It's hard to imagine how you can be diagnosed with a personality disorder if you have Asperger's. It seems to me it would change the whole model.
It's hard to imagine how you can be diagnosed with a personality disorder if you have Asperger's. It seems to me it would change the whole model.
Yeah, they were testing me for a personality disorder, and discovered that I didn't really fit any one in particular and found that the traits I had that indicated a personality disorder were actually typical of Asperger's. Sorry, should have been more clear on that oneOriginally Posted by SurlySeaNymph
Ah, no worries. That makes sense though. I have a friend who's been diagnosed and rediagnosed so many times over the years... she finally got the Asperger's diagnosis, and it finally makes sense.
Daryl Hannah is autistic, too.
I got diagnosed and rediagnosed too many times myself, and finally someone got it right and looked at PTSD and related disorders. The depression, my docs believe, is from all the steroid meds I was on as a child, and there is more and more proof of them causing mood disorders.
I did have one doc who thought I might have Asperger's but the diagnosis was very well known at the time... but no, I have dissociative disorders, and some of it mimics Asperger's type symptoms.
Anyway, in the long run, being dissociative has been very helpful at times. lol And when the time was right, I got my head together and now I do quite well most of the time. I'll just never get used to how STRONG emotions can be. Holy cow.
And yes, I identify with 7 of 9 from ST: Voyager way too strongly.And I don't have the same baseline for emotional development so I rarely come across as my actual age, even in person, since a number of years were stolen from me by the disorders.
My therapist wants me to move somewhere more populated in hopes maybe making some good friends, but one of the reasons I don't want to leave is because I have such a good bond with her.depression time for me, too, and I haven't found a good therapy yet
Ah, no worries. That makes sense though. I have a friend who's been diagnosed and rediagnosed so many times over the years... she finally got the Asperger's diagnosis, and it finally makes sense.
Daryl Hannah is autistic, too.
I got diagnosed and rediagnosed too many times myself, and finally someone got it right and looked at PTSD and related disorders. The depression, my docs believe, is from all the steroid meds I was on as a child, and there is more and more proof of them causing mood disorders.
I did have one doc who thought I might have Asperger's but the diagnosis was very well known at the time... but no, I have dissociative disorders, and some of it mimics Asperger's type symptoms.
Anyway, in the long run, being dissociative has been very helpful at times. lol And when the time was right, I got my head together and now I do quite well most of the time. I'll just never get used to how STRONG emotions can be. Holy cow.
And yes, I identify with 7 of 9 from ST: Voyager way too strongly.
Many have also suggested i might have Asperger's. I don't actually but I show many of the same symptoms due to my inability to make friends and because my social skills are that of an elementary school kid. I grew up without friends thru elementary, middle, and most of high school, so when other people developed social skills normally mine was stuck when I last had friends, when I was 5 before I moved.
I think I'm Bipolar II, seeing as the bipolar part didn't kick in until last year. I was diagnosed with clinical depression at age 12. Probably after months of cutting myself on a bi-weekly basis. And thinking about suicide since I was 5.
I have now been dumped twice because my boyfriends couldn't handle my mental health issues.
I'm on a boatload of medication for my bipolar issues, and even then, I can't get control of myself all the time. The doctors put me on Effexor, and never told me the side effects consist of throwing off my center of balance, vertigo, and hearing voices when I skip a dose.
I have been committed three times in my life, once for *considering* suicide when I was 14, once for suddenly hearing voices in my head, and once as a Baker Act for no good reason. I'm still stuck with a 400 dollar bill for being escorted in handcuffs by police to a mental institution. I have also grown to hate therapists and have stopped going altogether, because /all/ of my previous therapists only made my condition worse, or had me committed. No therapists, not ever.
I can't stand having a mental condition and being told by EVERYONE to just "stop being so moody", "pull yourself together", "not be bipolar", and "stop being such a downer". It feels like nobody can truly understand me.
Last edited by MermaidCelesteFL; 11-28-2014 at 07:38 PM.
