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Hi, I'm new to the forums. I'm not completely certain about whether or not I am an Aspie. I've always had difficulty with social situations and share a lot of experiences with Aspies. I identify with a lot of the difficulties that face people with Asperger's.

I had been using pot until a couple months ago; as far as I can tell, I was self-medicating for depression; and I am currently taking Zoloft. I also continue to have some anxiety, although much less than I was a few months ago.

In high school, another student did suggest to me that I have Asperger's.

I've also been somewhat worried that I might be narcissistic or possibly have some other syndrome. (I also have questions about my sexual orientation.)

I'm currently seeing a psychologist and psychiatrist. The psychologist has suggested a diagnosis of schizotypal disorder. I don't really feel that that matches, however. I'm also going to undergo testing because the doctor feels that I may be at risk for schizophrenia.

Does anyone know if an MRI would reveal if a person has autism? I'd also be interested in knowing if there's a test that tests more how a person perceives things than asking the person to self-report as I feel as though this would more clearly lead to a diagnosis (since it would remove any bias I might have toward diagnosing myself with Asperger's and would test more the thinking mechanisms of my brain in an objective manner).

While using pot, I heard voices (without realizing that I was hearing voices) - my brain formed words and conversations from the chatter of my parents across the house. Pot is said to lower the threshold with psychosis, which would seem to suggest then that rather than having Asperger's, I am just on the edge of entering psychosis. Sometimes though I wonder about things like links between autism and shizo- disorders, as to some extent they share characteristics (especially, I think, from the viewpoint of an observer). I also had something resembling a psychotic episode that I think was cannabis-induced - I came to believe that a large number of the people I came into contact with (including my family) were or could be psychopaths.

Also, my sister has Rett Syndrome.

While a lot of my difficulties seem to suggest something besides Asperger's, I think it's fairly likely that the depression and anxiety are a product of my undiagnosed Asperger's.

Welcome

To WrongPlanet!! !

"Hi," noisymouse, and welcome to the Wrong Planet community.

Hi Mouse.

Unfortunately the use of cannabis is likely to make it more difficult for the doctors to diagnose. There is a limit to how much "objectivity" we can get out of psychological tests as you described. If you look at the MCMI for example, which is a test for various emotional disorders, it asks a number of true-false questions like "I think my father is a good man". Well okay... that works for a lot of folks, but if you never met your father, how would you know? If your father killed 37 people before being given a death sentence (not horribly likely, but it happens), then how in hell would that have any bearing on whether or not *YOU* have an emotional disorder?

Anyway, getting back to the cannabis - it's neurotoxic, and so it makes it more difficult for the doctors to differentiate between the symptoms of the drug and the original neurophysiological function of your brain.

Self medicating for depression would not be surprising however, since most of us do struggle with depression resulting from the challenges of dealing with our altered neuropathy and to a great degree our lack of social skill.

I wouldn't worry to much about sexual orientation. I believe a certain amount of experimentation in adolescence is considered normal. And either way it's not really a big issue for you right now -- or rather -- I would deal with the other things first and then let the sexual orientation question sort itself out once things calm down a bit for you.

Nice to meet you, noisymouse.

Nice to meet you, noisymouse.

Welcome to WP!

Regarding the neurotoxicity, I'm coming to understand that there may be many more risks to cannabis use than I had originally thought. That said, I've been assured by my psychologist that my use was not over a long enough period of time to cause permanent problems. Also today he told me that he has no doubt that I have Asperger's, so I guess I can consider myself diagnosed at this point.

Welcome here!