Aspergers and Histrionic Personality Disorder?

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Why is aspergers sometimes misdiagnosed as histrionic personality disorder?

I've never heard of that before. I just looked it up and it doesn't sound like AS at all to me:

~people with histrionic disorder can function at high level socially and professionally.
~good social skills that they use to manipulate others.
~exhibitionist behaviour.
~exaggerated displays of emotion
~inappropiately seductive
~need to be centre of attention/uncomfortable when not the centre of attention

That doesn't sound like autism at all.

I am sure i am autistic yet i get accused of behaving like a histrionic by my farther

i also feel uncoumftable when iam not the centre of attention.

Take the AQ test. It is not a professional diagnosis, but it can give you an idea of the possibility.

Buuuut.....most people with autism do not WANT to be in the centre of attention. Most of us are introverts (a few extroverts, yes, but they are not the majority!) and would rather be in our world without being in the centre of attention. So MAYBE your father is on to something....or maybe not. What about the other characteristics I listed? If those match you, then maybe you do have histrionic disorder rather than autism. If your problems are affecting you in your everyday life and you feel you need to label them, I would suggest going in for a real evaluation.

Yeah but i can't really function at a high level like histronics can which is why i got kicked out of my last college cause i did not make the grades.

when i say i want to be the centre of attention i dislike it when i am in the corner and no one talks to me. when peopel start talking to me or making a big deal out of something i have done infront of everybody i do really like the feeling but at the same time i don't like the attention to be prolonged.

I am not a good communicator either but a lot of people say i have very good eye contact and ia m good at minpulating people according to my family.

here is some infro about aspergers being misdiagnosed http://samvak.tripod.com/personalitydisorders62.html

On some tests i have taken on the internet i score highest in histrionic.

Because the uncertainty is there, the only thing I can suggest is to get an evaluation done. Of course, I would suggest that only if you are having issues in your current life that the label would help with.

Note: Histrionic does not imply high level of functioning.

You said you feel bothered if you're not the centre of attention. I'd have to say your family may have a point.

Nevertheless, seek a qualified psychologist if you want a proper diagnosis for your condition.

That was only half my sentence, and I got it from a website.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002498/

Symptoms
People with this disorder are usually able to function at a high level and can be successful socially and at work.

Yes, usually, but not always.

Just as it's not always the fact that Aspies are introverts.

My ex-girlfriend probably has histrionic personality disorder, and although she doesn't fit the symptom profile of Asperger's syndrome very well at well, there are nevertheless some similarities:

• Poor emotional/impulse control, lack of emotional self-awareness
• Poor ability to empathize, put herself in, say, my shoes (I was better at empathizing with her than vice versa)
• Compulsive behaviors (alcohol intake and smoking; always wanting to shower before we hung out; wanting to watch the same old movie before going to bed—as a way of winding down, I guess)

Otherwise her behavior was defined by deliberating stirring up conflict to make herself the center of her own reality TV show, casting you in a role whether you liked it or not.

Well maybe i could just be an extroverted aspie since i am bothered when i am not the centre of attention?

I think i am an aspie though because.......

according to my family when i get angry i start to handflap
i did walk on tip toes quite a lot in the past and have a clumsy gait
on my old medical records from when i was a child it had down as having semantic pragmantic disorder which really is the same as autism and aspergers
had a language delay as a child
needed learning suppourt assistants at school



Maybe i have histrionic personality disorder combined with aspergers? according to my old learning suppourt assistant at school she said "i have semantic pragmantic disorder and it makes me get obssesed over things" maybe at this point in my life i am obssesed with wanting to be at the centre of attention since i did not care when i was younger.


my close family have also accused me of being
needy
self obssesed
attention seeking
paranoid schziod
schziophrenic
autistic
angry all time
full blown autisim
bully
pyscopath
violent
thug
disabled
reclusive
ecentric
weirdo
weird
having no social skills
not really being able to talk to anybody because of my poor social skills
misrable
living in my own fanatasy world
dillusional
deluded
f****d in the head
drama queen
mentally ill
stroppy
taking words and things too litteraly
stuttering
talking in riddles
depressed
shy
over thinking
analysing things too much
talking in a foreign langauge
aspergers

i do switch between behaving badly and good when friends don't come round to visit. basicly i have tantrums and hissy fits but if a stranger entered i would change back to behaving normally because i would be embarrased.


I don't think its impossible that someone with AS or autisim can develop histrionic traits.

I didn't say always. If you are read my post is says:
People with this disorder are usually able to function at a high level and can be successful socially and at work

That seems like it can fit with histrionic disorder to me. I can't speak for all Aspies but for the most part, I don't think it is a lack of emotional SELF-awareness, but a lack of interpreting OTHER people. Poor empathy skills also goes with histrionic disorder, not just AS. Her compulsive behaviours don't really seem that AS-like either. Maybe watching the same old movie every night, but that could just be one habit. In my experience, people with AS tend to have more rigid obsessions about a lot of other things.

Toe-walking and handflapping are signs of autism, but they are among some of the minor signs. There are a variety of reasons why a person might hand flap; it is not limited to autistic people. Needing learning support systems at school is also not a sign of autism (but can be a consequence of it). Most of the kids at school who need extra help have other issues, not autism. I, on the other hand, am on the severe side of HFA, and I never needed extra help for my academics. Semantic pragmatic disorder could imply some autistic-like characteristics (or even being on the spectrum), but it isn't a given and it isn't synonymous with autism.

I am not saying that no autisitic people like being the centre of attention, but I personally have never heard of any of them. We are usually more concerned with their own little world (even extroverts can be!) than with the wider world around us. Also, it might not be impossible for an autistic person to have histrionic disorder, but it doesn't seem likely to me since many of the diagnostic criteria of histrionic disorder and the diagnostic criteria of AS are conflicting in some way with one another.

I don't know, even your list of accusations all seems to fit in quite nicely with histrionic disorder. Also, keep in mind that I am very familiar with meltdowns as I have had them frequently in my life---if you can control it for not wanting to look embarrassing, then it is not a meltdown, but just what you said, a hissy fit. Hissy fits are not, in my knowledge, a key sign of aspergers/autism, but meltdowns are.

I am not saying you are not on the spectrum, and that you definitely have histrionic disorder. I am not a psychologist and not qualified to give a diagnosis. I am qualified to give my opinion though, and the more you write, the more I can see where your father is coming from.

Well if i am really upset if arguing with my family and crying even if a stranger walked in the room i would still be really upset and ask for there help. if i am having a temper tantrum though i would hold it in. there is a difference between being sad and being angry.........

i have to admit though this attention seeking behaviour of mine and getting annoyed when iam not the centre of attetnion is kinda disabling me in an odd way. i also belive i suffere from anxiety disorder which can make more bad tempered and less tolerant of delayed gratification.


Also can i point out that i think your misunderstanding my posts a little bit. in social situations and gatherings if i get an adequite amount of attention and praise from people then i feel happy, relaxed and satisfied. even if its only a few mintues i don't mind then not being the centre of attention for the rest of hte time but if people competely ignore me and don't acknowledge my existence that is when i get upset even when it comes to my own family. if people ignore me then i get really quiet and don't talk. if peopel start being really nice to me though its encourages me to talk and become more chatty. i think though this could be related to me having anxiety disorder?

Another sign that i could be on teh spectrum as well is that i have always been a bad sleeper. although nowadays i sleep better though.

I hate to say this as well but when people don't behave in the desired way that i want them too i can feel rage inside I wonder though if this yet another consequence of suffering from anxiety disorder?

Like I said, seek a qualified psychologist if you want a proper diagnosis for your condition.

You are just confusing us at this point.