My Brain Works Differently: Autism And Addiction | Dylan Dailor | TEDxNorthAdams

Comments · 1.5K

• JU

  @just_peace · 6 years ago

  &quot;I want the people from five years ago to be nice to me.&quot; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU5nUEfCDdI&amp;t=880">14:40</a><br><br>Damn, that hits hard.

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• PA

  @paulmryglod4802 · 7 years ago

  Being a skilled person with autism can make life more difficult because your abilities will allow you to achieve but your interpersonal relationships, which you are cognizant of, can hold you back from improvement. A gifted person who has a history of difficult social interactions can find themselves much more anxious because the desire and need for connection is there and being themselves and being natural consistently gives negative feedback.

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• LU

  @lukechurch5842 · 5 years ago

  For a long time I abused drugs and alcohol so I could feel connected to people. I stopped when I realized I wasn’t truly connecting with anyone and that it would be more noble to face my discomfort head on.

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• NI

  @NihouNi · 4 years ago

  Tears in my eyes as I listen to Dylan say he is not happy. It is so often the case for autistic people. It is heartbreaking that so many children go through school feeling different and needing to find ways of escaping the pain of rejection.

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• BO

  @bozzabee9069 · 8 years ago (edited)

  Not being able to express oneself naturally leads to this imbalance. As a person on the autism spectrum, I can say this is not about autism so much as about (autistic) human needs. We are actively discouraged to take care of our own needs by our peers and family, taught not to listen to our bodies, which leads to this imbalance: constantly pushing for more than we can handle and wearing out our bodies and minds.

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• SK

  @skybright9447 · 6 years ago

  The fact that this guy, whom I&apos;ve never even met or heard of before, has, for the first time in the course of my nearly 18 years of existence, accurately summed up my life in less the 20 minutes is somewhat terrifying and uplifting both at the same time. One cannot explain what one feels like with autism but it can be a damaging spiral if not handled correctly. Unfortunately most cases are.

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• JO

  @JoeNoshow27 · 7 years ago (edited)

  People will naturally draw their own personal conclusions from this talk. Personally, I think a clear message is that autism can&apos;t always be adequately addressed by modern treatments. An individual can give it their very best, and achieve metrics that society regards to be &apos;success&apos;, but that isn&apos;t always enough. Sometimes the condition brings about unabating suffering with no clear answers in sight. <br><br>This reality applies to mental illness in general. It&apos;s a reality that society lamentably rejects with romanticism and anecdotes, because no one wants to confront the pain of hopeless suffering. The problem is, when you&apos;re the victim of such pain, you don&apos;t get the luxury of telling yourself a pleasant story. You&apos;re forced to confront it. Yet when you try to talk about it, many are keen to reject it. Just mention the term &apos;treatment-resistant depression&apos;, a firmly established medical designation, and you&apos;ll see what I mean.<br><br>The survivor bias holds that those who survive, or &apos;succeed&apos;, are generally noticed more often than those who struggle, because the successful tend to have more visibility, while the less successful dwell in obscurity. This leads to delusionally optimistic beliefs. The survivor bias is - ironically - readily apparent even in Dylan&apos;s talk. The only reason he&apos;s able to tell the world about his struggles, is because of his perceived successes. No one wants to hear about an autistic, or mentally ill nobody, living in misery and squalor while subsisting off meager disability checks. Everyone loves to hear a good success story, despite the fact that they represent a small minority.

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• AU

  @auramyna3099 · 7 years ago

  I hope for a world where autism and addiction are better understood, both separately and in combination. This talk is very valuable in showing that not only does autism not preclude addiction, it makes complete logical sense that those with high anxiety and a syndrome involving repetitive behaviours and sensory overload would develop addictions.

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• ER

  @ericaduffy8617 · 4 years ago

  I know so much how you feel. I was just diagnosed with Autism with ADHD. I am 59 years old. 3 addictions dealt with. Yes, weird is good. My son of 19 is ASD as well. We have a saying that it is a requirement to be weird in our family. 2 nephews on the spectrum as well. Hang in there young whipprsnapper! You can be on my lawn any day. The mean people, most of them will never understand. You cannot reason with unreasonable people. I am proud to be part of the Neurodivergent Nation!!!! I wish I could hug you. You are a stellar young man!

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• JO

  @jothemon · 4 years ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU5nUEfCDdI&amp;t=880">14:40</a> &quot;I want the people from 5 years ago to be nice to me 5 years ago.&quot; Thank you for putting that into words for me

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• YM

  @ymaifiyv6589 · 4 years ago

  I’ve struggled with substance abuse on and off for over 2 years since I was 17. The reason I started doing drugs was partly because I didn’t feel much connection to the people around me.<br>I also struggled to socialize and make friends. My only friends were practically my parents and siblings.<br>But I think for a lot of autistic people, even if you do have other people in your life, it can be hard to relate to them on a deeper level.<br>So depression is more common for us than NT’s, probably as a consequence of this.<br>Most autistic people also have a greater need for continuity and habits, and addiction is just that.<br>So to me it seems clear that the combination of loneliness as a result of lacking social skills and unfulfilling relationships, depression mostly as a consequence of the latter, and the need for continuity in your life very easily could send you down a bad spiral of addiction.

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• NO

  @NoodoNay · 5 years ago (edited)

  When I was 4, my dad got diagnosed. When they took me to get checked out, I was on the spectrum as well. My father hid the diagnosis from me, because where I was from, autistic kids are treated like monsters, and get placed in special classes. I did not learn about my diagnosis till I was 22.

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