Are there psychiatrists who are Aspies?

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Icheb
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30 Mar 2009, 1:49 pm

A lot of posters here have complained that their psychiatrists don't understand about AS and hence, aren't qualified to diagnose it. Which got me thinking, could there not be psychiatrists who are Aspies? I can't see why an Aspie shouldn't develop an interest in psychiatry and pursue a career in it. I've read that Hans Asperger himself was more than a little Aspie.

Has anyone encountered such a psychiatrist, or read about one?


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cosmiccat
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30 Mar 2009, 1:52 pm

Carl Jung. Read his autobiography, "Memories, Dreams, Reflections" and see for yourself.

Heh-heh, Just realized you are from Switzerland, like Jung.

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zeichner
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30 Mar 2009, 4:32 pm

I see no reason why a person on the autistic spectrum could not become a psychiatrist/psychologist - so there must be some who have already done so. However, that wouldn't be a deciding factor for me in choosing a psychiatrist/psychologist. It's more important to me that the person knows what they are doing, than that they actually share my characteristics.


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garyww
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30 Mar 2009, 4:33 pm

One of my doctors is autistic so I don't think it to unusual on the whole.


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nothingunusual
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30 Mar 2009, 4:43 pm

I've wondered the same. Supposing there are more than a fair number of AS academics, I wouldn't be surprised if there were at least a good handful in Psychiatry, however unsuitable some aspects of the profession may be.

Icheb wrote:
I can't see why an Aspie shouldn't develop an interest in psychiatry and pursue a career in it.


Psychiatry and Psychology have been my longest existing special interests (thanks in part to my mother being a Psych nurse). I wanted to be a Psychiatrist since I was about thirteen. I actually pretty much gave-up the idea when I was diagnosed with AS. I could learn how to cope with working in a clinical setting, but after learning about my poor TOM abilities I figured it would be a bigger challenge than I'd previously thought.


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Flismflop
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30 Mar 2009, 6:31 pm

Icheb wrote:
A lot of posters here have complained that their psychiatrists don't understand about AS and hence, aren't qualified to diagnose it.

That's because they don't know the inherent difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist. Read on:

I wouldn't be surprised if there were some aspies who became psychiatrists. However, I HIGHLY DOUBT that any of them would admit it, since they would then have to recognise the existance of AS, which in turn would cause them to lose patients since the only service that psychiatrists typically study to provide is writing prescriptions. There aren't any pharmaceuticals for treating AS, thus psychiatrists typically refuse to recognise it. Psychology is not a required field of study for psychiatry degrees.


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