Schizophrenia and Autism Similarities and Differences

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OCD is a close fit going by the level of concern and research being done, but also health anxiety could also be a possibility. The poster did mention that he had had OCD issues before.

But yes, any type of anxiety, can cause obsessive worrying.


What makes me think OCD is I was doing the same thing as the OP when my OCD was at it's all time worst and I became obsessed with the fear that I was developing schizophrenia. I did hours and hours of research and eventually even asked my psychiatrist. He did not think it was Schizophrenia. I did have other symptoms along side it as well though such as repeating actions (ie flicking light switches), good and bad numbers, Intrusive images and thoughts (in my mind, stemming from my own mind) that would create an anxiety surge.

I kicked the OCD and my schizophrenia obsession went along with it.

Yet my other types of anxiety remained (ie gad and social anxiety).

So that makes me think of OCD first and foremost, but health anxiety is another one that can take a similar form in terms of concerns about one health.

Yeah I feel the same actually, I'm very in tune with animals they're pretty friendly towards me especially cats. I've pet other people's cats that no one else could ever approach without being hissed/scratched at. One of my own cats is like that too. I worry that if I had to give her up for any reason that she'd be put down for it. She's very clingy towards me. Swbluto's avatar is so cute. Any guy would be approachable with a kitten in his hands LOL. Anyway I was told by someone that I have the ability to see prana sparkles. Although I always just though they were hallucinations or floaters. I randomly see this big shadow thing pulsating in and out and I see sparkles everywhere they look like floating electricity. I see this on a regular basis:

Someone told me the shadow people and stuff I see are real ghosts and that I have the power to become a healer LOL I have trouble believing them though but I like the thought of having real psychic powers. When ever I feel like I have those abilities for real I tell myself that I'm manic and to stop it though. Anyway I wouldn't be surprised if I have MCDD I've suspected it. I'm pretty sure I'm schizoaffective as well as AS. Or at least my symptoms fit on both spectrum's. I asked my AS councilor the other day if I should get the schizoaffective treated officially and he still said not to bother because I'd get less help and with him I still have access to meds. I'm thinking of trying one or two again even though I hate them with a passion. He's the first mental health worker I've ever actually trusted with my well being, and sadly he's from a different organization than the regular community mental health services that are in my city. I have to wonder what kind of help people are getting because I know a lot of people don't have knowledge or access to good care in my town. So I can sympathize with many of your posts.

I'm the same way with animals! My friend has this cat that never lets anyone pet her. She told me not to try because she would bite me, but she always lets me pet her. I'm often able to approach animals that most others can't, and animals usually warm up to me pretty quickly. I've always felt that I've had a better connection with animals, cats especially, than with humans. I wonder if that has anything to do with schiz related disorders...

Also, here's a kitty: =^..^=

I think it'd be more an autism thing than schiz,, but I wouldn't be surprised if BP and schiz could too.

Thanks for your input that's interesting. I do DEFINITELY believe people with PDD's relate with animals on a level most other people cannot, because of this social deficit. IE Temple Grandin, I watched the docu on her and she has a way with cows that the other workers do not. It is amazing how she went from full blown autistic to conquering it and finding ways to releive the symptoms.

This is where the genius comes from, the connection to some area of the brain inaccessible because of humans innate *human* language, NT's have a more developed spontaneous/innate language that people with PDD's have to learn by rote memory which is why we seem to come off as droning or mechanical in some way..
Also there is an unspoken empathy which is either psychic or would be considered psychotic, I believe people with PDD's can have psychic abilities with other people's physical or mental states and whatnot and and the end of the day it can be very draining.

Also I have been reading, about van gogh. He is rumored to have been bipolar,schizophrenic,schizoaffective etc. When he actually had a blood deficiency which caused repeating bouts of epilepsy, psychosis, depression and despondency, which prevented him from making any art at all, which gave him a real hostile and eccentric personality. .. I think in some cases where there are bouts of mixed states like that and it seems unclassifiable IE MCDD there must be some kind of genetic defect at work.
As for me I can relate to van gogh extremely, I have had that kind of pattern with sprints of productivity during a grapple with my lucidity, and then a period of severe depression, and all of it mixed with periods of complete numbness, fatigue and meltdowns/shutdowns at the drop of a hat.
One size doesn't fit all... You can try to classify your symptoms in a neat little box, but pinpointing the symptoms and trying to find the actual cause is like a needle in a haystack.

I've been trying to tell people for a long time that one shoe doesn't fit all. It's sad because I noticed a lot of the poor people downtown have both in fact most of them had an ADHD or LD DX in childhood. I worked with an LD specialist for tutoring he took me out for coffee a few times and pointed out people displaying symptoms of spectrum disorders, he said my city has a very high population of MI/ASD people. He even helped me get my ASD DX for free. First we tried the community mental health center and they told us they had no resources or trained psychiatrists on ASDs. We actually had to go to another city because all of the psychologists in mine were expensive and privatized. After that I got into a government run/charity organization called Kerry's place my counselor knows about how bad my city is for undiagnosed ASDs and the poor treatment of mentally ill people. He knows how co-morbid it is with a psych diagnosis and how it can be mistaken for one. He's working with my GP who I trust more than our city's psychiatrists. He's the first professional that I've felt comfortable with. It just shows how hard you have to work in order to get the help you need. I wish more people could understand the significance of my struggle.

