AS vs. psychosis

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Well....i'm not a psychologist and even if I was I wouldn't be able to Dx you over the internet of course.


Still...much of what you said SOUNDS like the common features associated with Schizotypal PD. Among other disorders, differentiating individuals with Schizotypal/Schizoid PD from those with Autism and AS can be quite difficult. You own thoughts and behaviors seem to have more in common with those related to Schizotypal PD rather than Schizoid.


This is from the DSM-IV again:

"Autistic Disorder and Asperger's Disorder may be differentiated from Schizotypal PD by the primacy and severity of the disorder in language accompanied by compensatory efforts by the child to communicate by other means (e.g., gestures) and by the characteristics features of impaired language found in a specialized language assessment. Milder forms of Autistic Disorder and Asperger's Disorder are differentiated by even greater lack of social awareness and emotional reciprocity and stereotyped behaviors and interests".


Most, if not all, of the features typically found in those with Schizotypal PD can occur in those with AS and other ASDs. Thus a seperate Axis-II Dx of Schizotypal PD may not be necessary or legitimate in your case even if you do exhibit all the diagnostic features associated with it. You might want to mention this your psychiatrist. Alot of mental health professionals aren't as familiar with the manifestations of AS/ASDs as they should be. Maybe your psych believes you're experiencing a bunch of symptoms which people with AS/ASD don't often exhibit. From all I know about AS/ASD, I really wouldn't agree with such a belief. Again...if you haven't undergone a full neuropsych evaluation yet, it might be a good idea to get one. Not because what you're describing sounds so serious or unusual. It's just that a neuropsych eval might offer a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of your issues. Several psychologists misdiagnosed me with all sorts of things before I had a neuropsych eval. They didn't suspect anything like NLD/AS before then. Most of them weren't even familiar with NLD at that time and their knowledge of AS probably wasn't much better.

While most mental health professionals these days are familiar with AS, many just aren't very knowledgeable in terms of the myriad of a traits which can be associated with it. Even if they know a patient has been Dx-ed with AS, they might believe they're seeing behaviors that aren't associated with it which are in fact quite common among those with AS.

Diminishment of emotional descriptiveness is a red flag, ex: you admit that these beliefs are irrational and pervasive but you don't "feel" abnormal. It is not so normal to have thoughts like this, so how is it you don't "feel" they are abnormal?

Therapy isn't stealing your money, it may be wasting it, but stealing is an inappropriate characterization. Many people will make a unconscious judgement about you in the first minute of social interaction based upon the richness and articulation of your vocabulary. Much of our fluency is built off and maintained through social interaction, so people with social deficits tend to lose adeptness and spontaneity in utilizing there vocab even though there comprehension may stay entirely intact.

If a psychiatrist says you're not AS but psychotic, it might mean he is clearing the ground for prescribing you an antipsychotic drug. These drugs can be very bad news so think twice before accepting a prescription.

This would be a far more copacetic possibility than me losing my sanity. I have mentioned the possibility of a PD to him, among other things, but he doesn't seem to acknowledge much of what I say; I have some trouble formulating myself verbally which isn't helping much.
He has readily admitted that his expertise on AS is lacking though (if I understood him correctly) so he is sending me to some polyclinic where hopefully something akin to a neuropsychological evaluation might be possible. I'll be sure to do some research on this myself.


I admit I might display somewhat diminished emotional descriptiveness, but I have never been particularly good with feelings and such anyway. I realize my thoughts might be abnormal in a strictly logical sense, yet I myself do not feel abnormal as if I'm losing touch with reality.


I said that in a figurative, facetious and non-literal way.


Hence my continued existence as socially challenged.



I don't think he is the drugging type as he hasn't mentioned drugs once yet. If he does I'll be sure to think twice.

I share pretty much the same set of ideas as Amnos' first post. Most of the time they are just ideas, and sometimes they are beliefs. I think (and my psychologist seems to agree) that they are pretty congruent with adult experience of life with Asperger's, where the same interpersonal events keep playing out with unrelated people to the point that they seem scripted.

Those thoughts could very well be the result of OCD, not psychosis.