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Hi! I joined Wrongplanet today and I look forward to forum discussions and making some friends.

Over the years many different Drs. I've seen think I have Schizoid personality or Asperger's. Personally, I believe I have traits of both, yet the latter DSM-IV description is more apt at describing me. In addition to that, I have battled throughout my childhood and adult life with OCD(Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and OCPD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) both of which I was diagnosed with when I was a teen. Currently, I'm thinking about going to Mclean Hospital or Dr. Amen's clinic (they use SPECT[Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography]) to maybe find out what I really have.

Does anyone know of any other testing tools that are of use to diagnose autistic spectrum disorders besides the typical DSM? I do know Functioning MRI and PET scans are sometimes used for OCD research. What has led me to believe I may have Asperger's is because I had developmental speech problems when I was a kid and had to go to speech therapy for awhile (it cured that problem); moreover, I was exteremely awkward socially (never able to maintain eye contact), a problem that persist to this day especially when encountering people I don't know.

For most, if not all of my life, I have had a somewhat obsessive interests in certain subjects and an excessive preoccupation with details of things along with a relentless dose of striving for punctilious exactness in many activities. One other adult problem of mine is my inability to get along with others or understand their actions -sometimes discourse- yet I long for interpersonal relationships. I have been married once, then divorced; but, since haven't dated anyone else and it has been years. That's about all for now.

Welcome to WP. Hope you enjoy it. Oh yeah and could you please explain the difference between OCD and OCPD? Thanks.

Psychiatric Disorders.com

Hello JB71, welcome, enjoy your stay on the Wrong Planet!

Welcome to WrongPlanet, and welcome to my time warp.

Welcome to WP!

Welcome to WP

If you are Aspergers, I hope you receive the correct diagnosis. Aspergers/Autism is almost always the last thing considered for some reason. Most Aspergers people up to this point have had all the wrong diagnosis slapped on them, patently... or, the symptoms over-turned (as was my case), and a big fat "not sure" ... and not wanting to discuss Aspergers. So I left out of counseling with a resounding, "Wish you luck." at the end. When I asked to be put in touch with an Adult Aspergers specialist, the establishment was mum, and ... well, after that time I had THREE KIDS verified on the autism spectrum. You'll be up against a wall of incompetance and ignorance. They will happily slap on "schizo" and other maladies and medicate you for them, if you allow them to.

Question: Do you suffer hallucinations? Hear things that are not there, see things that are not there? Misunderstand what people say to you, constantly. If not, you are _not_ Schizophrenic, and don't allow the medical establishment dupe you, because of ignorant therapists.
If you do suffer hallucinations, then schizo would make sense.

** If you are Aspergers, you will have a lifetime history of clearly understanding what people really say and do, and your brain will process it by stripping away the "subtle social BS" and cut straight through to the "That's a lie," or "Why did you say this or that misleading thing... for some agenda." Aspergers people swing toward logical, reasonable... often making the truthful, unpopular observations on the absurdities of Neurotypicals... therefore making enemies, fast.



I wish you would give more details on these "compulsive behaviors". Because, the compulsive behaviors associated with OCD are not like the repetitive behaviors seen with Autism. ONLY ON PAPER, it sounds the same... to an untrained therapist/counselor whom (excuse my French) doesn't know their from a hole in the ground... and end up causing harm to the individual.
OCD are pointless behaviors... even destructive behaviors. i.e., washing your hands 1000 x a day, until you wear sores into your skin, or pack-ratting junk compulsively creating a health hazard... bizarre, addled behaviors, like walking up a staircase, and feeling the need to compulsively turn yourself around 360 degrees, to straighten yourself back around ... because there's possibly a paranoid fear that, "something bad" will happen. (As one counselor told me, OCD is a result of the world being sooooo out of control, that the brain tries to compensate... just cave into the compulsion, and temporarily get a rush... that you're in control of your environment.) Its a delusion. The cure for those people is STOP DOING THEM, the sufferer will see no lightning bolts from heaven... no death angel will appear... no voodoo curses will fall from the heavens... and the compulsion will subside and cease.

Autistic repetitive behaviors may include something as harmless as wanting to hear the same song over and over and over and over... because hey, "I like it and its a free country."



I would say, find an Autism specialist in your area. It is far easier for children to receive help, than adults. I had the COLLEGE GUIDANCE COUNSELOR brush the question under the rug and make out as if I were out of line, for questioning Aspergers (a learning disability that did indeed affect my educational needs) and I should get off the subject, and get back to my classes. -- I even approached mental health agency with the same question, and they didn't want to discuss. But a couple years later, all three of my children are being tested... my son verified as Aspergers in Fall 2009, and the two girls were verified only this Spring 2010. The system will FAIL you, if you allow it to. My daughter had the same thing happen to her. She approached the High School guidance counselor, and her concerns discarded out of hand. **A slap in the face** thanks to widespread ignorance of educators and mental health professionals.

http://www.autism-pdd.net/checklist.html
Diagnosing and Evaluating Autism
Autism and related disabilities, such as PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified), and Asperger's Syndrome are difficult to diagnose, especially in young children where speech and reasoning skills are still developing.
It is essential that the process of diagnosing Autism & related disabilities include the assessment and evaluation of a child's development, communication, and social skills.
Evaluation and assessment are ongoing processes. Once a diagnosis has been reached, this process should be repeated periodically.
We included brief descriptions of some medical tests and evaluations that may be ordered for children suspected of having autism or a related disability.