BTW you have to see this episode of Doctor Who if you haven't it has the best portrayal of Vincent that I've ever seen or a least my favorite. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_and_the_Doctor
I'm very emotional and affected very emotionally by my MI/ASD I'm also into art more than anything.

That's true. After reading Archraphael's and your posts, I'd have to agree with that. I don't have an official ASD diagnosis, but I'm pretty damn sure I have Asperger's at least. And my therapist is also starting to think so. But we both decided that I don't need another diagnosis. I've already got, like, 10... -_-

When you get the diagnosis then some of your many labels might disappear into the AS DX leaving behind only major possible problems like BP and schiz. If you have OCD and anxiety it could get lumped with the AS and any personalty disorders could get dropped entirely. You also have to be careful of getting BP as a separate DX because AS can look like BP in women and some people don't need the added DX. I helped a male friend in Alaska get his DX of Schizoaffective changed to AS with BP. They eventually dropped the BP, and took him off all his meds which were causing more harm than good. We want to get our story published and put on TV. That's what we're currently working on anyway. It was really rewarding to help someone who was going through what I was at one point. Out of the two of us I seem more likely to be the real schiz though LOL.

Huh. I guess I didn't think about that. If I PM you, could you help me figure out which diagnoses would be lumped?

Sure I can tell you from my experience what I got lumped, and what you might get lumped it might not be a perfect match to yours, and there should also be some helpful threads on here about them and other people's experiences.

Don't mean any offense, but you do seem more schiz than AS. While schiz might have problems with emotional affect due to the "Blunt Affect" that would resemble some symptoms of AS, you certainly seem to have an emotional/social side to you and a certain linguistic/communication normalcy that seems more NT than most AS females on the forums. Previously, you said you were "Just trying to be nice" when you replied to one of my posts, but I honestly have no idea why you were saying that, but if I were to guess, I'm guessing it's because my AS directness might have seemed hostile and I'm guessing you interpreted that as being "offended" or something. I dunno.

deja vu 8O I think we had this conversation before hmmm............. http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt178932.html I could be wrong though Anyway that would make me a childhood schizophrenic because I had a LOT of speech therapy as a kid and I had diagnosed Dyslexia, ADHD, Audio processing disorder, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and dyspraxia. I didn't get an autism DX because they didn't know how it effects women until recently. My little sister got DXed right away with classic autism. The only reason I got my DX is because of her. A university in Hamilton Ontario is doing genetic testing on my family bloodline because me, my brother, and my sister all have DXes now. BP and schiz is also in the family, It's possible that I'm on the mild end of the schiz spectrum but I'm definitely BP. I suspect schiz because I've got some of the symptoms associated with it, but people with schizo affective aren't always as disabled as normal schizophrenics. Here's a good youtube vid of someone else explaining how schizo affective affects them LOL. http://www.youtube.com/user/AbstractLogic21 This outta feed your obsession, cough cough I mean personal interest. Actually it's great that someone thinks highly of my social skills . I'd recently received therapy for social skills. It could also be the influence my BP had on me growing up. I definitely had childhood BP. My parents wanted me to see a psych when I was 13 but teachers said if I wasn't violent there was no point. I was however severely depressed as a kid since the age of 4 and have been all my life.

Umm... I didn't write that...



Why do you say that you're more likely to be the real schiz?

LOL Such an Aspie thing to do You see I was quoting swbluto who quoted me. When he was quoting me he didn't crop his text properly so it doesn't look right. Although being dyslexic myself I didn't catch his mistake I just read it how he intended it to look and messaged him back. You not having difficulty in the reading and writing department caught the mistake he made and I didn't notice LOL. And no he probably wasn't talking about you but me.

Last edited by Angel_ryan on 08 Dec 2011, 7:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Ah okay. Yeah, I'm pretty much a grammar nazi. = P Aspie thing for you or me? Haha

But still, what do you mean by you're more likely to be the real schiz?

Now I said I was likely to be the real schiz because my friend who had his schiz DX changed had different symptoms than me he didn't actually have BP and I do. I know I have AS but I'm iffy about the schizo affective although I can very much relate to the guy in the youtube video I posted. I was literally told not to worry about it by the people working with me. Part of it is protection from the stigma, it'd be so more stigmatizing if employers/extended family knew I have both. I'm ok talking about it online but in real life I can't even say schizophrenia or bipolar without cringing. I don't mind talking about my learning disabilities or autism though which I can get more help with at this point. I found symptom wise that I genuinely can not completely related other people with just one DX of ASD, BP, or Schiz. I get the feeling that I do have MCDD which I think might eventually have to become the official DX if focusing on AS by itself doesn't work out.
Me and swbluto although maybe you too because even if you noticed the mistake you still didn't get how it was made. I could be wrong though