Is Autism a Risk Factor for DID or OSDD?

(Summary)
Why do so many people with DID or OSDD also seem to be Autistic? In my practice, the overlap is striking — around 75% of clients. In this video, I share both clinical observations and new research suggesting Autistic individuals may have a lower threshold for trauma, making them more vulnerable to developing dissociative disorders when raised in unsafe or neglectful environments. We’ll explore possible explanations, the role of caregiver stress, and what this means for understanding the intersection of Autism and DID.

When I began working with OSDD and DID, I was surprised to see how many of these clients are neurodivergent. I’m guessing about 75% of mine are Autistic. And of course many times Autism is accompanied by ADHD. 75% is not random chance. And yet I’ve never seen this noted, much less addressed, in any text about treating DID and OSDD. So I was trying to understand what could explain it. My personal theory was that these autistic individuals had caretakers who probably weren’t the most psychologically healthy people already and then found themselves at a loss to meet the needs of their Autistic child. These parents might have a shorter fuse, leading to abuse and neglect as a result of these factors combining. But that was just my theory.

Recently a study came out that may shed some light on this. Now, this was a study on mice, so it’s preliminary research. These mice were genetically engineered to be the mouse version of Autistic. And what researchers found is that those Autistic mice had a much lower threshold for trauma. That is, they were traumatized more easily than the non-Autistic mice.

So it is possible that Autistic children are more easily traumatized than neurotypical children. We don’t know if that means it takes less abuse to lead to DID. But imagine an Autistic child whose caretakers don’t understand their Autistic needs and who don’t have the patience or energy or skills to be gentle caretakers. These caretakers get frustrated by the Autistic child’s behaviors that they can’t understand. And the Autistic children are traumatized more easily by abuse and neglect. It seems to me that this could explain why so many of my DID clients are Autistic. I’m curious about what you think. Does this make sense to you? Do you have different ideas that might explain this? I should note that even though I used the term neurodivergence, I’m really speaking about Autism. When I see ADHD or other neurodivergent issues in clients with DID, it’s almost always accompanying the Autism.