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I realize you guys probably arn't psychologists, and I will talk to mine about this when I see her, but I wouldn't mind hearing your thoughts.
My best friend has been busy the last few weeks and we haven't been able to talk much. I asked her tonight if there was anything wrong. I think my friends in college got me trained to worry I did something wrong if I stop hearing from them, because usually it was. I know my friend is busy, but more and more my logical side is having trouble keeping my emotional side in check. As it gets worse it makes it hard to sleep and makes my depression spells worse. It kind of seemed that she has resulted in PTSD. Thoughts?
Lotus, words cannot express my support of you not putting your daughter on ridalin. My sister has ADD and ADHD, and starting at 8 years old she was put on ridalin to help her focus and do better in school. She is extremely intelligent but sometimes her ADD caused her to become distracted and her grades to drop. Though it did help her focus, I will never forget what my sister went through while she was taking it. Almost immediately while taking it she became less energized, depressed, and sometimes even angry. She wanted to stop taking it so badly, but my mom wanted her to continue so she could do well in school. She was judged by others because of the way she acted on ridalin, and became so depressed that while at school her 8th grade year she locked herself in the bathroom and slit her wrists in an attempt of suicide. Luckily she didn't make it deep enough of a cut before someone found her and took her to a doctor. She then stopped taking ridalin and only took it if it was truly the last resort (ironically tea and coffee actually helped more) she is extremely happy now and a hard worker at everything she does. I'm so glad those days are over. Ridalin also stunted her growth she is 5'2 which she has been since the 7th grade, her show size actually shrunk from an 8 to a 6, which I didn't think was even possible.
Now I'm not saying to not put your daughter on it, I'm just giving you an example of the risks so you can be aware of what could happen.
Anyways I just wanted to thank you all for sharing your stories! I find you all truly inspiring to be willing to share your stories with usI'm planning on majoring in Psychology in college (next year) and want to be one of the good psychologists out there
I know there are a lot of bad ones out there. So many just do it for their paycheck and not to actually help others, it's quite sad
Formerly known as Savannah Staver
Shifting from the B!TC# IT OUT! thread over here... (I have a few posts over there if you'd like more context:
The thing is, I don't consider it to be interfering with my life - I'm more than happy to politely decline on the parts of the meal I don't like - most people don't even notice, until something happens like the entire meal is cooked on teflon, at which point I want to cry because I'm conflicted between being polite and not wanting to eat something I'm legitimately scared of. I had to talk myself into eating breakfast yesterday because of it. Not that I wouldn't eat breakfast at all - I was actually planning on having my favorite yummy yogurt treat instead, but I kind of got guilted into eating what I was given anyways...
I don't know if your therapist will consider it PTSD- or if I would which doesn't really matter lol- but when we've got experiences that have been rough and it happens enough, then yeah, our minds default to the idea that it could be happening again when similar events line up. PTSD, I personally think, is a lot bigger than this going by personal experience (for instance, I have flashbacks and because it's been common for me, I get them even for things I don't think were all that traumatic so much as just really hard, even though the flashbacks are sometimes extremely brief thank dawg) BUT that does not mean that what's happened hasn't given you a trigger and a stressor, and so it is affecting your depression.
I hope your doc/therapist can help you find a way through it.
I just want you all to know how brave and strong you are. I also have a mental health condition, though I'm always reluctant to admit to it publicly and especially reluctant to reveal my diagnosis because of the associated stigma, and I know just how hard it is to even perform basic life functions on some days. I've even had episodes where my doctor told me he would support a decision to go on disability. A couple of meds changes and a whole lot of sticking to the program later, I'm functioning pretty well, holding a good job, and going back to school to become a paraprofessional. I had to work very hard to get to this point, and I still slip back into the old problems sometimes. It's NEVER going away. I used to wonder how much of my personality was the illness and how much was really me, but I've come to realize that the two could never be separated because even though it doesn't define me, it has shaped me my whole life and will continue to.
