Asperger's and schizophrenia.

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Even if he doesn't know he's delusional, a schizophrenic is in more danger himself than he poses to you.

And for all that I would assume otherwise (in anyone, even someone floridly psychotic, until I could be sure), it's still possible that an Aspie has snapped and gone totally crazy and is going to kill you. If someone sets off my warning bells, I don't breathe easier just because they have a particular diagnosis.

I think what has frightened me about Schitzephrenia (can't spell it) is this book my mum read about a person named Nancy somebody, and she was so awful that it shocked the reader. My mum had to dare herself to read on, and all this Nancy woman had was this Schitzephrenia. That has scared the s**t out of me. And the story was actually a true story.

And with Bipolar - Stacie in Eastenders scared the s**t out of me when her character had Bipolar because she was really freaking out at everybody, and I'm scared I'll suddenly get it out of the blue when walking in the street and then go all mad.
I know it was just an act, but the acts are still meant to be relevent to real life situations.

I think brains are so unpredictible. They're not as good as they're cracked up to be.

I would say that the lack of ability to communicate would count as both, as you said, but the blunted emotions or innapropriate display of it could contribute to the dual diagnoses.

What if schizophrenia involves a sudden rapid change in the way the brain processes information?

If you have processed information the same way your entire life the brain will integrate it together over time and try to make sense of it in a way consistent with your needs as you interact with the environment. The brain would come to understand certain patterns of sensory information as certain things. Its even suggested by some psychiatric researchers that infants experience hallucinations during this process of sensory integration.

Then if your brain changed the way information was being processed you would be receiving sensory information in a way the brain is not used to, so it wouldn't be able to understand it and might not be able to tell the difference between a bunch of different lights glaring together in a certain way that makes patterns and something that's really there.

Life experience also factors into this. A lot of us on the spectrum will occassionally here noises and mistake them for voices. Someone who hasn't been experiencing this their whole life and suddenly the way the brain processes sound changes profoundly might interpret this as a "voice in their head".

This also fits the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia. Dopaminergic drugs are prescribed for ADHD and sometimes AS, because they help in paying attention. If you think about it paying attention necessarily involves temporarily adjusting the way the brain processes sensory input. Too much dopamine and the brain's processing of information would be out of control, and the brain wouldn't have time to integrate the information in a way it can understand, causing hallucinations and delusions.

If this is correct doctors should be careful with prescribing dopaminergic drugs. Starting with too strong a drug or too high a dose could lead the patient to develop psychosis over time because while it would make attention easier it would also make it more difficult for the brain to correctly integrate sensory experiences. Considering that ADHD involves too little dopamine and people with ADHD sometimes develop schizophrenia it could be that the strength of the prescription drugs correlates with schizophrenia risk. I'd be interested to see if there are any studies on this. It could also be that the relative level of dopamine rather than absolute level is the key factor. One person with a high level of dopamine will be used to these changes enough to stay sane. One person with a low level who suddenly has the former person's level might experience psychosis.

It is possible to have two completely different illnesses (no matter what any medical people say).. to say it isnt possible, is the same as telling someone with a broken wrist, that it isnt possible to trip and fall over and end up with a broken leg on top.

My father is clearly an Aspie (had to go to special schools etc due to this) ... and when he was in his late 40s? he developed schizophrenia. To me they are very distinct illneses but yeah sure they do share some symptoms that are the same.

With the schizophrenia.. he basically looses his normal mind (well what is normal for him).. he starts halluncinating (eg seeing cameras come out of peoples eyes), believes the government is after him trying to kill him.. etc etc etc. The schizophrenia will make his behaviour become very erratic and different to normal etc. (He'll stop talking to those he usually talks to and becames extremely paranoid).

Anyone very familiar in these two illnesses, will be able to tell them apart. (make sure any asperger's diagnoses is given by an actual expert in it.. and not just a normal psychriastrist who doesnt specialise in this field).

I have heard voices before. I have only ever been diagnosed as having Asperger's. But every once in a while, out of nowhere, I'll hear voices or get slight hallucinations. Thought that might be of interest.

hi, I live in Sweden so if my english is not the best that´s the reason..

Have a daughter age 16 who is diagnosed asperger, adhd and bipolar but I still have my doubts about her diagnoses. It´s much more difficult to get the proper diagnoses here in Sweden beaucase there is a common attitude that´s against medicin and early diagnoses on children in particular. So if you want the right help you have to fight til you drop...

First she got her adhd and got very aggressive on adhd medication and ended up i mania every evening/night. Then she got her asperger diagnose and after that I had to fight for her bipolar diagnose (I read books about different states until my eyes were bleeding), one thing I knew for sure was that she had mania and that had to be stopped. Lots of years later know she´s on seroquel 800 mg a day and that has really improved her. But still she gets very aggresive now and then and have a very high anxiety level. So I believe her to be szhizoaffective as well because she´s on a medication typical for schizoaffective/schizophrenia. Lithium for exampel did not work on her, she got agressive. And she only gets into mania - never depression. And that is also typical for schizoaffective - either to be the mania type OR the depressive type.
One thing that I wonder is - does a medication put a stop for schizophrenia to develop or does develop anyway??

*subscribes*

I don't have Schizophrenia but I used to be very paranoid as a child. I used to be scared of certain things like chairs and toilets and thought they were following me and had nightmares about them.

I have Schizophrenia, or at least that is what a Dr says I have. I have had auditory and visual hallucinations. They normally kick in when I am extremely tired. Shadows move, everything may start to have a wavy bubbly look to it, I might see speckles of light, and at worst (or sometimes best as it is interesting) faces and figures may emerge from the shadows. Everyone can see faces in things but the things I can see can become extremely visual.

It is more likely to happen when i am, in bed either drifting to sleep or jsut woken up. the parts of my brain which cause this are most easy to access when we are semi concious.

i also have auditory hallucinations occasionally, which can just be the sound of a door knocking, or a phone ringing.

i have, after using drugs had more interesting experiences.

I've had a similar experience. I was at a rave in a forest drinking lots and taking high quality ecstasy pills, then when I got back home and after being awake for a day and a half, when I closed my eyes I could see white figures in the shape of people but without too much detail. They were all dancing having a good time. It reminded me of the rave in the forest I was at so much.

I also discovered that with my eyes shut, I could look about and look up and see stars. Then I thought, "wonder if I can walk about?" So I stood up and I could walk across my living room with my eyes shut and be walking amongst all these people dancing outside in the dark.

On another occasion, also induced by high quality Ecstasy pills and alcohol plus sleep deprivation, I had pretty much the same experience except I was in a night club (well at home but i could see inside of a night club) and this time the figures had more detail. i could distinguish the faces, see the DJ, see the bar, see colourful lights, see the dance floor and everything. With my eyes shut I could look at the roof, walk around and everything. Totally amazing.

My question is for anyone who has an interest in the power of the mind, am I insane or silly? lol I feel completely in control of myself but do love the idea of exploring the limits of the imagination. I have planned to get my hands on some DMT in future.

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Asperger, schizophrenia. Evils
arising from industrial society.