delivery of CBT too that I will for sure bear in mind for the future too!

[@thectadclinic]

Glad to hear it!!

[@AuDHDID]

glad you found it helpful ☺

[@Richard-n2w1g]

For me, my perfectionism has a similar use. Because in a perfect scenario nothing can go wrong

[@KKKK-ld9wb]

Love this format of talking with an actual client. Hope you will do it with other clients to give us hope.

[@thectadclinic]

We are thinking about this, too!

[@TheoSwinford]

We had a very similar issue of trying to get help for trauma and dissocation, and the professional misinterpreting what we were telling them as psychosis. And then it feels like they don't take you seriously because they're interpreting everything you're trying to tell them through their assumption that you're delusional!

[@AuDHDID]

So sorry to hear that was your experience too.

[@binarystar11235]

M, thank you so much for giving this interview! It is SOOO nice to hear you talk and explain in an autistic-natural way, and not have to translate it into a structure that fits into my brain. Also the things you say and the way you approach the challenges of (daily and otherwise) life resonate with me. It makes me realise that I have autistic traits (and not just problems) that I can probably use towards finding comfort and solutions for myself and my parts. Very inspired by this video and feeling less alone in my 'odd' combination of diagnoses.

[@AuDHDID]

Good luck with your journey 💜

[@melancholystrings4736]

CBT was a hell! I also did not know I was masking, and was even kicked out of many therapist offices for being so "unwilling to participate"! lol The same health system that threw me out of appointments, also claimed I could not be autistic as 'they would know". Despite all the prior trauma that set me up for a system, I now also get to tote around the medical trauma as well. Currently going thru it all over again w/ a physical health issue. the dissociation and communication issues are leaving me with no support but buckets more of trauma to sift through at a later date. my body is lowkey falling apart, and i just cannot get to all the things. if only doctors had adequate training. OH! just cus I love telling people this, it validates so much of my childhood trauma! I've recently had medical affirmation that I have been living w/ a broken nose for over 15 years c: chronically under oxygenated from being forced/trained to breathe through my blocked nose.

[@fishh3ad]

Same bro

[@ichi_san]

Thank you kindly for this. I will definitely be watching this soon. After meeting a psychiatrist who didn't think autism can go hand in hand with trauma conditions; this is deeply uplifting and helpful. Thanks for all you do.

[@AuDHDID]

They absolutely can, and you aren't on your own 💜

[@ichi_san]

@@AuDHDID Thanks!

[@helenthorpe2862]

Thank you so much for this, 1000 times over! This was so validating - the trouble in getting therapy, with grounding, with changes needs, with how exhausting social contact can be or how little social contact I seem to want (because I'm already exhausted from dealing with all of my own emotions and signals)...

[@thectadclinic]

Thank you!

[@AuDHDID]

You aren’t alone 💜

[@mreajamorgana]

I spent so much time in therapy just explaining why I can't do morning walks, socialization, painting, and how it won't help me, it will only make me stress more and dissociate more.

[@AuDHDID]

@@mreajamorgana I'm curious why you included painting in that list... I get the other 2 because of the stimulation. I personally find painting very theraputic.

[@mreajamorgana]

@AuDHDID I finished art school. For me painting was not a hobby, it was a profession and a super interest. It takes a lot of effort and intellectualization, I will regress in painfully states in order to express them, the sensory overwhelming of the oil colours on my hands and clothings, the process of preparing and unpacking the stuff and then cleaning after. Washing oil colors away from the brushes it's so hard. I also can't force super interests, they come and go.

[@fredadufaur2218]

Absolutely brilliant conversation! Learnt so much, can’t wait to share it inside & out 🥰

[@thectadclinic]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@elielliso]

This is supremely helpful and very specifically teases out the presentations, strengths, challenges, overlaps, and differences between DID and autism and the specific needs of folks with both dissociation and autism. Great video, thank you both so much for your time and experience.

[@thectadclinic]

Glad you liked it!

[@fredadufaur2218]

I loved this,thank you both. Do it more! Kj

[@thisbetheverses]

Thank you!!! We're SO relieved and excited to see this! We have DID and our body is autistic (not all of us identify as autistic) and we've been looking everywhere for somewhere to cover these things together and the overlap and what it could look like in the interaction between both but its really niche and difficult to find

[@thisbetheverses]

We really appreciate both the thoughtful way you asked the questions and the considered and easy to understand and relate to way that M answers. There's a lot of insightful information and tips shared in this video that we could easily understand in a way that applies to ourselves.

