Autism, other disorders, co-exist (The Republican)

Post Reply New Topic

Autism, other disorders, co-exist

Many individuals with autism have also been diagnosed with another disorder. This secondary condition is referred to as a "co-morbid" disorder. Many of these secondary conditions are psychiatric in nature and require attention from parents, teachers and professionals. The most common co-morbid disorders are attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and mood disorders, such as depression and bipolar disorder, and anxiety problems.

Diagnosing co-morbid disorders in children and adults with autism can be challenging because these individuals have difficulties with language, self-expression and social interactions. They may be unable to describe personal, internal feelings. Many do not speak at all, and some need specialized communication systems such as pictures, typing screens and basic sign language to communicate.

A proper diagnosis of a co-morbid disorder should be done by a qualified professional, such as a pediatrician, psychiatrist or psychologist. This specialist will be able to differentiate between the various disorders and provide a diagnosis based on direct observation of the individual's behavior and actions, as well as reports from family members and teachers.

more...

Ah, but we're forgetting one...giftedness!

That's my problem. I'm a gifted individual intellectually but am clueless socially.

It's strange--I can focus and make excelleent judgements on math, science, swimming, driving, baking, etc forever but have no focus or reasoning skills when you put me in social situations.

I can't read social cues or figure out what's going on there half the time yet I'm a A student in physics...hmmmm....

Yeah, well I know languages, history, geography(won the state), politics, and international relations but understanding why human behave the way they do, has been one of the reasons why I had a two year civil war/depression(which I gotten out of).

For a lot of us, the depression (and other co-morbids?) may be situational, the result of how we are treated and how we are encouraged to view ourselves (as defective, inadequate, disappointing to our families, etc).

This is a very important problem. It is difficult to disentagle, for example depression and paranoid tendencies for the very fact the these conditions often originate in the AS condition. But there is a further perhaps more serious obstacle to undersanting. The psychotic affections catch a greater attention, because of the general climate of the psychiatic culture especially if this is influenced by psychoanalysis. This happens largely in continental Europe. Once someone appers affected by depression or paranoid tendencies he will be treated as psychotic all his life, without further inquiries into the nature of a disability preexisting to depression etc.

I've been diagnose with ADHD - Inattentive type and i'm getting a second opinion on AS from a psychologist experienced with AS (the first psych had extensive experience with adhd but not much with AS). I also went to see an MD who has a lot of experience with ADHD to do medication trials. She told me she thinks i have Tourette's and OCD. I checked the DSM-IV at my university library and i guess i fit the criteria for tourette's (it's a very simple one) but it's not severe and nobody seems to notice, I don't fit the criteria for a diagnosis of OCD. I have all but one symptom of OCD, it doesn't cause severe distress, take up a significant amount of time (over 1hr), or inhibit regular daily activities (school, work, etc). Neither of these bother me much so i won't be seeking treatment for them regardless of what the doctor says. I think people seek too much treatment sometimes. If it causes genuine distress then it should be treated, if not then it's probably a waste of time and money (in my opinion).

From what i've read (i've done a lot of research on AS and other mental disorders since i learned about it, it seems to be my new obsession) a lot of these seem to happen together. people with tourettes usually have adhd, ocd, anxiety, and/or depression. people with AS commonly have adhd, ocd, depression, anxiety, etc.

This has lead me to wonder if they're all interrelated and if we've all got some degree of each of those, even if it's small enough to be unnoticeable. of course we won't really know for sure if they're caused by the same things until we know what causes them but i just find it interesting that people who have one mental disorder seem to be more likely to have another than the general population.