High Functioning Autism and Bi Polar Disorder?

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I'm a High Functioning Autistic and I also have been diagnosed with Bi Polar I Disorder after a head injury to my right frontal lobe in 2008. I experienced a dramatic change in personality and suddenly became hyper focused on religion. For a period of time I thought I was communicating with the Prime Creator. I thought that I had a grand purpose on earth and I was here to save mankind. I had a weird delusion that the world was being taken over by aliens. I thought that anyone that was from another country was a alien. I thought that I controlled how people behaved. If I were in a bad mood this could create a bad energy that extended over the planet. If I were in a good mood this could save the planet from the dark energies of the Universe. I was very absorbed in a book called Bringers of the Dawn: Teachings from the Pleiadians Paperback by Barbara Marciniak (Author), Tera Thomas (Editor) . I think because I'm Bi Polar this book triggered a Manic Episode that lasted for 4 months. Has anyone else had a experience similar to mine?

Not me, but I think there's some people on here that have bipolar plus autism. Those sound like some pretty weird experiences, though! Glad you're back on an even keel now.

For a period of time I thought I was communicating with the Prime Creator. I thought that I had a grand purpose on earth and I was here to save mankind. I had a weird delusion that the world was being taken over by aliens. I thought that anyone that was from another country was a alien. I thought that I controlled how people behaved. If I were in a bad mood this could create a bad energy that extended over the planet. If I were in a good mood this could save the planet from the dark energies of the Universe.-Deb1970

That sounds more like Schizophrenia or some sort of other disorder like that although being an acquired injury that kind of narrows the potential list does it not?

A bipolar mania can cause serious psychosis, especially grandiose delusions--like being responsible for the fate of the world. Milder manias may make people energetic, impulsive, and silly happy, but once they get worse, they can make the person lose track of logic and reality-testing, and the delusions they have can be pretty dangerous. People in full-blown mania usually have to be hospitalized so they don't get hurt.

Bipolar disorder definitely causes psychotic episodes like the one the OP describes. Yes, so does schizophrenia, but I think the doctors probably considered both--they're both common causes of psychosis in physically healthy people--and came up with bipolar disorder as the likely answer. They might both cause delusions, but bipolar and schizophrenia look different enough to tell apart. (Unless a person has both, and then they just throw up their hands and say schizoaffective disorder.)

Yes. I'am bipolar. I also have OCD. My mind is a total mess!

The book that I read was basically the basis of the grandiose thoughts I was having. In the book it describes things that I experienced that was thought to be delusional by my doctor. The book was a bite brain washing. I tend to get easily persuaded by anything that pertains to God or what the book called Prime Creator. I grew up in a Pentecostal family and they believe in being used by God to send messages through people. It's called speaking in tongues. After my experience I have concluded that I will stay away from all beliefs that believe in a God, Gods, or Prime Creator. I tend to take things very literally, the bible also has many things in it that are difficult to understand and some people think that the angels its talks about were really aliens. If the people in the bible were living today they would have been considered mentally ill. I'm not saying that I don't have Bi Polar but I think that if it had not been for the book I read I would not have developed the non logical/delusional thinking. Normally I would have only experienced a brief increase of energy and agitation proceeded by depression.

I thought speaking in tongues was speaking the languages of Heaven, or rather all the languages of the world? I grew up Pentecostal too. And yes, we do believe that God can do his work through people. I think one of my manic episodes was influenced about a book about the end of times. The world was supposed to end May 27 2012, and I really got convinced it would end.

It was a book called Synchronicity that really made me manic. Then I read Carl Jung's bio which gave me mild hallucinations. OK, moderate hallucinations.

I did think my decisions influenced events happening in the world too.

I'm still not sure whether I have bipolar disorder or something similar. I'm on anti-depressants and I still feel like I'm cycling through moods, but I haven't been thrown into mania yet.

Many people who have spoken to me and who have seen me, as well as some posters on this very forum, have suggested that I may be cyclothymic (like bipolar, but milder). I experience highs and lows that I don't think have much to do with my autism. I was never diagnosed for cyclothymia, but everything I've read about it clicks with me.