We all have to keep fighting, but we can make it.
User formerly known as "Zicoxite".
For everyone, do you tend to be public or private about "abnormal" mental health issues? I tend to be public, one of the reasons is I know it tends to be taboo and people think they are alone and I want people to know they are not alone and there is someone they can talk to if they want.
We have been sharing about our personal mental health issues, but I want to say something to those of you who are friends of those with depression and other things. First, thank you for being our friends. Sometimes we have trouble showing our appreciation, but you mean a lot to us.
Something I learned from my depression and when my friends try to help me is the usual "it will be ok" doesn't help that much. In all of us we have a logical side and an emotional side. Usually for people their logical side keeps their emotional side from going nuts. When we are having a bad night, our logical side has lost control of our emotional side.
When we are told we will be ok, it's too far in the future for our emotional side and so it means nothing. Our logical side already knows it will be ok in time, its already tried using that. What is needed is to calm down the emotional side enough our logical side can get back in control. One of the best things for our emotional side when we are sad and lonely is to hear "I am here for you". One of the scariest things for our emotional side is to alone, and people have heard or experienced it before, friends abandoning them when they need them the most. "I am here for you" is the most warm and comfortable blanket we could ever have.
I hope this helps.
I tend to be extremely protective of my privacy where my brain injury is concerned. I'll tell people, if absolutely necessary, that 'I have a bad memory' or 'I'm sorry, I've forgotten your name. It happens a lot *smile*' But I would never tell someone I have a brain injury. I'm sick of people asking me LITERALLY 'are you stupid?' or, if I tell them I have one and then ask for a little help to remember what they said like a piece of paper and a pen they respond with some form of 'I'll do it myself/get someone else to do it'... So I'm very, very careful. I also feel like I don't want to get to know people by sharing those details with them because usually it goes downhill for them and I find it exhausting to try to personally correct (in a kind, compassionate way), the error of thinking everyone with a brain injury/whatever is exactly the same.
On another note, I'm getting sick of therapists, because, as one who DOES have a brain injury and for a person for whom change and uncomfortable situations are very hard it's not pleasant when a stranger comes into your life and then dumps ideas/things into your life before talking to you. I'm glad therapists exist and I'm glad for some of mine. Some therapists can be pretty awesome, but unfortunately I've had a lot of bad experiences. That being said, if you need therapy GO for it!
May be because I was in special ed and with other "stupid" people but how does someone go from brain injury to stupid?
That is one advantage I have about the therapist I go to you don't have...your therapist most likely has never had a brain injury and so can only go based of people's research. My therapist has had her own depression problems and she so can relate well to me on most things. There are things she has trouble with of course, one being why I seem to push people away when I try and make friends because she doesn't see that with me or her family members who know me but we both know it happens with my peers.
That's an excellent question and I have no idea. *shrug* That's just the reaction I get from other people on occasion.
That's an interesting thing. I often feel like 'how can they relate'? And of course, you don't have to have a brain injury or whatever to relate to various aspects, but it can be hard to feel... connected? with them. It's often a wash of 'we are making you live every aspect of your life this way because that's what we think is best'. And they never tell me their expectations beforehand and then when they do tell me I get frustrated because I've asked them to tell me in advance and then they never do. Maybe I should expect less of them, I don't know. Not sure if I could really handle any of this stuff long-term.
What they should be saying to you is "we are there for you, let us know what we can do for you". I have learned from knowing people with disabilities and interviews on tv, the worse thing you can do is treat them like a child and do everything for them. People know how to ask for help when they need to. Just let them know you are there for them if they need you.
They chose the former vs the latter. Really left me having very little respect for them, especially knowing they are therapists and are supposed to be helpful with this kind of thing. >.< Having rough nights for various reasons and it doesn't help that there's this THING between me and them because they did just that.
The therapists or your friends? Sorry I confuse easy.
My therapists. And no worries. I do too sometimes so ask any questions you need to.
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