Was Sherlock Holmes an aspie?

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My dear Holmes topic

One of the best portrayals of Sherlock was by the late Jeremy Brett, who was diagnosed with BPD and possible OCD.

A cracked.com article just mentioned this thread

http://www.cracked.com/article_19336_6- ... esses.html

Beat me to it on the Cracked article mention.

I swear there are at least a few other Holmes threads that they could have cited . . .

As it's already bumped, I suppose it would be okay to post in this thread.

Anyway, regarding the original question, Holmes could be an aspie, as:
- he is really good at picking out little details (except he can see the big picture, too)
- obsession with solving cases, and also with strange topics (knowledge of types of local dirt and fabric types, for instance)
- has a known relative that is even more autistic than he is: Mycroft Holmes (check out the wiki page)
- probably self-medicated for whatever he had (social anxiety issues?), due to vague drug references here and there
- not entirely independent lifestyle; the books reference the housekeeper at his set of flats, he may have had meals made for him as was the custom of lodging houses in those days
- direct and to the point in most of what he actually says to Watson

Contraindications:
- I don't recall him having that much difficulty talking to people to get information (whether or not he related to them is another story); he seemed to have social contacts (or maybe they were Watson's)
- I think he was able to quickly make changes to his plans, to hop into a train to go north to check out a crime scene spontaneously

Conclusion:
Sherlock = aspie? probably
Mycroft = aspie? much more likely

Just discovered this thanks to the Cracked article and couldn't let this little bit of idiocy slide...

Meh, this is quite frustrating.

He did not have autism or aspergers, because he did not have problems communicating. None. Just like Albert Einstein.

Also, he didn't look up dead celebrities and tried to relate to them out of insecurity. Which seems to be a 100% asperger trait.

To quote myself from a recent topic:

I think most of you are ignoring that he was a cokehead. Cocaine can mess up your behavior and interactions with other people.

And he stopped doing drugs later in the series.

Some very misinformed person writing a Cracked article referenced and linked to this thread. In this article he says Sherlock Holmes had Asperger's and calls it a mentall illness. http://www.cracked.com/article_19336_6- ... esses.html

I don't post here anymore, but I logged on just to mention this. I've contacted cracked, and I'm looking for the Contact info for the writers, Chris Radomile and Amanda Miller. It's offensive. They clearly did not research, and are putting out false and hurtful information about Asperger's Syndrome and the Autism Spectrum. The line where they say

"Before you skip down to the comments to submit your passionate defense of Holmes' mental state" Just reinforces the wrong information. The article simply put, is so inaccurate as to be laughable.

So, Chris Radomile, and Those who have found this via the link on the article, I leave you with this: Why does Cracked allow people who don't bother to do proper research to have articles on their website? Is this something you really want to support?

Edit: I contacted them by signing up to the forums, and messaging them there. Their usernames are Raddy and Gizma if you also would like to send a message.

A recent entry on Listverse also claims that Holmes had a 'mental illness'.

"Deep literary analysis of the character has suggested that aspects of his personality indicate mental illness, specifically Asperger’s syndrome, which would explain his intense, single-minded attention to detail and his introversion."

http://listverse.com/2011/09/18/top-10- ... -geniuses/

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character, composed of descriptive words on a page.

Isn't it enough to enjoy a good book without having to presume how mere words on a page might "think"?

i think he has many aspie traits and the thing people say is very aspie is the disability of not being able to read people but something people seem to forget is that many of us ( at least me ) have made a science of it and have thereby becomes better then many neurotypicals at reading people
and many also belive that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was an aspie and that therefore many aspie traits are bestowed upon Sherlock Holmes
aided by the inspiration of one of his teathers Josef Bell

I finally saw the two Robert Downey films back to back this weekend. (I was supposed to be going to see The Dark Knight Rises but, you know). Anyway, not only does he behave like an aspie, but they portrayed him as a jealous gay person as well (dresses in drag, dances with Watson, tells Watson, "lie down with me", is imminently jealous of Watson's marriage, and seems almost too glad to throw his friend's new wife out of a moving train!) You are, Holmes, you are! But I digress. Autism wise, he has several traits (aversion to light, deep focus on his special interests, over-stimulated visual issues which he calls his curse, etc).

Robert Downey is a really good actor. I'd love to see this depth of portrayal from the other pretty boys (DiCaprio, Depp, Pitt and Cruise). Asperger's can be a subtle thing, though, and requires a light deft touch in its portrayal. At least Downey was able to pull it off.