Asperger's syndrome?

12 Comments

Here's the thing about me, I'm not normal. I'm introverted, I have a mountain of social phobias, I have the occasional month long period of being extremely upset at myself, I'm an underacheiver in everything except my main interest, I've a huge inferiority complex, I'm just generally a mess of a person.

Do I have Asperger's Syndrome or am I just an underachieving arsehole who can't socialise? I started reading about it recently and found that the entirety of the list of symptoms applies to me. But I also read that it's a very common self-diagnoses amongst internet nerds, so I'm a bit hesitant to say this is the case.

I can't put the thought of my head though, because ever since I learned about it, I've kind of secretly hoped it was true because the thought that all those problems are my own haunts me. But on the other hand, just blaming all my problems on this one thing is obviously dodging the blame.

So internet, what exactly am I? How do I know which I am?

It'd be worth looking into. 37
You're just a normal guy with normal feelings. 13
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Comments ( 12 )
  • bananaface
    10 years ago

    I can't say if you are or not, but I do understand. There are a couple of people in my family who think I have Autism, and have thought so since I was a child (*especially* when I was a child actually, particularly because, according to my mam, I wasn't even speaking properly until I was about 4). They don't feel that way so much these days, although my mam did recently say I'm "on some sort of spectrum". Although it doesn't exactly make me feel great, I don't put much stock into her opinion on this (which might be evident:P). She seriously doesn't know enough about it to go around diagnosing people, and neither do I (or you, by the sounds of it).

    A few of the symptoms apply to me too, but I *really* don't think I'm Autistic. Although I suppose my "symptoms" are pretty different to yours. Although I can be awkward in some situations, I've always had a good amount of really close friends. Sometimes I don't understand certain things about people, but it's never been a detriment to my ability to form relationships, I feel.

    If all of the symptoms do apply to you, and it's something that's really bothering you, then maybe you should look into it. Sometimes I feel like a complete mess of a person, but who doesn't feel like that sometimes? Either way, I understand and just do what you think's best.:)

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    • KayDeeBee
      10 years ago

      Thanks, that's a bit more reassuring. :)

      Do you know anywhere I look to confirm if I have it or not?

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    • chewy
      10 years ago

      Long time no see.

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  • KeddersPrincess
    10 years ago

    I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. I don't consider myself abnormal. The symptoms you listed doesn't make you abnormal. If you feel like you need to talk to someone and that there may be something going on with you, I suggest you go talk to a psychiatrist.

    If you feel like you should achieve more than achieve more; Asperger's or not. Don't use a syndrome as an excuse. When the doctor told me I had Asperger's it didn't bother me at all because I knew I was still me and was capable of doing everything I wanted to do. It answered a couple of questions, but I don't use it as an excuse. A syndrome is a syndrome. You decide how you want to live your life.

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  • jademonkey
    10 years ago

    There's tests you can do online to give you a rough idea like this one based on the autism quotient test: http://www.aspergerstestsite.com/75/autism-spectrum-quotient-aq-test/#.UeryY_M1iax

    But i guess unless your score is really low or high you'd probably be best getting the opinion of a professional.

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  • [Old Memory]
    10 years ago

    Why was my comment deleted? I was thinking I could give some insight on this since I have been diagnosed several times.
    If you do have Asperger's, you did not describe the symptoms of it in your post. As someone who has been diagnosed I see a lot of people post about it reporting symptoms that are irrevalant towards a diagnosis.
    I will ask a few questions to try to be more helpful.

    Do you have sensory distortions?
    Do you have difficulty reading body language and facial expressions?
    Do you have a hard time understanding emotion?
    Do you have a hard time describing thoughts?
    Are you clumsy and uncoordinated?
    Do you have difficulty relating to others?
    Do you have obsessive intrests?
    Do you take everything literally?
    Do you learn differently than most people?
    Do you have sleep problems?
    Have these symptoms always been present?

    Those are the main symptoms of Asperger's. There are many other disorders that cause impaired social skills.

