Bipolar or Aspergers

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This is a characteristic of high neuroticism, which is an end of one of the factors in the Big Five model of personality; it's not an aspect of Asperger's syndrome per se.

Yeah, I know, I was just speaking generally; bipolar is totally different to AS in regards to emotional difficulties.

No life, no meaning, no joy, etcetera to a feeling of life, a meaning, joy, etcetera, is a good way to put bipolar--depression to its opposite. And like any disorder, there's varying shades of severity.

I have a cousin with bipolar, and she's quite "disturbed" due to her disorder; when she's up, she's really, really up ("manic" would be a good way to describe it), and when she's down, well, she has the scars on her wrists and the million and one inpatient visits.

When I'm "down", it's usually due to an external reason, a cause that's immediately evident; even with no cause evident, it's easy to see why I'd be "down" due to past events and the difficulties that autism places on someone in this society.

With regards to anxiety, that's pretty much the only emotion I constantly feel; I've felt such since I remember feeling for the first time. This is common for people with AS due emotional disturbances and sensory sensitivity.

NeatHumain,

I just repeat what I hear; I had an underling of Professor Attwood tell me that it's directly related to AS, i.e., the inability to internally recognize and then manage one's emotions until they cannot be contained no more. How they then manifest to the world depends on one's personality.

And also, a simple change of order will cause immense anxiety in people with ASDs if that's what sets them off, this is common; the same applies to all events out of our control.

This topic is interesting. My sister is diagnosed with Bipolar disorder.

I befriended this young woman this month,and told me that she has bipolar disorder.She included that she sees the world black/white,good memory,and lacks social skills.I'm not a psychologist,but I believe she has Asperger's syndrome;I also have AS.Also she loves my company and asks advice from me.

With bi-polar disorder, the current state of mind is all-pervasive, it takes over everything and does not necessarily bear any relation to the realities of the world outside, leading to inappropriate or delusional behaviour.

AS meltdowns are usually triggered by external factors (though these may be hard for NTs to understand, because they appear irrational). AS obsessions are normally focused on one thing at a time, whereas a bi-polar patient in a manic phase will throw themselves at every task with equally obsessive energy.

People with AS generally like order, routine, and stability. While Aspies may have mood swings etc., these are in themselves fairly predictable. Bi-polar people are never static - "the only constant is flux". Everything is changing all of the time, and they seemingly lack the ability to cross-reference to memories acquired when they felt different. Bi-polar people always live almost exclusively 'in this moment'. Which is why they cannot see or prevent difficulties, even when others can see them coming.

That's my experience, anyway.

I wonder if a person can have both.

I know a few people that have AS and Bipolar but being diagnosed at that age is far too young if looking into a diagnosis of bipolar it will be usually at the age of 18 and over not younger unless they can see a pattern and things arent helping him or her

It is possible to haveboth. I suspect I have AS myself and so do my parents and my phyatrist. I had EXTREME rage and mood swings as a child that were scary. Girls with AS aren't supposed to be agressive and disruptive but I was. If someone so much as looked at me wrong I didn't hesitate to try and kill them. I was a poster child for AS and bipolar. I think it is good I was never diagnosed with bipolar as a child because instead of being doped into a zombie, I learned how to control my rage and agression. I suspect the intense bullying I received as a child may have amped the agression becuase as soon as I was homeschooled and could let my gaurd down my agression subsided.

Your son sounds like he has many characteristics of AS. You may want to get a second opinion. Since he is still young, he could really benefit from some social skills training and AS-specific therapy. I wish I had had the benefit of this at a younger age.

I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder about 2 1/2 years ago, before I knew anything about AS. For myself, I definitely feel that my moods can be explained far more by an ASD than by bipolar disorder, itself. Still though, The mood stabilizers I was put on have helped. With your sons age, it does sound to me that he could benefit from a specialist who deals with ASD's exclusively. I think that diagnosing children with mental disorder's such as bipolar disorder is pretty ridiculous & I think it happens far too often. Your son is probably just having meltdowns as a result of the things that are happening around him, which is typical of ASD's, especially in children. Also, putting a child on medication should always be the last resort because they usually do more harm than good in children.

I have both BP and AS. I see them as very different and as difficult to isolate as the wind.

I was dx w/BP first. Mine definitely is a mood disorder, rapid-cycling kind of thing. I take 4 pills/a.m. and 5 pills/p.m. to control those symptoms.

I was dx AS recently but can easily see the hx of symptoms. The symptoms of no-touch, stand-offish with strangers, etc. are just the AS. The only crossover symptom for me is the ANGER. I have it very badly and lash out at least 2 +/- people a day.

H.

I went to see a psychiatrist for autistic tendencies with severe depression and irritability, and impulse control disorder. Though initially she thought I had asperger's syndrome and my aspie score was usually 140/70ish, it was established that my depression was "medically resistant" and had "hypomanic-type behaviour" when on citalopram, which is soft signs of bipolar spectrum disorder. So now I have been given a diagnosis of BPD-NOS and my autistic traits that I had seems to have lessened. I still have little desire when it comes to socialisation and fail to maintain friendships, but social anxiety is less problematic. I have also noticed that since I have been taking lithium and maclobamide, it seems to have "dulled" my curiosity, thus my intellect (slightly above average opposed to giftedness).

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Not sure where I fit exactlyin all this. Some people have told me I. Am very Aspie-ish. Others say I definitely fit a bipolar dx. My psychologist says I have sx of depression with anger outburst issues. I am finding it very difficult to cope in my life as it is now. I do not want to lose the few friends I do have. So next week I am going to a psychiatrist to hopefully figure out what is going on in my brain and get meds to level me out. I've been an "out there" person since I was little. Got expelled from preschool since I could not interact with other kids. Was always socially inept. Have learned to act like others to do my job and I do feel compassion for the dying. My personal life is always a wreck, though. Where does one dx begin and where does another one? I hope to at least get some answers and maybe this will help. Btw, I took some online tests and they seem to suggest aspergers. It would make sense... but sometimes I wonder about bipolar. There's alot of psych history in my family and unlike my normal sisters, I stick out like a camel in Brooklyn. What should I do/bring to my new psychiatrist? Will he give me any sort of tests? I don't know what to expect.

Not sure where I fit exactlyin all this. Some people have told me I. Am very Aspie-ish. Others say I definitely fit a bipolar dx. My psychologist says I have sx of depression with anger outburst issues. I am finding it very difficult to cope in my life as it is now. I do not want to lose the few friends I do have. So next week I am going to a psychiatrist to hopefully figure out what is going on in my brain and get meds to level me out. I've been an "out there" person since I was little. Got expelled from preschool since I could not interact with other kids. Was always socially inept. Have learned to act like others to do my job and I do feel compassion for the dying. My personal life is always a wreck, though. Where does one dx begin and where does another one? I hope to at least get some answers and maybe this will help. Btw, I took some online tests and they seem to suggest aspergers. It would make sense... but sometimes I wonder about bipolar. There's alot of psych history in my family and unlike my normal sisters, I stick out like a camel in Brooklyn. What should I do/bring to my new psychiatrist? Will he give me any sort of tests? I don't know what to expect.