Page 2 of 2 [ 22 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2

Norah_W
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

User avatar

Joined: 29 Apr 2007
Age: 66
Gender: Female
Posts: 233
Location: Seattle, WA

28 Feb 2008, 9:47 pm

srriv345 wrote:
Hi Norah,

Quote:
I've read many of your previous posts on this board, as well as this one. My honest opinion (and please don't take this the wrong way!) is that you worry too much about others thinking you have AS. Most people don't even know what AS is, and if they do, they don't really know all that much about it. I highly doubt that someone who knows you would suggest that you have AS out of the blue, unless they have a close friend or family member with it or work in the psychological/educational field. (Though even that is far from a guarantee. My mom's a social worker, and AS didn't occur to her for 17 years.) AS is also commonly associated with children, making it particularly unlikely that someone would think you have AS. If that ever does happen, though, that might be a good indication that you do have it. I wouldn't worry about it so much. Do you care about this because of what others might think, or because you want to understand yourself better? There are good reasons and superficial reasons for wanting to know.


I think I care about it more because of what others may think, even though if there is something in it, it might help me to understand myself better. However, I fear that I might just use it as an excuse not to do anything in my life, such as "Oh I can't make friends, I have AS" or "I can't go anywhere after work--I might look weird because I might have AS".

Quote:
I can understand how you feel, because I've had a lot of doubts myself, even though I've been diagnosed by a specialist. This week my therapist asked me if I would rather think of myself as having AS. I said yes, and there are many reasons why. Basically, I feel as though my life doesn't really make sense and feels just painful and embarrassing if I don't have it. How do you feel about it? Do you think as though AS is the only, or the most likely, explanation for the problems you have experienced in your life? How well do your problems match up with AS, and what alternative explanations are there?


Actually, I think having developed social anxiety as a child, being an extremely overprotected only child and then being teased, then developing avoidant personality disorder, explains it better. I also have some OCD tendencies where I obsess about something being "wrong" with me and then I use it as an excuse to not do anything. In fact, I probably have another undiagnosed and probably not in the DSM-IV personality disorder where I would rather sit around & either feel sorry for myself, or else just not do stuff I'd like to do but am afraid to, rather than either do the stuff or do the work on myself that it would take to get to where I was able to do the stuff I want to do.

Quote:
I don't think it's bad for you to be "in denial" about AS. In fact, since four autism experts have said you don't have it, I think it's actually quite reasonable to doubt that you do. I do think it does sound like you could use a good therapist to talk to about your problems. Don't worry so much about what he/she will say about AS. It's just important that you feel better about your life and yourself, regardless of which diagnosis is appropriate. Good luck!


Thanks!



tbam
Raven
Raven

User avatar

Joined: 15 Feb 2008
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Posts: 120

28 Feb 2008, 10:00 pm

Norah_W wrote:
I've been diagnosed years ago with social anxiety & fit the criteria. I've mentioned on here that I've been to about 9 doctors, 4 of whom are AS and autism experts, and haven't been able to get diagnosed with AS or any kind of autism. Sometimes I feel like I fit the AS criteria and sometimes I don't.


Quote:
I'm afraid 1. A new therapist will insist I have AS and I must admit it or 2. They will insist I completely forget about whether or not I have AS and never try to find out.


Quote:
Would I be in denial to get therapy for OCD and SA/SP? What if someone did accuse me of having AS and being in denial? Was anyoen else in denial for a long time before getting diagnosed?


I just had a thought that gave me a bit of perspective regarding your problem. You've been to 9 doctors, 4 of whom are specialised in Autism / Asperger Syndrome and they have not only diagnosed you with SA/SP and OCD, but they have refused to diagnose you with AS. They haven't even considered that the SA/SP etc may be Co-Morbids of AS.

The reason i think, is largely, because you may not actually have AS.

You talk about being in denial, and the "what if" of forgetting about the diagnosis and never knowing. But perhaps you haven't considered the option that you already know, and have already been told what you have. SA/SP, OCD and complications thereof.

Perhaps you don't need to wonder anymore about whether you are in denial. Maybe you need to accept that you don't need to be in denial because you never had it in the first place.

The law of averages in your case states that you don't have AS. Stop looking for that one doctor to diagnose you. If 4 specialists in AS have not diagnoses you, and of the 9 Doctor's the common consensus is that you have a Social Anxiety Disorder, then that is probably what you have.

