"De-gaslighting", explained by a therapist

[STEM_Dad]

I hadn't heard of "degaslighting" before I saw this video by a therapist treats a lot of neurodivergent people.

She says that she always measures trauma for her clients, because "being neurodivergent in this world is inherently traumatic".

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[OldIndigoBlue]

This was good to hear for sure. I have to say the title "degaslighting" confused me - I thought about the artist "Degas" LOL!! But yes, this resonates a lot with me. I also know I have CPTSD in addition to ADHD, but still, knowing we are being gaslit by the whole structure of our culture was a new thought... thanks for sharing this!

[STEM_Dad in reply to OldIndigoBlue]

Thanks for your input. I was wondering about that.

When I first typed the word on my phone, the autocorrect changed it to "Degas lighting" 😆.

I just edited the title with a hyphen to say "de-gaslighting". I hope that makes it less confusing for the next person.🙂

[SilverbackG]

Definitely resonates for me. I realize the many times I have gone to therapy or counseling, the therapist digs around to try to find what caused my trauma. Never did anyone consider I was not neurotypical. I am female, I wasn't on the radar of anyone for having ADHD as a kid or young adult. I was diagnosed 18 months ago at 56 years old, by my Psychiatrist of over 10 years, who never thought I might be ADHD. He and I were both surprised. While being treated for MDD, GAD, and ultimately having a breakdown, multiple professionals in the program I joined recognized the PTSD symptoms in me. They were attributed to living with multiple Chronic Pain diagnoses. I have been in therapy weekly since my ADHD diagnosis and I am beginning to find me, buried under a pile of masks and costumes I have used to survive.

[STEM_Dad in reply to SilverbackG]

I'm glad that you and your psychiatrist did figure out that you have ADHD. While ADHD very often has depression (including MDD) and/or anxiety (including GAD) as comorbidities, I'm certain that the impact and frequency of these comorbidities is much higher with undiagnosed ADHD. Complex PTSD is becoming more well known, but I think that there are many practitioners who might still be apt to dismiss a person's PTSD symptoms as anxiety and/or depression, or possibly related to physical health conditions, simply because of the lack of an obvious triggering event.

My hope is that other mental health care providers will recognize that when a person has depression, anxiety or PTSD symptoms, these conditions rarely exist in a vacuum. They frequently are comorbidities with persistent other conditions. Just with depression, it is now well understood that it occurs much more frequently in people who have some form of neurodiversity, particularly so with ADHD. (I recently read about a study that drew a strong correlation between ADHD and depression...including depression in a parent being strongly correlated with ADHD & depression in the child. I think I got that right...I'll have to find that study again.)