Mood Disorder - NOS. What?! Seriously?!

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Supposedly I have autistic disorder and mood disorder - not otherwise specified.

I looked up md-NOS on Wickipedia and found two sentences.

Does anyone know why this label exists and how it can be of benefit to anyone?

I think it's a matter of there being more things that can go wrong with people than can be named and given a diagnosis code in the DSM. You'll probably have to talk to the person who made the dx to find out what they meant.

Like Apple_in_my_Eye said, not all mood disorders fit DSM guidelines. A DSM diagnosis is mainly a way to get insurance companies to pay for treatment anyway, so I wouldn't worry too much. Ask your psychiatrist for an extensive rundown of why you're NOS anyway. It could be an important factor in which kind of treatment you receive.

Basically this is the catch all category for mood issues that do not fit under another mood disorder. I would definitely ask why you got the NOS diagnosis. Also I know that at times for me sensory overload can look like a mood disorder NOS because to a psych professional my mood issues may look random, but to me sensory issues are anything other than random. If you are getting stressed or angry due to over stimulation or frustrations with communication make sure your psych person knows this.

The DSM-IV-TR diagnostic nosology has a node-leaf structure. These are underpinned by ICD-9-CM codes used for insurance purposes. The ICD-9-CM uses x.8/9 for not otherwise specified (NOS) diagnoses in a given category. For example, DSM-IV-TR "Asperger's Disorder" has ICD-9-CM code 299.80, which technically gives it the code of Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified. The UN World Health Organization published the ICD-9 back in 1977, and the U.S. medical-insurance industry has been trying to lurch along with its Clinicial Modification until just recently (Medicare is finally forcing the industry to update to the ICD-10-CM, and the ICD-10 was only published in 1991 with a specific code for Asperger's Syndrome).

i don't like this last one. Sorry, I studied to become a psychologist, I knew DSM-criteria by heart, so don't go telling me this.

DSM 4 is the book/bible with criteria for all mental disorders. If you have Major depression, you should fall under these criteria : http://www.mental-health-today.com/dep/dsm.htm
If you fit all criteria, except one, for example, then you have Major Depression but .. not entirely, so they will have to diagnose you as Mood Disorder NOS. That's how things work, also with Autism/aspergers. If you don't fit ALL criteria for a specific diagnose, they have to add NOS to it.
Other explanation is possible too. You can dig up those criteria yourself and try to see where you fit in.

That is the same for me. I technically got the md-nos diagnosis. I have had severe reoccurring episodic depressions but it is unclear whether I had any hypomanic epsisodes or if those were attributed to any antidepresant use. Maybe this is best described as bipolar type 2.
The important question is does that label make sense and is the treatment that you are receiving make sense. The combination of autism and mood disorder is probably going to look different than just mood disorder by itself. My experience as a patient (or consumer or whatever) is that a good doctor will treat symptoms and try to work with you on what meds work and what doesn't.

Aspergers-tendencies and bipolar2 maybe?