What is the difference between OCD and aspergers?

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They are simmilar, but aspies are usually more visual and OCD can have many variations. I have even heard that mildly OCD people are just considered tenacious.

Hi,

I'm officially diagnosed with OCD, but not Aspergers, although I strongly suspect that I have Aspergers. In my experience, I can tell you that they're really quite different. OCD only pertains to very specific urges that I experience - like the urge to worry about my hands being dirty and then washing them. Aspergers affects my whole personality, how I interact with others, how I process information, my gait and mannerisms.

I think that OCD may be related to the autism spectrum neurologically, but they are definitely not the same thing.

Dan

I guess I am talking more about the obsessive side of OCD than the compulsive side. the need t owash you hands is a compulsion isn't it?

I suppose one could say the obsessive aspects of both are psychologically related because in both cases, the obsessive behaviour is aimed at calming yourself down? Locking yourself in a familiar, ever-repeating cycle for safety? That is how I have experienced my obsessions at times, and I think this is also the motivation for my father's OCD behaviour.

Other than that, the difference lies in the social aspect; you can have OCD but not be socially awkward at all, and completely capable of comfortably relating to most people, whether familiar people or strangers. I know that my father's obsessive-compulsiveness is miles away from Asperger syndrome.

For me, OCD saved my life when I was younger, it was the first line of defense against extreme psychological pain.

But like an alcoholic, I am now learning to live a life free of 'self-medicating' and insulating myself from reality, and slowly my OCD becomes less and less bothersome, as the more I befriend and cease to resist the energy inherent within my OCD the more the energy dissipates.

However, thanks to my dx with AS I am now learning to know where trauma starts and AS stuff like meltdowns ends.

For me my OCD, although much of it has passed it's 'sell by date' is life preserving, whilst my AS 'routined-ness' is life affirming.

Chris

People with OCD alone do not fixate on subjects or have social problems or sensory issues and problems with balance. When you look in the DSM criteria for OCD you will see the difference what people with OCD do.

OCD is an anxiety disorder. The person with OCD often has intrusive and distressing thoughts which they feel are reduced after they perform repetitive tasks that distract them from their anxiety. OCD isn't the same for everyone who has it. OCD is very disabling because they are very dependent of these rituals as a coping mechanism for their anxiety and it can be very isolating because of that.

Asperger Syndrome is an autistic spectrum disorder. AS is not a mental illness like OCD and the symptoms start at childood, whearas anyone at anytime can suffer from OCD. ASD is a disorder that inhibits an individual's ability to socially interact as their brains do not develop these skills like their peers. Many people with AS will need routine and repitition in order to create some kind of stability in a world that seems so confusing. There's other factors to autistic obsessive behaviour, but that's an example.

Aspies can suffer from OCD (and are probably more likely to suffer from it than NT's), but it's not the same thing as OCD.

I'm no expert, so here's some links

http://www.ocd-world.org.uk/what_is_obs ... r-ocd.html

http://www.nas.org.uk/asperger

I agree. OCD is a common comorbid disorder of Aspergers, so they are definitely related, but you can have each seperately. OCD by itself, has clearly defined traits that distinguish it from other disorders, whereas AS, being a syndrome, touches on a whole range of issues, with less clearly defined traits.

I am diagnosed with both. One difference is thaat even though people with OCD and/or Asperger's have obsessions, the person with Asperger's usually enjoys their obsession, while the OCD person usually doesn't.

OCD runs in my family along with the ASD traits....(unless what I thought were AS traits were actually OCD traits all along ) They way that it manifests is through extreme hoarding....I have been told repeatedly that that is an OCD thing.

[quote="MindBlind"]
Asperger Syndrome is an autistic spectrum disorder. AS is not a mental illness like OCD and the symptoms start at childood, whearas anyone at anytime can suffer from OCD. ASD is a disorder that inhibits an individual's ability to socially interact as their brains do not develop these skills like their peers. Many people with AS will need routine and repitition in order to create some kind of stability in a world that seems so confusing. There's other factors to autistic obsessive behaviour, but that's an example.[quote="MindBlind"]

Not bad as far as it goes, but autism is not a disorder, and this thing labelled ASD doesn't begin to resemble a spectrum!

Do any readers recall the scientific method? About being objective? About leaving ones egocentric fantasies at the breakfast table? Does anyone understand what a spectrum is?

As someone who has both OCD and AS, I can say that there are some benefits and enjoyable experiences that come out of AS. The special interests and an incredible memory for facts help improve my quality of life. What is enjoyable about OCD? To put it mildly, nothing. I would never wish away my AS. It makes me who I am. OCD? I'd get rid of it in a heartbeat. Luckily, my OCD is currently under control, because I'm now on the anti-obsessional medication OCD; it's been a miracle medication for me. However, it can still get in the way, and I had so much of my life ruined by OCD, especially from ages 11-18.

Furthermore, the "obsessional" thinking that occurs in AS is really just perseverative thinking. Obsessions are clinically defined as repetitive intrusive thoughts that cause anxiety and/or disgust. When it comes to "obsessions" in the form of special interests, it is clear that they aren't clinical obsessions. Special interests cause happiness and relaxation, even if the person literally cannot stop thinking about them. Also, as a pure obsessional OCD-er who has few compulsions, I can say from experience that my OCD obsessions, such as getting a song or phrase stuck in my head for hours upon end, can operate in the back of my mind while I'm doing another cognitive activity. Like, I can be reading a book silently and hear both the words I'm reading and the words of the obsession in my head at the same time. This doesn't happen with my "obsessional" thinking related to my AS. When I'm perseverating really heavily on a special interest, I can always manage to read or focus my thinking on something else. OCD just doesn't allow you to escape from its clutches. It's an evil little demon...
-OddDuckNash99-

Spot-on. I live with someone diagnosed with OCD and their routines are very different and differently motivated. They create their routines because of existing anxiety, whereas I create mine to avert anxiety. It's a subtle difference, but a big one. That means to the OCD, their routines are more akin to a form of stimming.

My OCD partner has a gambling problem because somehow shoving money in a slot machine distracts from anxiety. The very thought of risking the rent money causes me extreme anxiety. Of course I would never go into a noisy, crowded casino anyway - eecch!

Besides everything else, OCD is about getting rid of anxiety, while the obsessions nature of AS is probably from the need for stimulation. The latter's just a theory of mine, but I obsess whenever I need some sort of stimulation.

That's what I heard too. Those with obsessive compulsive disorder do what they do because of anxiety. Those with Asperger's do their repetitiveness/restricted interests because they want to.

That along with the social issues, sensory issues, etc. Then I've also heard there are also a log of those with AS who also have OCD.

Yes, it's true that there is a debate about whether ASD are disorders, or rather just differences.

One source of confusion is many think a disorder means mental illness, which that's not the case. Everyone has problems, so it's not a disorder until it gets to the point that it's clinical. A disorder only means three things: 1. impairment at the clinical level, 2. abnormal, and 3. chronic. ASD is said by many to mostly only be a social disorder, but not disorder (impairment) in other areas.