Which will it be OCD, ADHD or Aspergers?

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I'm fairly new here and I just started seeing a therapist. We're pretty sure I have OCD and some type of anxiety thing going on, but she isn't sure if I have Asperger's or ADHD. I didn't even know Asperger's or ADHD was all that similar. I didn't even think for a second I had ADHD. I thought you had to be super hyper to have ADHD but it turns out daydreaming and forgetting things all the time is part of it how is that possible? Anyways the counselor wants me to see a psychiatrist next week. So my questions are exactly how is Asperger's confused with ADHD and how can I get some kind of clue of which one I have? Also, why would she also want me to see a psychiatrist as well as see her? Thanks for reading.

psychiatrists prescribe meds. 75% of people with aspergers could qualify for add. I have add and my mom is looking into getting me diagnosed with aspergers.

Look up the ADD version of it, ADHD is the overall term for it.

This could be of interested: wikipedia on ADHD predominantly inattentive

As I always say about the use or understanding of the 'nonverbal' is that if you are able to read body language and communicate well with it, as with all aspects of it, then very likely you don't have AS -- a safe bet.

I recall a time when I was 5, and my mother had company over, with her cousin sitting with her there at the kitchen table, and was weeping as she was confiding about her failing romantic relationship. I really felt sorry for her and came up with an idea and went outside to get a flower and pot it and brought it to her.

At this she cried all the harder, but it was different in tone and I recognized that difference in tone, as one of a heartening tone and she then said thank you. She was glad though still trodden down. I felt her pain all the way through me as though I were here, and the change for the better--- really.


Is this way possible with any form of autism? I'm very inclined to believe not, though I'd accept evidence to the contrary.

Don't leave out the possibility of PDD-NOS...

What's PDD-NOS?

google it

You assumption is ALL or NOTHING. I think that someone with say, Asperger's, has much greater difficulty reading body language, facial expression, or emotions and is more prone to interpretation errors. But it is possible for them to get it right sometimes, if they are very motivated, depending on the level of impairment.

Similarly the dyslextic has greater difficulty reading and is more prone to errors, but are not illiterate.
Depending on severity of the neurological impairment, the can read as many things as other readers, although they may need more time. I have known dyslextics who have passed the bar, so I know impaired does not mean impossible.

PDD-NOS is the diagnosis they give when they figure "Yeah, you have some kind of autism, but you're not really obviously any of the subtypes." It's also known as "atypical autism".

ADHD has an inattentive subtype, yep. People with ADHD-I tend to be kind of distracted, zoned out, dreamy--have a hard time focusing on things. For people with ADHD-I it takes a lot of effort to concentrate on something; it's like swimming up from the bottom of a lake to try to see the sky, or waking up from a deep sleep. You also have the usual disorganized, messy, or possibly overly-organized/routine-dependent traits. (Overly-organized people with ADHD are using it as a coping strategy, and IMO, a pretty healthy one too.)

The reason ADHD is used as the diagnosis for both subtypes is that they both come from the same sort of basic issue--your brain has problems directing its own activity, figuring out where to put attention and where and when to spend effort. So you might be hyperactive because you can't inhibit your actions; or you could be more sluggish because you can't get started. People with ADHD can also have problems focusing too much, too little, on the wrong thing, or not being able to focus when they want to; they can have issues with socializing because their attention drifts away from a conversation or they are too impulsive to inhibit socially-inappropriate or inadvertently insulting replies. There can also be trouble with switching from one thing to another, or switching too rapidly, or being unable to sustain attention for fifteen minutes or more (some people with ADHD can have it so bad they can't concentrate even for sixty seconds). A big attribute of all types of ADHD is problems with planning, thinking ahead; so you could have somebody who is impulsive or indecisive or doesn't think of the consequences before doing something. Someone with ADHD may have a lot of trouble starting a project, but be able to hyperfocus; people with ADHD are extremely likely to do things like waiting until the night before a project is due, pulling an all-nighter, and maybe even getting a great grade on it, because only when the pressure has gotten extreme can they get started.

ADHD-I is different from ADHD in adulthood where the hyperactivity has gotten less severe. Commonly you have ADHD-Combined/ADHD-Hyperactive in childhood with pronounced hyperactivity, but as the kid gets older, into the teens and the adult years, the hyperactivity isn't as extreme and you have mostly the impulsive, disorganized, distracted issues, along with subjective restlessness--somebody who stays in their seat, but wishes they could pop out of it and pace the room. ADHD-I, on the other hand, has no hyperactivity (and usually even hypoactivity) in childhood, and doesn't change too much as the person grows up.

Thanks everyone. I did some research and it's starting to sound like I could have the adhd pi...I think this means that I may not have asperger's if I have adhd...I'm confused here because I found something that says that one can not have both yet I keep reading things from people saying they have both...what's the issue here?

In any condition you can have co morbid conditions, in other words ADHD is the main condition and the co morbid condition could be OCD, Aspergers could be the main condition and ADHD the co morbid condition. Which is the main condition will be decided by the psychiatrist , but you won't have a psychiatrist say you have ADHD and aspergers, but will say you have aspergers and co morbid ADHD. This down to aspergers having a stronger diagnostic criteria.

No one tends to follow that 'rule.' Because similar areas of the brain are affected in both disorders you get an overlap of symptoms, but if you get enough impairments to fit both criteria of each disorder you can get diagnosed with both.

I have autism that is quite pronounced but I'm also on medication for ADHD issues which are very pronounced too. The medication doesn't do much for my autistic behaviour, in fact, it can make me more intense on my interests and stuck in routine, but it takes away the disorganisation of my brain so I can be more organised throughout the day.
Take away my autism dx and I wouldn't be able to be on disability and therefore be under more stress. Take away my ADHD dx and I won't be able to take meds and I'd probably not be able to read or write nearly as well. And as an aspiring author that is counter productive.


I know people who see their ADHD as more pronounced and so they say they have Asperger's co-morbid (usually mild). I suppose it's how severe the symptoms seem to you to decide which is the dominant disorder. I would say mine is autism.

My idea here is simple, that if you can do all that i.e. read the nonverbal naturally, as without any conscious effort and from the beginning of time, then using this as a litmus test, one could say they don't have AS.

Anyone on the board who queries this, "that I wonder if I have autism instead," can undiagnose themselves (as I did myself here), or self diagnose positive and move forward with a Dx.

Is this a reasonable stance ?

If I was there I would have been so proud of you.