[@corriemcclain7960]

So helpful. I was diagnosed ASD during the pandemic but recently have started to think I'm a system too. There were so many helpful insights in this interview

[@sarahberesford4724]

System?

[@progressnotperfection1839]

The compassion piece has not been easy for a few of my parts.

[@plumblossomed]

Haven't finished this yet, but just wanted to stop and give a huge thanks to M for mentioning 8D music. I had never heard of that before, and holy smokes, I think you just unlocked my brain, or something. I feel so grounded in my body, and am feeling emotions like I haven't in years. It like slammed me back into my body (not in a bad way) like no other grounding exercise has before. I will definitely be adding it to my grounding toolkit to use in the future.

[@AuDHDID]

I'm so glad you found it helpful, we felt exactly the same way when we first tried it out!

[@TheVortexCollective]

thanx for all you do, have been dealing with being a system on my own for years before getting a therapist, and this channel, along with a few others, are what helped us on our journey.

[@emmalyckajacobsson590]

Thank you very interesting. Surely I can recognize all the effort that is made just to sort things out during an ordinary day. Even if I am not autistic, I need a lot of solitude, to let different thoughts and parts have time to react on what has happened and to "discuss" it internally.

[@deannafoster9721]

This was a fantastic interview! There is a lot to unpack from this interview. Something this interview made me think of was possibly my own brain processing for long-term memory. I find that the Autistic side was really helpful for me, but also exhausting. When learning social cues, behavior and how to deal with the outside world in general, there has always been a certain process. (I'm quite embarrassed to admit this but I find it significant) When I was a child, I would use my Barbies and replay the entire day having our Barbies mimic every interaction over and over and over again. That was something I secretly did well into my teens-- long after the Barbies should have been put away. I did it alone in my closet and I think asked for a Barbie for Christmas when I was, at least, 14 or 15. Finally when the Barbies were put away, it was a relentless replaying all hours of the night of processing and processing to prepare for the next day to fit in. I don't really recall much of my high school, because I thought it was due to having an alcohol problem. This became really helpful when I went offline and didn't come back online until the next morning, having probably a full switch that attended a family gathering in my 40s and ended up drinking. I don't like to drink alcohol. That process I had developed, I think, makes it more possible to recall what happened before, what happened then, then what happened, and then this happened on a very deeper level. Not just replaying movements or actions, but people's reactions, their expressions and my discomfort level up to where I went offline seeing just before I had a drink in my hand and literally saying, "What are we doing? I don't drink. People know I don't drink. How are they responding to this? Are they going to let me"-- then poof. (If that makes sense) But also that notion that other parts are Autistic, because self-medicating like drinking or doing drugs to fit in or to feel more comfortable in social situations is often seen in Asperger's Syndrome. Very valuable to understand the Autistic side regardless of parts but also they way different individuals process their lives for social engagement. Great interview!

[@thectadclinic]

Thank you!

[@AuDHDID]

It's quite common for autistic people to script out and practice conversations in front of the mirror. Or role play them with toys etc. My littles still do it with their teddys occassionally which prompts me to ask them if they are anxious about something. It's about looking for some sense of certainty about social interation and planning ahead to help with the anxiety.

[@deannafoster9721]

@@AuDHDID I never thought about the anxious side of it all. School left me extremely anxious. As I recall, I either didn't want to go or I'd go and sometimes start crying, pretending I'd accidently hit my elbow or forgot my homework to cover the emotional outburst. As late as 2nd grade or even 4th grade. It makes sense now to see it as relentless practicing in hopes of lessening the anxious bit. I just always saw it as learning how to communicate with people. Thank you for your feedback.

[@didwithme7769]

Being autistic and having DID this is very much like our experience too. Especially the planning vs over planning. Figuring out emotions can be so hard. The grounding part was interesting because some grounding things works for us with sensory stuff and some don't.

[@AuDHDID]

Glad you found some things that work. We all have different sensory profiles and even within that we have senses we seek and avoid. I hare noise but loud music on my headphones is bliss!

[@didwithme7769]

@AuDHDID Thank you. Yes, very true, it's all a spectrum, after all. Oh yeah, definitely, we're generally more sensory avoiding, but some things, like soft fabrics, are amazing.

[@sarahberesford4724]

​@didwiyeasthme7769 yes true do you have fibromyalgia symptoms from autism

[@AuDHDID]

@@sarahberesford4724 It is my understanding that Fibromyalgia is a trauma related condition rather than autism but pain from my fibro does increase my sensory distress. Hope that helps.