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    • KayDeeBee
      10 years ago

      Sorry, I don't know what happened to your comment, I don't think I can delete comments myself.

      1. Not often, but I had a one off episode a few months back but that was probably other things.
      2. I thought I was fine in that area, but people always seem to react the opposite to what I expect.
      3. Emotions of others or personally? I understand my own emotions perfectly, but like I said, people have a tendency to react the opposite to what I expect.
      4. All the time, I explain things perfectly clearly (Or what seems it to me.) and I get comments all the time from people who haven't a clue what I said.
      5. Not anymore, I used to be when I was younger, though that's because I had a few growth spurts and kept forgetting.
      6. Recently I have had difficulty relating to other people, not sure if you can see it but I posted another IIN a while back about how I didn't understand lots of the new people I'd found myself around. Though I relate to lots of other people.
      7. I wouldn't say obsessive, though ever since I wanted to be an animator, few other things interest me and I keep trying to pretend I'm some kind of world class expert on it.
      8. Again, I used to, but I get metaphors and things nowadays, if anything I see metaphors that aren't there.
      9. I learn some things differently, to this day I can't read analogue time and I find some simple subjects completely impenetrable. Again, some things are different, I randomly learned Binary in an afternoon once.
      10. Very rarely, I sleep like a log.
      11. The mentioned ones range from once in a lifetime to weekly/monthly.

      What kinds of disorders? You might have extrapolated I'm a bit of a hyperchodriac.

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      • [Old Memory]
        10 years ago

        ok I can answer a few things from that.

        The symptoms of aspergers are consistant and do not come and go like mental illness does. However many people with autistic disorders develop mental illness later in life.

        Most people with aspergers cannot read, understand or express body language well. It does seem you have trouble predicting people though.

        Most people with aspergers do not understand their emotions well. For a better definition look up alexithymia.

        Coordination is usually impaired. I've never been good at sports and am often I hold my fork or pen wrong. It feels wrong to do it the way other people do.

        The social imparments in aspergers are not due to social anxiety but due to an inability to read people or empathize and difficulty relating to others. Most come off as rude. Some people with aspergers may develop social anxiety due to repeated social failures though.

        The symptoms you mentioned (social anxiety, being mad at yourself, inferiority complex and underachievement) are not symptoms used to diagnose aspergers.

        I cannot diagnose you but I do know a bit about psychology. A few other possibilities I could guess are social anxiety disorder, avoidant personality disorder and depressive disorder.

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    • Outsider21
      9 years ago

      Sensory distortions or sensory overload. I have definitely experienced some serious sensory distortions like feeling like everything is a dream along with significant changes in depth perception, alterations in the sizes of people/objects, etc. For me, it's almost like a strange, dreamlike state where everything just seems very strange, unusual, and different. Never had sensory overloads though.

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      • [Old Memory]
        9 years ago

        Sounds like derealization which is a symptom of quite a few things.

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  • thr
    10 years ago

    If all the symptoms apply, then it seems likely, but the way I understand it is not totally either/or.

    I would say, you shouldn't blame it all on a syndrome. Instead, use it as a knowledge that it isn't just you being an underachieving arsehole, as you put it.

    If it helps, I have read of diet changes being able to help, so you could try doing an Internet search for 'aspergers' and 'diet'.

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  • [Old Memory]
    10 years ago

    Nobody can diagnose you over the internet but I can probably give you some insight since I have been diagnosed with aspergers by several doctors.
    None of what you mentioned sounds like aspergers and I do not relate to what you are describing.

    I'm not socially anxious, I'm more of an over achiever and I'm too arrogant to ever be upset with myself.
    My social skills however are impaired by not being able to read or express facial expressions or body language. I also have difficulty understanding other people and do not empathize unless I am experiencing the same thing.
    I have obsessive intrests and I am physically clumsy. I have alexithymia which makes me mostly unaware of my own emotions positive or negative. My senses are also distorted including my sense of space and time if that makes any sense. I also have severe adhd and sleep problems which are common associated symptoms.

    You sound like you have low self esteem.

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