Do I have aspergers?

Post Reply New Topic

This is the first post on this forum, ad i was wondering whether the people on here could help me. I am a 19 year old male from Australia. I have not been diagnosed with aspergers, but I have been reading up into some of the symptoms, and some of them remind me of some of my many characteristics and behaviours.

- I have ocd.

- I hate social situations. Usually go in to my bedroom when peole come around.

- I don't look people in the eye

- I sometimes speak in a monotone voice

- I fidget about often, never sitting still.

- I am poor at reading body language especially subtle body language. I know when people are angry or sad by listening to their voices.

- I sometimes get paranoid that dogs are out to attack me when I am walking.

- I have small obsessions with things that can go on for weeks with tv shows or movies. Know a lot of the oscar winners from up to fifty years ago, and can recall every episode of mash.

- Whenever I watch tv, I alwys feel the need to eat something.

- I am mainly obsesssed with football in the winter, and cricket in the summer. I know nearly every premeship winner from seventy years back.

- I am not a very logical person.

- I have set habits in the morning. But it doesn't worry me if they get changed as long as I know before hand.

- I have trouble showng emotion. I haven't cried in about 22 months. When I was a kid i sometimes cried, and got angry. now I just repress it.

- Sometimes I get the urge to kill, or run out of my house in the middle of the night as fast as i can.

- My walking is very robotic.

- Hate crowds, mainly because people walk so slowly.

- Don't mind shopping.

- Love Agatha Christie books. One of my obsessions. Other obsessions include: Mash, The West Wing, Scrubs, Alfred Hitchcock, and Doctor who.

- Terrble at science, great at social studies, great at the creative side of english writing (not so much the area where ou have to write down your feelings on the text), use to be good at maths when I was younger, but it just doesn't interest me now. Except when i am watching the crcket, or trying to work out how many hours my dvds go for.

That is all I could think of at the moment.

we're not doctors and be suspicious of anyone on the internet claiming to be one.

Ask for an evaluation by a psychiatrist - then you'll have your answer.

There are some on-line surveys and tests to take which will help point you in the direction of a diagnosis.

Don't forget that some people, including myself tend to look at symptoms and see it in themselves by making it fit the situation. For example, I could read about OCD and read a symptom that says "ritualistic, rigid habits" and I could attribute the fact that I take a shower the same way every day or I have to brush my teeth twice a day. That's not OCD but someone who is fearful of having OCD might think that's the kind of behavior they're talking about.

most of the online surveys i have taken have pointed to aspergers.

About 25% of diagnosed Aspergians also fulfill the clinical requirements for OCD. However, as the previous poster suggested, if you want a diagnosis, it is best to see a therapist - and not just any therapist. Most therapists are not qualified to diagnose AS.

I have read stories of therapist misdiagnosing people. but i am afraid to go to a therapist cause if i do have aspergers i am afraid it could lower my self-esteem.

It increased mine. However, I may be in a very different situation than you. If you like, read "my story" in my signature.

One point, unless you want to apply for government benefits of some sort, make sure your therapist does not put "Asperger's" on your record. It might make it difficult to get health insurance (at least in the U.S.).

why would i want government benefits?

btw. i hate the number 13. i never stop reading a book on page 13, or stop watching a dvd past 13 minutes.

Some things look like AS, others certainly DON'T! Maybe you are HFA with OCD! Of course, PDD-NOS isn't out of the picture. Then again, I am going from experience, what I have seen, etc... I don't think the DSM wouldn't exclude AS given what you said.(Although things like "urge to kill" could exclude it.)

BTW many of the things you mentioned have no significance either way.

can you please explain the acronyms.

yeah, i do know that, i just wanted to tell you about myself

AS=Aspergers Syndrome
HFA=High Functioning Autism
OCD=Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
PDD-NOS=Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified(In other words, you have PDD traits, but they aren't defined well enough to say you have Classic or Aspergers autism, or similar disorder)
DSM=Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, which is what they use to diagnose the disorder
BTW=By The Way

thank you.

I think a characteristic of OCD is that it is 'ego-dystonic', that is, the person afflicted does not enjoy the obsessive behavior, and knows it makes no sense, and very much wants to be rid of their obsessions. Asberger-like obsessions are not ego-dystonic, and if fact the obsession is often the most enjoyable thing an Aspie does. That would seem to separate OCD from Asperger's, though there are doubtless persons with both. But I'm wondering if NT therapists aren't just looking at the behavior and calling it OCD, without determining whether it is ego-dystonic.

Welcome to WP!

Tim

I asked my psychiatrist a related question. He believes also that, if you relax on some of the specific clinical requirements for OCD, most Aspergians have it. I don't know about the egodystonic factor, but I would imagine that the APA takes that into consideration (?).

There is also a movement in the APA to include all the ASDs under a new broader heading called something like, obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders (OCSD). However, based on a recent poll, most APA members do not favor including the ASDs under OCSD. Here is the link to that story:

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/164/9/1313

Your,
have looked into schizoid and schizotypal PDs as well?


at what age were the traits first noticed/experienced [eg,toddler,child,teenager,adult]?

Does having that in your medical record in the U.S. really put you at risk? I'm going in for a diagnosis next week, and am a bit worried about that, but at the same time I want to know, and I want help with it too.
Yet another reason we need a national health care system here.



My problem is I don't enjoy my compulsions, but I *DO* kind of feel like it would be dangerous to stop them. I even tried earlier this year, and ended up with a HORRIBLE week at work.

OCD stuff as I know it is very different from obsessions in the "you're obsessed with something" sense, which I probably have too.

I'm not sure if I actually have the "Obsession" part of OCD though. I do kind of have thoughts pop into my head, but it's like replaying events I handled poorly, or that were scary for me or something like that. I'm not sure if that really counts as an OCD obsession.