[@didwithme7769]

@@sarahberesford4724 No, I don't. But I do have a lot of GI issues and autoimmune issues that some studies indicate may be related to trauma.

[@zametal.]

Thank you so much, M. I currently feel like I cannot go anywhere as a patient in (probably autistic) burnout who struggles with life. I am also multiple, though I am not sure if it is relevantly involved in my suffering, so I do not know whether I would qualify for a diagnosis there.

[@AuDHDID]

I’ve just made some videos on burnout recovery if that is helpful to you 😊

[@progressnotperfection1839]

Great video! Great insight for me and have shared that insight with my therapist! 😊

[@thectadclinic]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@siennaskye_journey]

Aaaa hey Dr. Mike!!! Me again! I can’t wait to watch this!! I actually put it on last night and fell asleep to it, so now I’ll have to watch again! 🥹🤍

[@autiejedi5857]

This resonated so much! We also have both conditions (both very late diagnosed) and always struggled with therapy. Grounding techniques rarely work, alexythemia makes it hard to bot know what we're feeling and realize we're feeling anything, and connecting with a therapist is very tricky. The double empathy problem (Dr Damian Milton) made it impossible to be understoid, and the masking shows up in daily life as well as our alters. Since finding a neurodivergent therapist we've finally begun moving forward (he's a unicorn and we're so lucky to have him by our side!). Thank you both for discussing this! I hope other therapists see this and learn from what was shared. Brilliant 💜

[@FlyinDogRecords]

Is your therapist in the USA?

[@laurag7936]

Thank you so much! Will definitely be sharing with both the therapist community and living experience community around me.

[@thectadclinic]

Please do!

[@mreajamorgana]

I'm autistic and and I have dissociative episodes. And I do therapy now but it's extremely hard. This is very helpful and very relatable.

[@luticia]

Woow! This is so very great!! Finally a video about having DID and autism. I‘m an DID, Autism and cancer patient. Currently I‘m healing from DID and cancer. But due to the enormous stress that are coming with it, my autistic symptoms have gotten crazy. Not because they got worse but because due to lack of energy, I cannot compensate or hide them anymore. So atm, I mostly stay at home because I can’t handle any tiny input anymore.

[@AuDHDID]

Masking takes so much energy so it's natural that you don't have energy for it at this time. I hope being at home provides you some comfort 💜

[@binarystar11235]

I completely understand that you cannot mask and do everything required to 'fit in' on top of everything else you have to deal with. You must be a very strong person to manage all that. I know that I find myself so overloaded and overwhelmed that I stay at home a lot of the time, and that is without the cancer. I wish you lots of courage, peace of mind and good outcomes

[@luticia]

I thank you both for strengthening me in my perceptions. That is so soothing. In my life, I‘m surrounded by people who always either ignore my perceptions and needs or let me know that they are wrong. Thank you for your kindness.

[@sarahberesford4724]

​@@luticiasend blessings to you do you have hypomobilty heds as this causes even more fatigue with autism with all my research I e found

[@luticia]

@@sarahberesford4724 Thank you Sarah for your blessings and your question/advice. Sorry, but I don’t understand. What are hypomobility heds? I‘m from Germany.

[@Yk-qe8dz]

This was really enlightening to watch and I love all the insight it gives about both the autistic and DID reality. It really gives a whole new perspective not only from the combination of these two traits, but from their own "world" as well. I particularly appreciated how it's giving us a really good distinction between those two reality, and how it reacts and combines with each other. This was really interesting, I want to thank both of you for taking that time to make this video! Please take care ❤

[@AylaMead]

Thank you so much for creating this video, and thank you M for sharing your experience. I've found the video very comforting in that 'omg yes this is my experience too, I finally feel understood!' My system is autistic and we have spent a lot of energy figuring out how to navigate the interplay of tertiary dissociation and ASD. So it was really good to hear that someone else has experienced similar things

[@binarystar11235]

That's exactly how it is for me, too

[@AuDHDID]

I'm glad it was comforting, and yes it does take a lot of energy but well worth it ☺

[@EmmaSmith-nn1ui]

Thank you so much for this.

[@pardalote]

Wow, that was the best video yet. M, you have so much wisdom! There is much for me to unpack and use. I have started watching the video again to see what else I can learn. The highlight for me was your brilliant butterfly tapping grounding technique. So fast and so effective. Amazing!

[@AuDHDID]

Thanks for your kind words, glad the butterfly hugs/tapping helped.

