Schizophrenia Just Mental Breakdown in Asperger's Syndrome?

Post Reply New Topic

Thank you, Sophist. That was so reassuring. Now I am more nervous, which leads to stress, which leads to psychosis. Excellent.

Don't worry, say I in aardvark form. We verily know truths betwixt the piles. No?

Always glad to help. Just stay away from stress, take two of these pills in the mornings, and you'll be fine and dandy.

I agree. I think of them both as types of "extreme humanity"

Cruel, unimaginative people tend to confuse the two.

In Schizophrenia, the average age range of the development of first episodic psychosis for men is from 20 to 25 years of age. For women, on average, it is about 5 years later, from 25-30.

Women seem to often develop Schizophrenia in it's less severe form.

[Nastallah, H.A., & Smeltzer, D.J. (2002). Contemporary Diagnosis and Management of the Patient with Schizophrenia. Newtown, Pennsylvania: Handbooks in Health Care, Co.]

Sorry, just getting in practice of APA style for my upcoming paper. Sigh.

What is the general prognosis for schizophrenia anyway?

For Acute Schizophrenia, where the psychosis comes on rapidly with very few premorbid symptoms, the prognosis is fairly good with medications. Chronic Schizophrenia, where the illness comes on slowly and more Negative Symptoms are present, the prognosis isn't quite so good and there is generally less improvement overall with medications.

For many Schizophrenics, it seems during middle age the symptoms lessen due to a normal drop in dopamine levels which occurs in everyone. This also fortifies the theory that Schizophrenia is in part caused by heightened dopamine levels.

I felt the same way, Bec. Atleast you're not alone?

I still wonder if it's possible I'm Schizotypal. I have seen odd things (ghosts) and have a tendency toward paranoia (especially when under stress). However, my extended family holds firm beliefs about ghosts/the paranormal, and some of them have seen things, as well (and they are not psychotic). I do have one aunt who is experiencing some kind of psychotic episode, and another who has strange beliefs : / . At the same time, I'm able to question/recognize the improbability of some of my less valid suspicions. I'm more prone to thinking my paranoia about people is due to past experiences rather than actual psychosis. At least I'm hoping so.

The one thing I (and probably you, too) have going for us is that our "symptoms" were present our entire lives, rather than something we've developped (as in schizophrenia).

Civet, I have noticed many Aspergers who seem have a Schizotypal Personality Style. I think it's probably pretty common amongst us. But I would think it has a different genetic basis of Schizotypal than that seen with Schizophrenics. Not that there's a behavioral difference. Just maybe a causal difference.

I wouldn't worry.

Neant, as far as I know schizophrenia is a very chemical thing. It pretty much means that your brain chemistry is rigged as such that you're tripping your face off on life, 24/7, hard enough and consistantly enough that your reality can go away. It's one of those things that could potentially be comorbid with AS, just like pretty much anything else you can think of, but it doesn't have much direct correlation to AS.

It's not just chemical. There can be dysfunction especially in the frontal lobes and other anomalies such as in the temporal lobes and cerebellum or even damage to the cells around the ventricles so that cells die off and the ventricles enlarge. It isn't just neurochemical malfunction.

But, true, it is also very chemical as well. It's just EVERYTHING. But as for which comes first and whether neurochemical problems end up causing certain areas to die off/malfunction or whether the dying off/malfunctioning came first or they both occur at the same time is undecided.

I think for many cases, some of the damage is seen before. Especially with new hypotheses popping up everywhere that Schizophrenia is a developmental disorder and doesn't suddenly appear out of nowhere (like Neant mentioned as to some of the soft signs).

After my brief sojourn in an adolescent psychiatric unit which I left just as I turned 15, I was paranoid about being schizophrenic. This was not helped by the fact that I often used to get called 'schizo' due to certain body movements that I had throughout some of my teenage years.

