Autism and Bipolar

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What to know about bipolar disorder and autism

Interesting. I was (mis?)diagnosed with bipolar a decade ago. The dr though perhaps I had fast-cycling bipolar. Recently I was diagnosed with ASD, but the dr said I may have mood disorder. I think I am the "H" in ADHD. I definitely do not have days or months of certain moods, I am moody all the time and there are distinct triggers. It's not a science, it's art (this from someone who considers herself scientifically minded).

Thanks for the share.

From my readings on autism, I have the impression that females typically have a lot more trouble with the emotional regulation side of autism, and can suffer more extreme mood swings than typical girls/women.

I'd assumed that the mood swings were an autism thing which was sometimes mistaken for bipolar.

The article seems to be inferring not a mistaken diagnosis but a connection between the conditions because of neurological similarities. What does that mean? Autists are "a little bit bipolar"?? Just like we're "a little bit schizophrenic"??

No, I'm not buying it.
Again, from the writings of autistics (mainly women but I know this applies to some men as well) it seems more common that the diagnosis of bipolar doesn't quite fit, and tends to get discarded once they realise they are autistic. The mood swings may be an under-recognised aspect of the female phenotype.

The descriptors in the article sound more like ADHD to me. ADHD is under-recognised for causing emotional dysregulation or patterns of emotional tumult, and it's commonly co-morbid with ASD.

For autistic people who don't have ADHD, it's entirely possible that these mood swings are from sensory overload, burnout, social fatigue, social and personal frustration, poor nonverbal understanding, or difficulties with communication. Personally my moods can swing whenever demands exceed my capacity. It's like having an extended meltdown. I also have mood swings because of Alexithymia. If I'm processing more than one emotion at a time I can easily short-circuit, emotionally.

The short take-home message here is, there can be a lot of overlap between various psychiatric diagnoses. This means at any given moment, a doctor might diagnose you this way or that, but another doctor at another time might diagnose you differently at a later time. This doesn't mean that either doctor was wrong.

And at a personal level, you have to understand yourself well enough to present yourself to your doctor with the things that you know are wrong with you. You can mention you have panic attacks, that you have a hard time ever leaving your house, that you have trouble looking people in the eye, that you can't maintain focus or you focus intensely, talk too much or too little, can't sleep, have shifting and intense moods (mood swings), etc. Also you need to be open to new observations the doctor can make that you hadn't noticed before.

I feel moderately bipolar. Being deliberately regular about eating and drinking helps to moderate it, but I do enjoy the occasional bursts of creativity, even with the subsequent recovery.
My AS mother seemed to be devoid of moods and emotions, except for a sense of tension when her mother was present.

Oh ffs

The medical profession is always looking for something wrong with you.

But then that is their job