[@PluralSelves]

Mike and M, thanks so much for this view of life from an autistic person with DID/plurality (or at least that of one alter in an autistic plural system) As another such person, I have a question that I’ve struggled with: how similar are “alters” and “parts” in DID or OSDD1b to “parts” in Schwarz’s IFS? I often hear them used as synonyms, but that confuses me. Is there an assumption in DID/OSDD1b, as there is in IFS, of a sharp distinction between “Self” and “parts” with a unitary/effectively singleton “Self” potentially complicated by plural “parts” - and that “Self” consisting only of “positive” attributes and all “negative” or troublesome attributes effectively outsourced to the “parts”? From my lived experience as a diagnosed autistic plural system who takes the concept of “plurality” literally, my perception is that each alter can have its own “Self” and “parts” with the result potentially being plural Selves in a system and with parts inside "parts". What is your view on this?

[@thectadclinic]

We don't really see it like IFS describes a lot of the time, as IFS does its own thing. We look at each person/system individually and work out what is happening to them, what is their own experience, and what meaning does it hold. No modality should 'tell you' what you have.

[@PluralSelves]

@@thectadclinic Thanks very much!

[@AuDHDID]

We don’t like to label our parts by their trauma responses. Our parts have many beautiful qualities and traits. Focusing on those empowers us all 😊 - M

[@DragoDrache]

This is wonderful, thank you so much! 🙏

[@thectadclinic]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@alittlespacetime]

Extremely valuable insights! Thank you for sharing! ☆♡

[@paradox13]

How do you build back self esteem/escape shame after traumatic events - my view of what I "deserve" is through the dirt.

[@AuDHDID]

Personally I had to give myself the things I needed despite those feelings. Over time, the shame started to dissipate.

[@Michael_X313]

I don't have a diagnosis but like there was a really cool music teacher who said I scored perfect on their music test and I was getting over 100% in like algebra classes in 11th grade because I would do the extra credit n stuff. I really did enjoy it because I was good at it but I remember I enjoyed blocking everyone else out too. Idk. My entire nervous system has always been super sensitive. Certain repetitive patterns can cause me weird distress while I need other patterns to occupy myself with. It's difficult to communicate and I think it's true how autistics are too honest.

[@Michael_X313]

I was able to relate to what she said. I just like seeing things I can sincerely relate to because I feel it less and less.

[@AuDHDID]

I’m so glad you connected to our experiences. Hopefully we can start a community of like minded people 💜

[@FlyinDogRecords]

Incredibly useful! Thank you for this very informative video. I will subscribe to M's channel!

[@AuDHDID]

Thank you so much, we’d love to have you 😊

[@fishh3ad]

Thanks for this, i would LOVE to hear M talk about what their daily life feels like with this combo. As an autistic person its very hard to understand the internal experience of DID based on like symptom lists and stuff

[@thectadclinic]

Thank you! M has started her own KZbin channel discussing this very thing, the link is in the description. Please go and have a listen!

[@fishh3ad]

​@@thectadclinicah!! Thanks!! Oh my god!

[@iamafairyqueen]

Wonderful video!

[@thectadclinic]

Glad you liked it!

[@amirat8162]

Thanks!

[@carolegowling2963]

So good

[@winnethecat]

As an autistic system with other health issues holy fuck this is helpful. A lot of my headmates are actually older than me (not all though) and I honestly am still figuring shit out. I may be the host and the one who does the outside stuff, but like if I’m scared or anxious I’m running to my adultier adults per se. I’ve actually been watching a lot of your videos and think I’m gonna use it for recorces to actually explain things to people and stuff. Also my system is so nice to me even when I can’t get myself out of bed without the gatekeeper or caregivers dragging me out of bed. They also were able to communicate with me as a child and probably the reasons I didn’t feel so alone or scared all the time. Now I only recently figured out they were headmates cause they often appeared as spirits or helper beings I could just talk to and didn’t get mad at me. But yeah these fuckers help me with a lot and still love me even after knowing how fucked in the head I am at times and just. I love my system and they’re the best.

[@winnethecat]

Also 30:14 made me fucking laugh out loud case hyper empath here and let me tell you it hurts to watch movies or just have to be in awkward situations I know are gonna end badly. But that does make me a great therapist freind as well as just being able to help kids out with voicing their emotions as well as freinds. Also how do you get into this clinic cause I wanna show this to my current therapist (who’s gonna move soon) and see if somehow I can get into this clinic or something similar that would be able to understand all of my complexities, I also live in the US if that complicates things.