I am not nearly so concerned about it now, partly because I actually know more about than I did then. In fact, if I do ever get assessment for AS/ASD and it comes back negative, then I shall assume that I have some kind of Schizoid/Schizotypal PD (which I know is very different from real schizophrenia), and that will at least answer a few basic questions for me.

I found something interesting in the description of Asperger's Syndrome,according to ICD-10; read the end of this statement, this may prove interesting for this topic.

It is found in http://www3.who.int/icd/vol1htm2003/fr-icd.htm

That's kinda what I thought. Though it does say "psychotic episodes" and not Schizophrenia. But highly interesting.

I'm Daniel's Mom, Sharon. Daniel is 5 1/2, diagnosed PDD-NOS, as well as Psychosis-NOS. His school IEP is coded "Autism". It's been difficult finding people in New England who are familiar with Asperger's. I'm convinced Daniel's an Aspie, so I'm searching out information, on my own, to find resources. Right now, we're trying to understand the "psychosis" aspect of Daniel. He has vivid hallucinations - seeing people standing in the room talking to him, he hears his name being called. He'll ask me if he's just said something, when he hasn't, in fact, said a word. He has a number of "imaginary friends" with whom he calmly discusses "dark thoughts" which involve burning down the house, killing us, his family, "taking back the power", etc. He has out-of-body experiences, although he's still too little to know that's what they are. I could write pages but I'll refrain. Bottom line, I'm trying to find other Aspie's who have similar experiences. On one hand, I'm told by "professionals" that these disqualify him from being an Aspie. Others tell me this is a "normal" part of it.

We've been told if he were older, he's probably be dx'd Schizophrenic. Johns-Hopkins has some interesting research regarding Schizophrenia, herpes and the measles virus. In a nutshell, if the birth mother had herpes, it can infect the baby. When the baby receives the measles vaccine, the two live viruses (herpes & measles) cause the immune system to respond in ways that destroy the brain neurology. Children, in their study, have a 6-time higher rate of developing early-onset Schizophrenia in these conditions. There are a number of other studies being conducted by other institutions about a baby's immune system being disrupted by a mother's immune system, even if she has something as simple as a common cold or soar throat. There are also bacteria and toxic exposure researches going on. I have posted a number of the studies to our family blog: www.ericsons.net under the "Viral Research" category.

I don't "believe" in "mental illness". I saw a few posts on this thread where people were concerned or fearful of Schizophrenia. It isn't something you can "catch". Everyone, no matter who they are, have thoughts at one time or another that don't seem right, or are so far removed from what is considered "normal" that they can be frightening. Strange thoughts do not a psychotic make.

On the other hand, if there is any connection between viruses, the measles vaccine and Schizophrenia (and possibly the Autism Spectrum?) or Asperger's, there is a real neurological destruction that takes place in the brain and the gut. From what I understand, many "hallucinations" are the result of "leaky gut syndrome" where the neurology and protective lining of the "gut" are compromised, and toxins from foods, as well as many food chemicals (both natural and synthetic) are allowed to leak through the gut wall into the bloodstream, to the brain, causing any number of brain responses including hallucinations. When we removed pasteurized/homogenized milk from our son's diet, many of the "fairy dust" and seeing "fire on the wall", and "waterfalls running down the wall" were halted. Sugars from processed, non-raw milk cause an "opiate" effect, causing the brain to see what isn't there.

I'd like to hear more from people who have been dx'd Asperger's. I'd like to hear more, for Daniel's sake, about hallucinations, both auditory and visual, so that I can better understand my little guy. Is dark thinking an "issue" for anyone? I have to admit, I'm afraid, at some point, he'll act out on his thoughts. He is already, at this young age, drawn to ghosts and the spiritual side of life, but it appears to be the darker side. I've been told by people this is impossible for Aspie's. Yet others tell me it is a normal part of Aspie life.

Anything you can offer to help me better understand this, will be very much appreciated.

Daniel's Mom,
Sharon