I have known a lot of people from a wide variety of spiritual and metaphysical communities who have similar beliefs and in fact many of them may have read the same book. I've never read that one myself. But I remember Tori Amos used to mention it in some of her interviews and I think she referenced some of the ideas in that book in her songs.

I think you have to be careful, when you get into psychic or metaphysical information, because there are all kinds of ways it can push you over the edge. That's kind of the point though, it is meant to expand your mind and to get you to see beyond the surface of things in life. That's not necessarily delusional. But if your perspective begins to shift dramatically away from the norm, it can be overwhelming or difficult to integrate the information. I think that could push just about anyone into a somewhat delusional state of mind about it. If you have an underlying mental condition, it just becomes a bit more extreme or obvious.

You are not alone!

My sister has not been formally diagnosed with anything, although she is certain she is on the spectrum (along with her son, who has been officially diagnosed). My sister actually believes in the exact thing you said you believed in and it makes me worry about her ALOT (as well as about her son). Obviously no one is perfect and this kind of thinking can lead to very bad things. It's good you see this now though and I hope you have found the necessary help.

It is sad when people like that write brain washing books and then influence people who are very vulnerable and easily-influenced to follow them - unfortunately it seems quite common! However, I do consider myself slightly religious/spiritual, but I try to approach life with a logical and analytical brain, but not to a point to discredit everything. It's dangerous to get too involved in religious dogma when you have any sort of mental illness as it can cause all sorts of trouble. My other sister is the same, and she has been told by the doc she seems Bipolar, but she is refusing diagnosis - despite obviously having problems.

I hope you the best though and am sending hugs your way - this mind stuff is crazy and confusing.

Very true and great advice. There is a difference in belief and delusion I think, which sometimes, people with mental illness (including me at times) can get wrong.

I can see why you would be wary of focusing on esoteric or religious information, if that was what you latched on to last time you had a manic episode. I don't think religion is forever closed to you, though.

I'm a very scientific thinker, very logical; I see God more in science than in church. The universe is just so big and so complex that I can't help but think that there's a lot more to it than we know. We used to think the Sun went around the Earth; then we thought the Milky Way was the only galaxy. Now we're talking about multiverses and thirteen dimensions. In all of that vastness, it seems presumptuous to assume that there's not a lot more to life than we know.

Training yourself in logic might help you become more self-aware. If you have another episode, you might even be able to detect it ahead of time and get help before it takes months out of your life. (I have recurrent depression and, having experienced several episodes now, I can often see the red flags and get myself to a doctor before it gets bad. It's a very handy skill to have.)

You don't have to embrace emotion and superstition to think about religion. I suggest an approach more along the lines of philosophy or theology, something that focuses on facts, practical questions, and ethics.

Are you getting counseling? I think, if you could learn how your brain behaves when you're thinking straight versus when you're not, you might feel a lot more secure about being able to either detect and fend off, or avoid altogether, any further manic episodes.

I have Asperger's and one of my biggest special interests is bipolar-I psychotic mania. Does that count?

And in severe mania, it is often hard to differentiate between mania and schizophrenia. Manic patients can present with "typical schizophrenic" symptoms, including Schneiderian first-rank symptoms. While grandiose delusions are textbook in psychotic mania, mood-incongruent delusions also can occur. As a result, misdiagnosis can result if the mood symptoms are not focused on enough.

I seen my Therapist today and she does not believe I have Bi Polar. The above described experience took place after a right frontal lobe brain injury that was severe enough to cause permanent brain damage. The experience I had was also faith based. A true Bi Polar manic episode is diagnosed when there is a absence of a brain injury and there is no other reason for the change in behavior. I had psychological testing done soon after the injury that concluded that I was suffering from a brain injury that effected the right frontal lobe. I've been being treated by a Psychiatrist for the past 1.4 years for a mental condition I do not have. He obviously does not understand High Functioning Autism or brain damage. The reason I went to a Psychiatrist to begin with was to get help with my depression which is most likely Seasonal Effective Disorder.