Social phobia linked to autism and schizophrenia

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New Swinburne research shows that people who find social situations difficult tend to have similar brain responses to those with schizophrenia or autism.

The research, published in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, found the areas of the brain that show increased response when exposed to unexpected speech sounds or ‘phonemes’ are associated with the processing of social information and linked with spectrum conditions such as autism or schizophrenia.

http://www.swinburne.edu.au/news/latest ... hrenia.php

Doesn't it simply mean that all the three conditions are associated with high anxiety?

Autism was diagnosed as Childhood Schizophrenia at one time so similarities have always been there.

Some research suggests that, unlike Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), social phobia or Avoidant Personality Disorder (APD), is usually seen as manifesting later in life (young adulthood). ASD manifests early in life (young children). This difference is one of the few distinctions between ASD and APD, and serves as a differential diagnosis to rule out one or the other suspected diagnosis.

Beyond that, I agree that ASD's is probably more involved with other diagnostic possibilities than the usual suspects.