Holly Madison announced that she was diagnosed with autism earlier this year.

In a recent episode of the Talking to death podcast, the 43-year-old The girls next door alum sheds light on the challenges she faced in social situations throughout her life.

“I was suspicious of it for a while. I always had social problems, didn’t recognize social cues, didn’t pick up on things the way other people did. But I just made excuses for it,” Madison revealed during the podcast. .

“I thought it was because I grew up in Alaska,” she continued. “And around high school we moved to Oregon and I thought, ‘Well, that was just a big social change.’ So I’m just very introverted. That’s how I’ve always written it off.”

According to the World Health OrganisationAutism spectrum disorders are characterized by varying challenges in social interaction and communication, and features can be detected in early childhood but are often not diagnosed until later in life.

Despite her diagnosis, Madison emphasized that the impact of her condition is less extreme due to her high executive function. She emphasized that autism is a spectrum and that each individual experiences it differently.

“I’m not a spokesperson for everyone. They don’t call it a spectrum for nothing,” Madison clarified.

The former Playboy model, who dated the late Hugh Hefner, expressed relief at understanding her condition, stating that it explained why social situations had been challenging for her over the years. Madison highlighted specific aspects of her behavior, such as difficulty making eye contact and often being lost in her thoughts, that could be misunderstood by others.

“I like being able to explain that,” Madison said. “I only recently learned to make eye contact. I’m often in my own thoughts, things like that. So people kind of take that as, ‘Oh damn, you’re not super interested in me.’ Fuck you.” I’m just not on the same social wavelength. But don’t take it personally.”

After her diagnosis, Madison has found comfort in being able to apologize to people for unintentional social missteps. She encourages understanding and patience in dealing with others.

“Everyone works differently. When you’re dealing with someone, just have a little patience because you don’t know what they’re dealing with or what their level of social functioning is,” Madison advised. “I think even me, the way I interact with people, I’m a little more patient now and don’t take things so personally.”