Dr. Doug Weiss has been helping couples deal with relationship issues for over 30 years. In this video, he discusses the differences between Intimacy Anorexia and Autism Spectrum Disorder.

When a person has ASD, it’s very common for the spouse to want to fix the problem, trying to figure out what’s going on, why the disconnection, and why they feel alone. When looking up the characteristics, they find Married & Alone and Intimacy Anorexia results and due to having similar traits to ASD, think they have it figured out.

Whether married to an Intimacy Anorexic or to someone with ASD, the spouse will feel some of the same feelings. However, there is a big difference between the two.

Intimacy Anorexia is the act of withholding spiritual, emotional, and sexual intimacy from your spouse. It primarily shows up in the marriage, the individual generally has good relationships with everyone else. It’s mainly the spouse that suffers, feeling hurt and alone. The person’s behavior behind the withholding is intentional, doing what they can to create distance. The patterns of can be seen when one realizes what’s going on.

Autism Spectrum Disorder, on the other hand, is a disorder that is global across all relationships. The person is not intentionally trying to cause pain or distance. It’s a limitation they have.

It’s ok to do basic research on ADS in regards to your significant other. However, it is best to go to a specialist who can do a thorough evaluation and see if the person truly has it. If it is, remember that the way they act towards you is not because they are intentionally cruel and trying to hurt you.

If the reason is due to Intimacy Anorexia, our materials are available as well as counseling, intensives, and support groups from which you can receive healing and advice. If the Intimacy Anorexic is willing, they can receive help and recover.

The tools and materials developed for Intimacy Anorexia can also be used to help alleviate some of the pain in the relationship to some degree. They help the couple in being more connected and have more intimacy, as the spouse feels like the person is really trying to change and really loves them.

Visit https://intimacyanorexia.com/ for more information.

Also, we have a test you can take to determine if Intimacy Anorexia® is the issue in your marriage. Take the test here:

https://intimacyanorexia.com/ia-test/

If you're the partner of an Intimacy Anorexic®, we call that Married and Alone. You can check out the series of books Dr. Weiss has written on that subject here:

https://www.drdougweiss.com/product/married-and-alone-set/

Married & Alone support group for female partners of male Intimacy Anorexics:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/MarriedandAlone/

Married & Alone support group for male partners of female Intimacy Anorexics:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/supportgroupSAIA/

Buy the Pain for Love DVD here: https://www.drdougweiss.com/product/pain-for-love-dvd/

For more information on Partner Betrayal Trauma®, go to https://partnerbetrayaltrauma.org/

For the Partner Betrayal Trauma DVD, visit: https://www.drdougweiss.com/product/partner-betrayal-trauma-dvd/

For the Partner Betrayal Trauma book, visit:

https://www.drdougweiss.com/product/partner-betrayal-trauma-book/

You can join the PBT Facebook recovery groups as well:

https://partnerbetrayaltrauma.org/partner-betrayal-trauma-support-groups/

Doug Weiss, Ph.D., is a nationally known author, speaker and licensed psychologist. He is the executive director of Heart to Heart Counseling Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the author of several books including, Partner Betrayal Trauma ™.

For information on marriage counseling and intensives, go to https://www.drdougweiss.com/counseling/

For a full list of Dr. Doug’s products, go to https://www.drdougweiss.com/store/

You may contact Dr. Weiss via his website, www.drdougweiss.com or on his Facebook https://www.facebook.com/drdougweiss/

by phone at 719-278-3708

or through email at [email protected].