[@AuDHDID]

I'm glad you found it helpful & have a good support in your system. Healthy system relationships are so important.

[@AuDHDID]

​@@winnethecat I hear you, movies and TV impact us too.

[@thectadclinic]

@@winnethecatthank you for the comment. Sadly, the US licensing laws prohibit UK therapists from offering these services to you. We would if we were allowed!

[@FlyinDogRecords]

Well that was what I was wondering... I wonder how Dick Schwartz from Internal Family System's is able to do this world wide?.... ​@@thectadclinic

[@dianapana718]

Oh my god my 11yo diagnosed with autism and I suspected I may have autism n DID but thought nah I’m too high functioning. Suppose psych degree n sociology degree really helped we a lot n the most in life. When u talk about routine n detailed orientated n planning n for me contingency plans. Wow. It’s we. And we see gastroenterologist and our normal drs and they are ALL intimidated by we n our knowledge. Special interest or really for me huge obsession to self manage n write own treatment plans really intimidated specialists n professionals. It’s amazing n beautiful. I prob am autistic n DID also but hmmm not sure. We need daily routine aswell as food routine. It’s ridiculous. Always done this n can eat same food for years n decades most days even if not hungry. Eve have to eat it a specific way. laugh out loud. Have to do it out of anxiety n to keep parts happy. We have sooo many fidgets also. And are huge empaths. Surprise surprise. This lovely lady is a mirror of we. Thank you for sharing as even my daughter has speculated if I have asd. Perfectionism has drastically reduced. Who cares some days. I tried to be perfect to avoid trauma. It didn’t work. So now we think what’s point when those two were never linked in reality. Also lots of correlation for us with food and exercise and diet. I suspect gut issues contributes to this also. But at one stage we were extremely obsessed. Now we are careful not to trigger this as it was very time n daily consuming. Eiks.

[@AuDHDID]

I can relate, glad you are aware of that trigger now 💜 gut issues are common for autistics.

[@lucius7806]

We are an autistic system and I’m so excited to listen to this! I feel like the conditions are so deeply linked for us, but don’t find much about it

[@TheLappwald]

Thank you for this video. I have DID. I recently took one of these tests for autism spectrum disorder and achieved values ​​between 38 and 44. Depending on who else is taking the test, I explain the high values ​​as DID, because some symptoms and behaviors are quite similar i think ( Sorry for that bad English, we are German) I´m not sure, if i should talk to my Therapist about that

[@kellyschroeder7437]

Thank you Dr Mike and M 💞💙👊👊. May ask which was known/dx or discerned/suspected first ASD or DID ???

[@AuDHDID]

I found out about my DID first (about 12 years ago now) and I worked out I was autistic about 2 years ago. Both only got officially diagnosed in the last year. Initially I was refused an autism assesment due to my DID diagnosis but I stuck to it and found someone experienced enough to assess me!

[@kellyschroeder7437]

@@AuDHDID good for you. All the best 💞💙👊👊

[@laurag7936]

How long is the usual therapy process with CTAD for working with OSDD? I know there’s not going to be any specific time scale but trying to get some information in preparation for my current treatment being “time up” and how I explore next steps (even if that is a negotiation with ICB/CCG)

[@fishh3ad]

Is there any research on like infant and birth trauma in relation to dissociation?

[@brettalexander6270]

This is a fantastic video and we really needed to hear this. Im autistic & questioning. However, I'm curious for a future video, how does OCD interact with DID/OSDD? Ive heard that different alters can have different triggers etc but I was wondering about OCD being used as a mask/barrier covering the fact that someone is a system, does anyone else experience this?

[@Sasha24601]

our OCD used to have our DID as an obsession, so it would give me intrusive thoughts about how every little thing is actually a sign of DID, and that would cause me distress and I'd do my compulsions to stop it. That made me think that it was just OCD and I dismissed the possibility of having DID for a while. But turns out that under the OCD there is, in fact, DID

[@kellyschroeder7437]

Wow !!!! 😮 💔😪💙💞🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻💙💞

[@jessqinn7702]

Oh wow. Thank you so much to M for doing this and sharing and talking. Wow. Thank you!! Thank you for breaking it down, details, saying how it works for you. Question (for M or for if you talk to other people about this) - was suicidal thoughts part of your experience? How did that fit for you once you had the understanding of DID and/or Autism? Did that change as you worked through things? Thank you to Dr Mike and the CTAD clinic too.

[@AuDHDID]

Yes we did have those thoughts. Having compassion for parts and helping them redirect fixations on those thoughts helped us a lot.

