@creative_writer 🤗
@creative_writer wrote:
I finally finished off the triggering assignment today. I’m studying part time and can’t manage any more. I am really behind but I’m trying to catch up.
Cheering you on from afar on your assignment today, and your amazing persistence in your studies. 😊. I did my uni degree part-time, and I even did my year 12 as only 4 days (instead of 5) per week. It's totally OK (in my opinion!) to do part-time, and it's just as valid. Sometimes it even shows extra perseverance (due to challenges that require part-time) but also the wisdom to know fulltime is not an option and the strength to accept that. It's certainly what I wish "the rest of the world' understood from my experience. I can't work fulltime, and I'm currently applying for a DSP because I can't even sustain 3 days a week work. I think you are doing great, because you are trying your best and balancing your needs.
@creative_writer wrote:
@AlwaysMyselfthere is autistic and ADHD burn out. Sensory overload has intensified feelings of SI in the past. I haven’t had SI for a few days, they were starting to pop up a bit. I think
I was super triggered and I still am, feeling sensations in my body rn.
I don’t identify as gender diverse or queer. I may be on the ace spectrum, but I’m not sure if it is a trauma response.
Sending hugs for the triggers. Is it something you'd like to chat about? I am available right now if so for abit.
I'm not scared of it, or triggered by it.
Re: Autistic/ADHD burnout -- a friend mentioned it to me 2 years ago, and I related to everything they told me about the symptoms but followed it up with "but apparently I'm not autistic" (not based on a trained clinician assessment, but based on my mother who is a psychologist and also on past psychiatrists never considering it). Turns out I am, and have been in burnout for 25 years. 😅 Which worsened to burnout-crisis the past 3 years.
Re: Gender identity & truama.
I don't identify as other than my assigned-at-birth sex & gender. However, I also don't "connect" with it and don't feel my gender is any part of my identity (just a biological description). I also am mostly asexual. I had always assumed both of these things were a repercussion of my CSA, despite not having PTSD symptoms from it (I had some very minor ones when younger, effectively treated with psychology). But after learning that Trauma and Autism "symptoms" can look very similar I reflected on it and questioned myself deeper about why I feel that way... and I'm pretty sure that for myself it's actually my autistic symptoms and not my trauma. (Happy to go into it more if you'd like - just ask). It was interesting when I realised that non-binary and asexual was fairly common within autism.
I am not saying this applies to your situation! Just the thoughts that your comment prompted within my own experience 😊 and how hard it can be to know what causes what within a complex experience and comorbidities. I feel very fortunate that I don't have PTSD, and that fact for me was a clue that maybe it wasn't rooted in trauma for me. I recognise this is very different for you, as you do have significant PTSD. I wish I could heal that pain for/with you, my friend.
