I struggled with PTSD for decades, beginning when I was about 12, until a few years ago. One way I understood how autonomy was related to certain symptoms, especially that automatic triggering of flashbacks, memories, or just psychophysiological, was in identifying the source of my symptoms and then trying to stop that automatic triggering. For me, they often occurred in moments of parenting (especially when my child was young and needed holding and other physical care and was very cuddly, feeling physically "touched out") or in conflictual conversations with my spouse. Because as the PTSD "groove" in my neurology was triggering an emotional response, my reactive behavior that was dysfunctional would follow. So my responses were not the product of my "autonomy" (my choice or intention to say/do) but a reaction to the triggers to my past. Being able to interrupt this neurological groove and feel safe under emotional arousal, then eventually being able to tolerate the arousal more productively, I could speak and do from my heart and mind rather than my past. So for me autonomy and recovery from PTSD went together.