Sense of self?

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Someone mentioned in another thread that people with schizophrenia lack a sense of self, but people with Aspergers do have a sense of self. To me, the concept of a sense of self is meaningless. I would like to know, do you believe that you have a sense of self, and if so, what does that mean to you? Thank you.

Nope. I don't have a sense of self, nor do I have a sense of others.

It's one thing to have a sense of self. It's another to say what that means. I don't know how to do that. It's too basic. I don't know what it's like to not have a sense of self. I know what it's like to not have a good sense of separation between me and someone else, where how I saw him got too overly colored by who I am, where he was a mirror rather than his own person. But, having that kind of response to one particular person didn't mean I didn't have a sense of self.

I'm me. Other people, other things, aren't me. I don't know anything to say beyond that.

I've got a sense of self, and of other people.
As a young child I recall thinking that I was glad I was myself and not anybody else.
I don't think I've got any problem with it. Divining their feelings, and to some extent my own, is more difficult for me.

I'm not sure what sense of self means entirely. But like others said, I know that I'm me and not someone else, and I know that other people are other people. I don't know if there is a deeper meaning. I have a hard time identifying emotions in myself and others, but it's not impossible. The concept of emotional needs is new to me lately, and I have a hard time even knowing that I have emotional needs. But is that because I was abused and neglected as a child, or is it neurological? I've never had any of my emotional needs met, so I don't even know what that would feel like.

What exactly do you mean by sense of self? I do often feel as if I was a microkernel-based OS and my consciousness is just one thread on it. Is this what is meant?

I would have to say I lack a sense of self. But I think although aspies often are though of as individualists, we also often lack the extreme sense of self typical of Western individualistic societies. In more communitarian societies, the sense of self is less well defined as autonomy from family, ethnos and culture is less clear.

Try as we aspies might, but liberation of the self from society and others is truly impossible, so that by the inability to become a pure individual through reclusion and solitariness, the illusion of individualism should become apparent.

Or maybe I'm just confusing sense of self with sense of identity/self-indentity. Closely related concepts, nevertheless.

Hi,

The schizophrenic has what shrinks call dissociation, desintegration and fragmentation; those are difficult things to understand but I'll give it a try.

In my opinion it means that there is no coherentness and the union or centre of thought is divided. The intrinsic coherent self is scattered. The union falls apart and thoughts are perceived as alien and all logic seems lost.

Brrr, I'm glad that I never have experienced a psychose, thinking about what a schizophrenic suffers from it most be horrible.

This is a big difference from what the autists experience, I belief. Me, HFA, I think, I'm more too aware of myself and constantly following my flow of thoughts and everything is to be questioned, which sometimes tires me out. Hyperconsciousness, most of the time, you could call it.

Sense of self? It's a question as old as mankind itself probably. Existential.

What is self? The Autos, as I like to call it. Is it the sum of your personal history, the things you experienced and the perception on those? The sum of the things you like and things you dislike? Your character or personality? Your will? Your feelings? Those features that distinguishes you from the other? An independent entity?

'Who am I' and 'Que sais je'?

Thinking about this topic probably gives one more questions that answers.

For those in therapy, ask your shrink what he/she thinks of 'self'. Could be fun. Maybe not.

Best of luck,
C.

That looks more like a theory of mind to me, supposed to be an AS thing, isn't it? I never did get that.
I like the computer analogy. I've sometimes likened my mind to a program that keeps doing GoSubs but doesn't have enough Return commands, so nothing ever really gets done.

Raja Yoga is essentially the question, What am I?

what is a "sense of self?" I heard that people with HFA don't have it, but Aspies do. I don't understand what it is though.

Actually, whenever I hear phrases like "self-loathing, self-love," I really don't know what it's supposed to mean. How can you love and/or hate yourself? At the same time, even? I also sometimes get worried when I hear "to love someone else, you must first learn to love yourself." Que? What does that mean!?

Sense of self is best seen as self-image. I don't care what I look like to myself (self-image), nor what I look like to others (self-awareness and interpreting the mindsets of others).

I constantly feel depersonalized, and that myself and others don't feel real, even though I know better.

When I was younger I doubted my own existence. I used to think that my thoughts were fake, that maybe I was acharacter in a book or a computer program, designed to have all the seemingness of sentience, but not actually a real being.

I could still feel that way now, but for the fact that it's meaningless to dwell upon it. If I am real, I am, if I'm not, I'm not. If I could tell for sure, one way or the other, I suppose it would shape my life (or the simulation of life) differently. But you can't tell, you never can.

As for a feeling of separation from others goes. Yes, I feel a division between myself and other beings... In fact, I feel so very detached from the universe as a whole. Sometimes I feel like an isolated observer and the being that I am right now is just a viewing device for some greater being outside of space and time.

Well, we can't really say that EVERYONE with aspergers has a sense of self, a dissablility is going to effect an individual differently depending on what happens to them when they are growing up. From my own bias, I can say that I have a very viciously strong sense of self and individuality, especially compared to typical blindly-conforming cheerleaders. But I can't say that about everyone. I'm sure there are some people with AS still struggling to achieve a sense of individuality.

On another note, I don't think that AS and schitzophernia are comparable at all and whoever said told you that they are needs to get a better sense of what the two dissablities are. No offense to that person if he or she is a member here.

ShadesofMe,

In other threads this came up as well and surely I'm no authority whatsoever but in my opinion AS or the Asperger Deviation is High Functioning Autism.

In my mind we all here are (relatively) high functioning. We talk, we read, we write, we shower , we know how to use our computers, etcetera. Okay, we all have our own downsides too, being on the spectrum.

Some of us are dx-ed as Classic but in my mind, reading their posts, this is shrinky ignorance. Okay the label maybe pressed when they were young but hearing/reading them now as adolescents and/or grown-ups in my opinion that label won't fit them anymore. They moved up, learned, accepted etc. and now they're High Functioning.

All that box-thinking and labelling, I....
arrgg.... controle yourself C.

Oh, that arrgg and somewhat aggressive tone is meant for shrinks and their methodes and not for you, of course, Shades, the sweat one and/or others here.

Best of luck,
C.

That's a lot of assumptions to put under one umbrella of "we". I can only do roughly half of those things, and those only some of the time, for instance, and I'm not unique here. (Keep in mind also that there is software so that people who cannot read or write can use computers, and some others do so using assistance from another person.)

Also, there's nothing about "classic" autism that precludes doing any of the things now regarded as "high functioning" -- and that goes all the way back to Kanner, whom I've actually read, and read closely, not skimmed.