[@thectadclinic]

Thank you! M has started her own KZbin channel - the link is in the description. Please go and have a listen!

[@myribunt5261]

I go by M and i have Audhd and DID

[@ashleyboots3386]

Is this new content, or an upload of the previous DID/ASD talk?

[@thectadclinic]

@@ashleyboots3386 totally new and different interview. The previous one was with a researcher about ASD and trauma.

[@ashleyboots3386]

@@thectadclinic thank you for letting me know!

[@AuDHDID]

The last one was pretty awesome too!

[@siennaskye_journey]

I am autistic and questioning system. I have had so many questions in how these two might collide/combat one another! Could having autism effect switching/the ability to switch? Could it in any way make it more difficult to accept being a system, since we tend to be more logical in terms of thinking?

[@AuDHDID]

Every autistic person and system is different. I'm very left brained/anayltical but I accepted my system rather quickly because at the time of realising the others were there it made so much sense why my life had gone the way it did/amnesia etc. Dr Mike has a great video on denial which might help.

[@siennaskye_journey]

@@AuDHDID Thank you! I never leave the front (at least in the last five years), and so it creates so much doubt. I am in a high state of distress, panic, and pain 24/7, and it’s difficult for me to understand- if the others are really there, then how come nobody switches in to take over or help me when I’m at my end and can’t take on any more? I get left to carry it all alone and I never get to switch out. We also have horrible communication now, and it’s been expressed that no one wants to talk to me, I’m not allowed to know what’s going on, and night existence/presence might even cause the others harm somehow. I’ve been shut out. I’m so tired and don’t want to be here at front anymore, but I never get to leave. So this causes me to doubt the possibility of really being a system. I only learned about what OSDDID is last summer. They’re there, and some have been there since early childhood. But they never come to the front. I also have major difficulty believing that trauma happened, because I have no memory of it. And I also can’t see how anything that we suspect happened, could have possibly happened in our timeline/life. I just don’t see how it could fit, considering other aspects of our life, or who in our life would have had the ability to do what I have reason to believe was done. I’m so afraid that I only convinced myself of everything. I’m in major need of a therapist that specializes in this, but I have zero way to get one. So I’ve been binging Dr. Mike’s videos. They’re all I have right now. 🤍

[@AuDHDID]

​@@siennaskye_journey One thing that worked for us was telling them that I loved them and I was here even if they didn't want to talk back. I showed up and made space for them, left messages and eventually they started to talk to me. They needed to know I would always be there and when I passed 'the test' they felt safe.

[@siennaskye_journey]

@@AuDHDID Thank you. 😣🤍 I’ve been more actively doing this for a little over a year now. Letting them know I love them and that I want them to be safe and at peace, and that if they ever want to talk, I’m willing to listen. But if not, that’s okay too. I’ll just be here if they need me. I give them opportunity to decide what we’ll watch or eat or do. I leave journals in case they want to write. I leave them letters and notes. I ask them if there’s anything they need to feel safer, or anything they want. I’m so tired though. I’m trying to be patient, but I feel so scared and alone. I don’t know how many more months I can handle doing this alone.

[@Jayneoneil]

Mike I know you support a animal rescue have you ever thought off working with them to create a victim adoption program meaning matching abused animals with people that have had similar experiences therefore transforming both lifes for the better lots off study's have been done on the benifts off owning a pet animals give unconditional love whitch is what people needed especially people that have had server childhood trauma abuse

[@thectadclinic]

It is a great idea, and we pair with animal charities to support them, in the hope that people can see the very benefits you describe.

[@debxwalters]

Can having an un-recognised neurodivergent condition cause enough trauma to trigger a dissociative disorder? Or at least be a major contributary factor?

[@laurag7936]

That’s a very interesting question, would definitely like to hear some more reflection on it?

[@Sasha24601]

any chronic trauma in childhood is enough to cause a dissociative disorder, if you're going to develop one though is pretty individual. But having a developmental/neurodivergent condition since early childhood does absolutely cause chronic trauma, so I'd say yeah it's possible. and if it's unrecognized chances are your caregivers didn't meet your needs or help you with your struggles, so that's another layer that can also be super traumatizing. the systems I've talked to where this was the major contributing factor to their plurality also mention to me that a lot of abuse occurred because of ableism and their parents/classmates/teachers responding to their neurodivergent symptoms in abusive ways

[@kathiarledge9275]

I just want you to know I’m not watching this material for an hour.

[@thectadclinic]

@@kathiarledge9275 ok, thanks for letting us know!