daydreamer84 wrote:
I can imagine this happening. For one thing depression is commonly co-morbid with AS. The symptoms of the manic episodes of the milder BP's (BP2 and cyclothymia) include " an increase in goal directed activity" and describe this as someone concentrating intensely on something for an unusually long time. This could clearly be related to special interests or even just a preference for sameness/perseveration etc. Another symptoms is pressured speech, i.e. talking too much, too fast ( which could be related to problems modulating one's voice tone). Another major symptom of the manic episodes is impulsivity. I can't speak for other people but I have made some decisions in my life that appeared very capricious (although they were actually planned out years in advance and seemed quite logical to me at the time) in relation to my special interests. Therefore if an aspie had episodes of major depression, and when they were not depressed displayed some of the symptoms of mania( in relation to their AS) perhaps they could be misdiagnosed.
One doctor thought I might have had BP but I didn't present with the "elevated or expansive mood" when not depressed nor the sleeplessness (with BP - during manic phases - you're supposed to be able to "feel rested" after only a few hours of sleep or none at all).
This. On top of that many of the Bipolar traits are often found in AS. For example, flat effect, rote memory, sensory sensativity, etc. There is also often a reluctance to socialize. The difference lies in the ability to interprate body language and other social cues. Many of the people I knew who were bipolar were great at it, in fact some were better at it than typical NT folks. But I also know some who were diagnosed who are probably on the spectrum. It is a distinction that is hard to make.
As somebody said, bipolar empowers psychiatrists, that is why I recommend both PARENTS and people with ASD to stay away from psychiatrists. Most psychiatrists are not very good at diagnosis, the good ones leave diagnosis to CSW and Psychologists they work with, and focus on medicinal treatments for a condition somebody ELSE diagnosed. Go to psychologists and clinical social workers, because Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has a positive effect for folks with ASD, while there is no medication that is approved to treat it (in fact most have negative effects).
Also the key difference is bipolar is late onset. Bipolar onsets for women in most often well into adulthood, but can be diagnosed as a teenager. Guess when most women on the spectrum run into major difficulties, adolesence. It is really knowing your clinical history and not getting diagnosed by a psychiatrist, but rather neuropsychologist who has an understanding of learning and developmental disorders. The major issue is many in the psych profession are familiar with bipolar, but are much less familiar with autism spectrum disorders (outside the severe forms). Many girls don't run into problems until middle school or high school. They may have been diagnosed for related learning disorders, but most of the time, nobody puts the pieces together.
I can go on but this is complex.