In a better light, perhaps the Social Anxiety Disorder can be overcome through therapy. In saying that, maybe it would be better to focus your energy on improving your life based on what you DO know (i.e. therapy on the SA/SP , OCD), rather than wasting time searching for an answer that you already have been given 4 times but refuse to acknowledge.

I hope that doesn't sound too cold. But perhaps in this situation it is better to trust facts rather than interpretation.

I hope this helps. :)



fainting-goat
Tufted Titmouse
Tufted Titmouse

User avatar

Joined: 24 Jan 2008
Age: 59
Gender: Male
Posts: 44

29 Feb 2008, 8:05 pm

Norah_W wrote:
http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/numan%20convinced%20he%20has%20aspergers_1060637

OK, Gary Numan is convinced he has AS, which is cool. But this article is so brief, and it only mentions symptoms that could pertain to people with social anxiety but not AS.


"Numan married Gemma O'Neil, a clinician and a member of his own fan club. She diagnosed him as having Asperger's syndrome."

http://www.music-city.org/Gary-Numan/biography/

numan certainly has that aspie look - see the album covers. and the lyrics. i usually
don't pay any attention to song lyrics but his always made sense to me.

if you are too poor to afford a diagnosis, i guess you could marry a clinical psychologist.

fg



Norah_W
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

User avatar

Joined: 29 Apr 2007
Age: 66
Gender: Female
Posts: 233
Location: Seattle, WA

02 Mar 2008, 2:09 am

tbam wrote:
Norah_W wrote:
I've been diagnosed years ago with social anxiety & fit the criteria. I've mentioned on here that I've been to about 9 doctors, 4 of whom are AS and autism experts, and haven't been able to get diagnosed with AS or any kind of autism. Sometimes I feel like I fit the AS criteria and sometimes I don't.




I just had a thought that gave me a bit of perspective regarding your problem. You've been to 9 doctors, 4 of whom are specialised in Autism / Asperger Syndrome and they have not only diagnosed you with SA/SP and OCD, but they have refused to diagnose you with AS. They haven't even considered that the SA/SP etc may be Co-Morbids of AS.

The reason i think, is largely, because you may not actually have AS.

You talk about being in denial, and the "what if" of forgetting about the diagnosis and never knowing. But perhaps you haven't considered the option that you already know, and have already been told what you have. SA/SP, OCD and complications thereof.

Perhaps you don't need to wonder anymore about whether you are in denial. Maybe you need to accept that you don't need to be in denial because you never had it in the first place.

The law of averages in your case states that you don't have AS. Stop looking for that one doctor to diagnose you. If 4 specialists in AS have not diagnoses you, and of the 9 Doctor's the common consensus is that you have a Social Anxiety Disorder, then that is probably what you have.

In a better light, perhaps the Social Anxiety Disorder can be overcome through therapy. In saying that, maybe it would be better to focus your energy on improving your life based on what you DO know (i.e. therapy on the SA/SP , OCD), rather than wasting time searching for an answer that you already have been given 4 times but refuse to acknowledge.

I hope that doesn't sound too cold. But perhaps in this situation it is better to trust facts rather than interpretation.

I hope this helps. :)


Thanks--no, that doesn't sound cold at all. I think you are probably right, but it's hard for me to accept it sometimes.



Norah_W
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

User avatar

Joined: 29 Apr 2007
Age: 66
Gender: Female
Posts: 233
Location: Seattle, WA

02 Mar 2008, 2:19 am

Here's something else that agrees with what tbam said. I just took the newest Aspie-quizAspie-Quiz, which now has the likelihood of being dagnosed with AS and several other things, and here's how I scored. (This is usually what I score on this, but they added the probabilities since I last took it.

Your neurodiversity (Aspie) score: 66 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 139 of 200
You are very likely neurotypical

Social phobia 118 Your diagnosis is probably correct
ADD/ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorder) 87 This isn't a primary diagnosis you should seek
Bipolar 66 This isn't a primary diagnosis you should seek
Asperger/HFA/PDD 57 This isn't a primary diagnosis you should seek
OCD 52 Your diagnosis is very likely wrong
Dyslexia 16 This isn't a primary diagnosis you should seek



Zarathustra
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 5 Oct 2007
Age: 117
Gender: Male
Posts: 574
Location: In orbit

02 Mar 2008, 8:35 am

I would use more mainstream tests like at www.autismresearchcentre.com [Cambridge University]


_________________
"No matter what the facts are, only the Truth matters"