Life expectancy of people with Asperger's or HFA?

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What is the life expectancy of people at the "high" end of the spectrum?

The more I learn about my condition, the more doomed I feel. I have co-morbid conditions of depression and anxiety as well as some personality disorders (social avoidance and some other one... I forget).

Basically, I'm terribly stressed and miserable most of the time. And apparently this is pretty typical for people like me. I'm reading a book right now called "Asperger Syndrome and Anxiety"and it's just amazing how much is articulated there which I recognize in myself, but have been sort of unaware of or in denial about.

Stress, depression, social ostracism, isolation, etc. all contribute to heart disease and probably most other diseases.

So it occurred to me that we must have a lower life expectancy, right? But I've never seen any info on this...

Anyone know?

The Aspie side of our family do pretty well. My father died at 98, his father at 101, my aunt at 96....

They is nothing to suggest that people with asperges or high functing autism have shorter lives

in terms of suicides or accidents [or things thought of as accidents for convenience's sake], there seems to be a higher incidence among folks on the spectrum. certainly diet and exercise, together with exercise, can increase life expectancy among NTs as well as AS folk. likewise, the lack of same [in addition to stress] can truncate lifespans no matter what one's place is on the spectrum. i wish i could definitively answer your questions, but i can only tell you what works for me. what it boils down to, is the fact that you gotta learn to love yourself, no matter what! other people just don't matter here! the only thing that really matters, is what you think and feel about the person staring back at you in the mirror. if one doesn't love oneself, how can one expect anybody else to? if you love yourself you will do what is necessary to get your health on a more even keel, even if it doesn't feel comfortable at the time. i hate not eating my fave fatty foods, and i hate hot sweaty exercise even more, but i value how fitness makes me feel better in my own skin. that is a healthy kind of self-reinforcing self-love, aka a virtuous circle. if you love yourself, the stress seems to abate somewhat, because you won't force yourself to submit to brassholes as desperately, just to keep hold of a comfortable lifestyle. i also was terribly stressed and miserable when i was in the middle-class rat race, but when i was able to retreat into the wilderness as a hermit, my health indicators improved dramatically, once i was away from the competition and all the brassholes. voluntary poverty and good health beats a tenuous [at best] grip on middle-class life and the stress it can entail, IMHO.

On the good side, our tendency to overload could keep us out of danger (preliminary results from a survey I'm doing suggests that AS people are lower in sensation-seeking, which drives a lot of risk-taking behavior such as speeding, trying new drugs, etc).

Plus I don't know about you guys, but I don't stress out over many of the things NTs stress out over, such as social status. And being asexual means not stressing out over relationships (AS people have a higher rate of asexuality, especially AS women).

In and of itself its normal for all functioning levels. However, various things may shorten your life span if you are not careful.

Maybe this depends on your special interest,if your fascinated with something dangerous it could shorten your life considerably.I like snakes a lot,never understood most people's unreasonable fear of them.Statistically only nine people a year die of snake bite,you are way more likely to die in an auto accident but you don't see many people beating the s--t out of cars.To me a rattlesnake looks cuddly,like it wants to curl up in my lap and I could pet it.I am aware that this is not a good idea but I do get as close to them as I can to observe their behavior and I have touched them on two occasions(yes,stupid I know).It could be worse,I'm allergic to wasps so thank goodness I'm not into them.But I do worry about health problems related to anxiety and depression.I guess the big issue would be if I couldn't live where its quiet.Visiting relatives in nursing homes(overcrowded,noisy,no privacy,no life) has made me realize that I would rather be dead than there so I just hope I remember to off myself before the dementia kicks in.

Actually, we live about as long as everyone else, provided no unfortunate random events get us. (Car accidents, cancer, etc.)

I read somewhere that Aspies may live longer because they mature slower, but most of us die from things unrelated to old age. Lifestyle changes and non-AS genetic factors contribute much more to life expectancy than AS.

Well, there is autism/AS without co-morbid anxiety and depressive disorders. The life expectancy of people with autism/AS and co-morbid depression and/or anxiety shouldn't be equated to the life expectancy of people with autism/AS but without these two co-morbid conditions.

I hope I die by the age of 70. That's because the s**thead government are raising the retirement age, and by the time I get old I will probably have to work until I'm in my mid-80s. That would be terrible, since Arthiritis, Alzheimer's, blood pressure issues and stomach issues seem to run in my family, affecting the elderly relatives and now mildly beginning with relatives reaching their mid-50s, so it's obvious that I will probably inherit this too, plus I am only 22 and already run down with stress and anxiety issues. How is one supposed to get up and go to work each day when they suffer with these things? I will end up getting the sack and being thrown out on to the streets - because by then care homes will not exist. They're cutting all of them back one by one now. And I won't have anyone to look after me by then because all my cousins will be married with brats and probably getting on with their own lives (I'm not good enough for them now, let alone when they're married and tied down with brats), and I will never get to have kids of my own because they will be Autistic and Autistic kids aren't going to be able to look after me, they'd be too severe or wouldn't be able to cope with looking after me.

Jesus, I really don't know what this country is coming to. Turning a generally secure country into a third-world country........f**k you, David Cameron. I hope you f*****g die in pain, you f*****g rich c**t.