My brain locked me in
I swear I'm not making this up. I'm diagnosed with autism and been living with a plethora of the neurological conditions claimed to be super rare my whole life like selective mutism, DP/DR syndrome and so on. Despite all that I managed to build a life for myself and become an independent adult. In March this year I developed viral meningitis at the age of 23. Two months ago and a month after my hospital stay I woke up as a different person. I think I probably experienced something this subreddit calls a "functional stroke". I did not become paralyzed, I don't have a classic brain injury symptoms, I did not become intellectually disabled, I just went from being mildly autistic to severely autistic overnight like I were 3 years old again. It took my selective mutism away and gave me... alexithymia and very intense DP/DR. I went from feeling all the emotions yet mostly being unable too express them in speech, to being able to express them but not feeling them 24/7. Right now I miss a mom I never had. There's no amount of psychiatrists, psychologists and neurologists that can replace family and friends. But I'm an adult so I'm on my own and nobody cares. I'm like a real life example of reincarnation. I hate my life and I hate that my brain has to come up with the most creative ways to lock me in from the real world. My story may sound like a lie but there are whole scientific papers about how in autistic people neuroplasticity may go really weird given enough brain inflammation is present. What do I do? I swear no matter what I do in life I can never win.
Posted Jul 29, 2025, 6:33 AM UTC