Autism and personlity disorders

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Is it possible to have autism AND a personality disorder?

Does having autism make it more difficult to determine whether you have one, since some symptoms may overlap? Or is it possible that the symptoms of a personality disorder that you show is actually just symptoms of your autism?

A disorder like avoidant personality disorder shares a lot of traits with autism, but is it possible to have both?

Well of course it's possible and I don't think the symptoms overlap as much as you'd think. My best friend has borderline personality disorder which has caused her deep depression, awful anxiety, and terrible panic attacks. While her depression is mostly/completely gone, she still has mild-to-awful anxiety and mild-to-awful panic attacks. I have Asperger's and have never once had depression and panic attacks. My mild anxiety is social anxiety because I struggle a lot with socializing but she gets triggered by many little things that would never in a million years bother me (like thinking she wasn't worthy to be at her boyfriend's friend's house because the friend has a successful career and she doesn't yet, so she had a meltdown in the friend's bathroom.) Yes she can be as stubborn as me (actually probably much more so) but overall, aside from stubbornness and varying degrees of anxiety, are symptoms couldn't be more different.

Unfortunately that's the only example I can give you because I don't know/am close to anyone else with a personality disorder.

I've always wondered this too. My mom has always insisted I have borderline personality disorder after she saw a YouTube documentary about it. She claims my psychiatrist told her I have it but when I asked him he said no. My mom said that he also told her that people with BPD should never be told about their diagnosis. I tried to tell her that all the evidence I could get is that it's very common for women to be diagnosed with BPD before getting an AS diagnosis. She told me she had evidence that proved it was very common for someone to have both. When I asked her if she could send me links, she gave me some BS excuse as to why she couldn't. I assumed it was because she didn't have them to begin with. I've always been told I have a "mood disorder", but one one could tell me which one, or listen to me about WHY I was so depressed or angry.

I suppose it's possible to have AS/autism and a personality disorder, but everything I've ever come across says it's just a misdiagnosis. I can't ever remember hearing about a MALE with BPD. I don't think it's a real condition. I think it's just a way for psychiatrists to say "I don't know what's wrong with you".

I don’t think an autism and personality disorder dual diagnosis is reliable because there is significant overlap for many people.

I was diagnosed with a mixture of personality disorders prior to my autism diagnosis and the report advised that my medical team should not look to diagnose personality disorders with it because autism captures and causes a wide variety of problems, but my co-morbid mood disorders, including anxiety were valid.

I was assessed by a team of specialist autism professionals, so I believe their opinion has good standing.

If a person has a long history of chronic mental health problems, they don’t respond to treatment and are continuously misunderstood, then I think it is pretty likely that undiagnosed autism can be misdiagnosed as a personality disorder, especially if the psychiatric team doesn’t have autism training.

I don't see why it wouldn't be possible.

I also don't see that there is much overlap between symptoms of autism and symptoms of a PD, AvPD included. Furthermore, autism is considered to be present from birth, whereas PDs are thought to develop in adolescence at the earliest. That is a huge difference.

In many cases, there is a massive overlap of symptoms, even emotional regulation (core feature of BPD). Previously unnoticed symptoms can also "appear" more strongly in adolescence or stressful periods which cause them to be misinterpreted as a personality disorder in the absence of an autism diagnosis. AvPD and Schizoid PD are also a common misdiagnosis.

ASD is such a wide spectrum and delayed diagnosis seem to often complicate things.

is bipolar disorder common too? Anyone with b. disorder?

Prior to being formally diagnosed with autism, I was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. But I believe the diagnosis was made purely because I had attempted to take my own life on two occasions. I don't believe I meet the criteria for BPD.

I think its definitely possible, I read the avoidant personality disorder stuff and it sounds like me. I think that's how I adapted before not very long ago.

I have seen a case where someone had both diagnoses.

They had been under treatment for BPD for s number of years, and their personal life as regards close relationships had involved difficulties for all concerned.

Shortly before we lost contact the shared the news that they had been diagnosed as on the Autism spectrum, the portion often called Adpergers.

There were areas of overlap. There was a tendency to a view which tended to one extreme or the other.

One thinks of the possibility that because they were female the view of Autism as something which affects mostly boys meant that the possibility that autism was present in their difficulties may never have occurred to those giving her professional help.

I know a second person who I'd coming out from treatment for BPD, again female. I see some details, such as their child diagnosed as on the spectrum, a history ib teenage and early twenties which in the area of relationships and sexaul matters showed many of this rusk factors reported as affecting women who are on the spectrum ad regards falling foul of abusive or manipulative people and situations, and again I wonder idly. In the case of that second person I note also that they give a great desk of time and attention to those things about which they are passionate.

It should be noted though that these ate merely two examples, and I would be cautious of extending the thoughts to every possible situation.