Are AS and bipolar possible together?
I was diagnosed with both but I keep trying to get my therapist to remove the bipolar diagnosis..... but I'm starting to realize I have more going on than my aspergers and I know I have aspergers. .... I feel like you can't have both. I have had episodes that are bipolar-like but I keep trying to pin it on puberty. Is having both possible? I feel like there's this standard set that aspies can't have bipolar. Can we? Like severely? My birth mother is emotionally unstable (Possibly bipolar) and my birth father has aspie traits (Possibly an aspie).
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"Diagnosed aspergers syndrome/autism spectrum disorder. Femme lesbian and proud."
Thelibrarian
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I couldn't say if you have bipolar. That is where you would spend eighty percent of your time very depressed, and not wanting to do much, and twenty percent of your time grandiose, liable to make bad decisions, spend too much money, etc. I can say that at seventeen, I doubt your alleged bipolar has anything to do with puberty.
I will add that it's possible that your emotional state could change significantly at certain points on the female cycle. That's something you might want to ask the lady aspies about on the female forum.
Good luck.
Some models of mental health include ASD, Bipolar, and Schizophrenia as well as some other forms of psychotic illness on a continuum together.
The DSM is yet to catch up with this kind of somewhat controversial theory, but it does seem to make sense, and many with ASD have other underlying or related issues that are complicated by their ASD.
Similarly, many with ASD also suffer from Generalised Anxiety Disorder, or other forms of anxiety, as well as depression.
Science is still in its infancy so far as understanding the workings and the variety of differences in human brains; even "normal" human brains show a wide variety of neurological difference from one to another.
I suspect it will be decades before enough is known about the workings of the human brain, including the complex interaction with environment, inherited traits, and disorders, to be able to work out the relationship between ASD and other co-existing conditions, not to mention the actual cause of ASD, Bipolar disorders, depression, or anxiety.
In the meantime, we just have to be somewhat choosy as to what advice we take.
Some will tell us we need to take meds the rest of our lives, some will tell us it's all in our heads and just get over it, and some will look at it more holistically.
I think a combination of approaches works best, acknowledge the illness, disorder, or difference, but treat the patient (your self) and the condition as being an issue that has to be personally tailored to the unique individual each person is.
Just remember, whoever it is that treats you needs to respect you as an individual, and no matter how much they know about your difficulties be they Bipolar or Asperger's they have to respect you and acknowledge you as a unique individual, and not disregard what they see as trivial if it's a real problem for you.
Just a thought:
"Emotional dysregulation can be associated with an experience of early psychological trauma, brain injury, or chronic maltreatment (such as child abuse, child neglect, or institutional neglect/abuse), and associated disorders such as reactive attachment disorder.[2] Emotional dysregulation may present in people with psychiatric disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and Complex post-traumatic stress disorder.[3][4] ED is also found among those with autism spectrum disorders, including Asperger syndrome.[3]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_dysregulation
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"I'm astounded by people who want to 'know' the universe when it's hard enough to find your way around Chinatown." - Woody Allen
Any set of diagnoses are possible together. Saying they aren't is the same as saying that it would be impossible for someone like that to exist and logically any type of mindset can happen.
I have been diagnosed aspergers & adhd with schizoaffective which is similar to bipolar but also has psychotic episodes (It could be described as tripolar.) Even still I have other contradictory traits and don't fit into any prewritten psychological profile.