...and if you are Aspergers, ON PAPER, that reads like OCD and an incompetant therapist will think "OCD" and pass along the notes to the Doc to prescribe meds for OCD, and if you suggest Aspergers/Autism they're liable to roll their eyes... because they really don't have time for you, or give a hoot to educate themselves on what the Autism SPECTRUM is. They're in it for a paycheck.

My advice is go around those people, and seek out an adult Aspergers/Autism specialist who can give you a proper assessment. If you are Aspergers, it will be one of the most important, if not the most important thing you've probably ever done for yourself up to this point. And, please be certain that you know the examiner is a certified autism specialist, because in my experience, the average counselor/doc is _not_ and more likely to believe myths about Autism/Aspergers than having any actual facts to be qualified to help you. Seriously, I was put in touch with a therapist just this past year who told me to my face, "What you're describing is not Aspergers. If you were Aspergers you would not care if you hurt people's feelings."
LEADING MYTH: Aspergers people lack human empathy.



I was married twice.
First marriage = 5 months.
Second marriage = 2 weeks

If you have a lifetime record of isolation and broken, failed relationships... few to no close personal relationships, I would say it is well worth getting a formal evaluation for Aspergers.

If I sound to be a little bitter and resentful, its because I was given the wringer treatment of the failures of "mental health" system. A decade of failures, and it wasn't them who made the diagnosis, not once... but never. My son was spotted for it, through school testing and evaluations. They suggested it, but said they were not qualified to verify it. He was taken to a child autism specialist, and verified to be Aspergers. Then, my daughter who suddenly became suspect, because the therapist knew of my son's condition stroke of genius or simply that my daughter too had read symptoms of Aspergers, and mentioned it to the therapist, and the therapist put 2+2 together. I had read the symptoms, and knew it described my entire life... but I got the eye-rolling treatment and my concerns brushed under the rug.
I call in county community based services, "PLEASE ... I cannot risk my daughters slipping through the cracks anymore, if they're autistic like my son. PLEASE help our family."
My two daughters saw a specialist and YES +POSITIVE+ AUTISM... but I was sent to an adult examiner who didn't have a clue what Aspergers was, and I was sitting there right after describing one of my problems -- a key symptom of Aspergers -- but she thought Aspergers people have "no empathy" and are all "Low Functioning Autism", thinking to myself, traumatized after so many years of malpractice and hit / miss misdiagnosis.... "Not again! MY GOD... not again." Fed to the neck, with the ignorance and incompetance.

I am very bitter toward the mental health and educational system, both of which, have no excuse except to cry "IGNORANCE!"... and as they say, "ignorance ... is no excuse." In my case, they have brought harm on my life.

There is NO MEDICATION to cure Autism. Now, I want to see the mental health system "CURE" themselves of their ignorance. They're sometimes, dangerous to the health of the public and just maybe they should spend a little time in one of those asylum's they're so fond of....

Last edited by AspieForty on 25 Apr 2010, 12:21 pm, edited 8 times in total.

Welcome to the Wrong Planet community, JB71.

The sad thing here is, they're not going to tell people, OCD is a condition brought on by environmental factors, the brain attempts to compensate... a temporary sense of control over their environment -- and OCD can be CURED by simply (aggressively confronting fears) refusing to cave in to the bad habits or compulsions, and dealing with those compulsions like any habit that must be broken. It is addictive... and IMHO, when environmental conditions have driven a person to the brink of sanity. As I stated earlier, one example of OCD I saw on a documentary, when a person's world is so out of control, (i.e., divorce and a woman begins washing her hands 1000 x a day, until she gets sores on her skin)... like any addictive habit, it wasn't there before her divorce and it can be conquered. Its scary to challenge a delusion of the mind like that, granted, but once a person recognizes what's going on and gives OCD a stiff kick -- its gone.

We live in a society who's medical system does not teach "personal responsibility" and "competant mind to make a personal choice," it gives psychiatry a bad name, when the occasional bona-fide psychopath murders and uses the "insanity" plea. Believe me, if they were crafty and competant enough to stage a string of serial murders, they were competant enough to consciously choose to restrain themselves from doing the deed in the first place.

Thank goodness that people like Gary Numan weren't forbidden thier pilot's lisence because he has a "label" on him. Thank goodness that Bobby Fischer wasn't forbidden to enter Chess tournaments due to a "label". Or will the Psychiatric police, start seizing our driving lisences, custody of our children, and maybe ... Hitler had an idea that seemed to work: Euthanasia for those deemed challenged or unfit for the "New Order". Is that where it leads to?

OCD can be overcame and it is a personal choice. I knew a person who was "Schizophrenic" and Manic Depressed. He set up for a couple weeks, watching horror flicks and kept calling me on the phone telling me about it. I told him, "Those kind of movies are not good for your mind." But he ignored what I was saying, and you can guarantee his counselors never gave him as much as a slap on the wrist for his late-night interest in horror flicks. "It is his brain... he is incompetant... he can't help it. He doesn't have the power to say "NO" to horror movies."
All I know is, about 2 weeks later, the police were swarming and he was sent off to an asylum, for calling "Crisis Line" and falsely claiming to have murdered 20+ people. He spent six months in a state asylum... I'm wondering how much counseling he got, telling him about "Personal Responsibility" and "Choices"... we all have the power to make choices.
In his case, they say he can't make choices. The pills make the choices for him.

There's too much profit in dispensing pills to fix everything.

PILLS = $$$$ BILLIONS.

That's probably why very little attention is being focused on Aspergers syndrome / Autism. Other disorders can be mistaken for asperger syndrome, and status quo excellent for the interestests of pharmaceutical companies, a $$$ bottomline attached with conditions like OCD. There is no effective cure or medication to douse on A.S., therefore $0.00 in profiteering.

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Scott