Asperger's Syndrome

[weepingangel]

i saw a psychiatrist recently. i've been struggling a lot with depression for several years.

Anyway the guy i saw thinks that i don't suffer from depression at all but i have Asperger's Syndrome.

Problem is that i know Asperger's. My brother has it. Several of my friends brothers have it. i'm pretty sure that i do have it. It makes sense. i know that many of my symptoms match it. Symptoms including severe social anxiety, difficulty making eye contact, difficulty seeing what i say etc from others people's perspective, huge problems coping with change, quite a lot of other stuff i can't think of right now. So i've been suspecting Asperger's for a long time. And it's nice to actually have it diagnosed.

However the idea that i don't have depression or any other kind of mental illness seems ridiculous. Too many of my symptoms don't match. i have severe mood swings, some paranoia and hallucinatory experiences, loads of stuff that doesn't fit. He said my depression was a misplaced grieving because of people leaving this year for university which apparently is common with Aspergers. But that completely ignores the fact that i was severly depressed for five years before this.

And i guess i want to know what it means if i have Aspergers. What do i do about. i mean i know there's no cure but i don't how you're supposed to manage it.

i'm just not sure how i feel about everything.

[Rilic]

Hey. I'm on a very similar path to you at the moment. Except the doctor I've just been to see says "I don't think a diagnosis will do you any good. We're all individuals, labels are really meaningless. They don't define the person you are."
Jesus, I want to cry, and I want to break stuff.

Anyway, what he maybe thinks is that, because depression/bi polar, hallucinations, derealisation, severe anxiety and/or paranoia can be considered a symptom. A lot of people with AS have one of more, I think, because they have AS with all the faulty wiring and stuff, although it can mean there is something else as well. My friend is an occupational therapist, or very nearly one, and this is what she told me when I confessed to her about auditory and some visual hallucinations.

[Steel Maiden]

I have Asperger's Syndrome. I also have paranoid schizophrenia. Asperger's makes it harder to cope with mental health problems according to one of the head nurses on this ward (I'm inpatient right now).
Feel free to PM me.

[FadeawayCassie]

I have Asperger's Syndrome too, I've been diagnosed with it for about two years now. I haven't really done anything about it, although I'm getting help soon hopefully for self-injury and suicidal thoughts and a recent overdose as well as previous eating issues which weren't an eating disorder, and so on.

It was really confusing at first because I really didn't know two years ago what it meant. So I hastily researched it and hated everything I found. Because of a load of misunderstandings I was really upset about the diagnosis, especially as I thought my parents were trying to blame all of our arguments on me when they had done wrong things too.

Have you tried telling him all of this? Though I guess it's true that you don't have to have a diagnosis of something to need help. I think I might be depressed, I don't know, but I doubt I'll get diagnosed with depression, although it's possible.

I'm really sorry that I'm not much help. :( I guess you should still try to get help with all of these things, and I hope that you work something out.

Cassie xxx

[ebec11]

You can have many different disorders at once. An example is that I have HFA (high functioning autism), depression, and GAD. Just because you have Aspergers doesn't mean you don't have other problems.
And hallunications ARE NOT a symptom, the people who are saying that are MORONS. There are people with Aspergers with schizophrenia, but it's around the same amount as "normal" people and it's not a symptom. Ugh, that makes me mad, there are still SO many people with all this misconceptions despite all the media about Autism and Aspergers. I wish there was some more on high functioning Autism (a different diagnosis, although somewhat debatable, then Aspergers), but I suppose that would release a whole new release of misconceptions.

[red_ry]

I was diagnosed with asperger syndrome at around age 3. Don't really know the sequence of events that led to that diagnosis.

Anyways, depression often accompanies autism. It often stems from a lack of social connections, but it's the same depression that everyone else experiences.

[Steel Maiden]

I didn't say that hallucinations are a symptom!! I meant that my AS makes stress more difficult to deal with!

[lostandalone3]

ebec11 Should stop calling people MORONS, when they are infact one and perhaps look up the definition of what a symptom is.

[Steel Maiden]

I don't think she meant it personally.

[weepingangel]

Not sure what all this disagreement is about but never mind.

i think that Asperger's Syndrome has quite high incidence with other mental disorders. Depression and anxiety i know are particularly common with it because of the nature of Asperger's. i can see that some of my depressive symptoms may be linked to Asperger's but definitely not all of them.

i'm scared that my depression and whatever else i may have is going to get much worse if it's ignored and passed off as something else. i've felt my depression and general mental health getting worse as i've been coming off my anti depressants [[at this psychiatrists request]]

Thing is i don't know if i'll see this guy again. He's not someone i see regularly it was just a one off appointment to get a diagnosis.

[Steel Maiden]

Weepingangel, I agree with what you say, Aspergers can be co-morbid iwth depression, anxiety, etc

Do you have a good GP/psych? I think that you need to talk to them about your worries.

[weepingangel]

My GP is good. Not seeing her for another couple of weeks though. After my diagnosis the mental health people seem to have decided they don't want anything to do with me anymore. They haven't said anything to me. But my mental health care coordinator hasn't contacted me to make another appointment and she was meant to do that three weeks ago.

So yeah i don't know what's going on with all that. i sort of need to see someone soon though. Because they diagnosed me with Aspergers and ignored the possibility i might have something else they're taking me off my antidepressants. i was fine with that because i didn't think they were helping me. However i've been feeling much much worse since i've been coming off them. So it's all a bit of a mess at the moment.

[Steel Maiden]

That is wrong of them. I think that you should talk to them about this and tell them your worries. But if you, like me, have communication problems, I suggest write a letter to them. And if they don't improve, then complain. You shouldn't be bullied like this.

[weepingangel]

i do struggle a lot with communication. i tend to write things down each time i see anyone. It does help me a lot.

i've been meaning to complain for a long time. i just wouldn't quite know how to go about it. i'm scared. i have a lot of paranoia about the care coordinator i see. i often feel that she's trying to kill me. Which makes things a little more tricky.

i am seeing her next week. Had to phone her to get the appointment. i feel that they tried to abandon me after my diagnosis. Just said that "unfortunately" there's not really much support in this area. i need to sort something out. If not for the Aspergers, for everything else.

[whirlpools]

On getting help with the Apserger's, maybe get in touch with the National Autistic Society, see if they can offer anything.
I agree with you that Asperger's can increase the chance of other mental illnesses. I think my boyfriend suffers from mild depression at times and obsessive-compulsive traits. Do push your feelings with your team, and if you feel they're not taking you seriously, ring PALS for advice.

[Steel Maiden]

Yeah the National Autistic Society have helped me a lot with my support worker (she's from the NAS).

But you should tell your team that they are wrong and being horrid to you.