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Aspergers & Mental Health

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Kitty4670
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21 Jan 2022, 10:15 pm

Can Aspergers make you mentally insane? I mean when things get tooooo much, you really don’t know how to handle it & you become sooo overwhelmed that it makes you feel sooo scared, feel like the end of the world, you really act like a child & you have a little hard time breathing. I know Aspergers is a mental health condition. And since I have Cerebral Pasly too & that effects your brain, I’m wondering if I have extra brain damage or something else wrong with me. When I cannot control being mentally crazy, being hysterical with crying & screaming, & acting like a child, I feel like I’m transfer back into a child again.



IsabellaLinton
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21 Jan 2022, 10:24 pm

Aspergers isn't actually a mental health condition or mental illness. It's a developmental difference that you were born with. It's common to experience anxiety like you describe though, in addition to having Aspergers. You might also be having meltdowns which are a part of being on the spectrum. You aren't insane and Aspergers can't make you insane, but I hope you can reach out to your caseworker or let your doctor know that you need more support emotionally, and in terms of practical matters (housework, etc).


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MrsPeel
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22 Jan 2022, 3:00 am

A lot of autistics have a dysregulated nervous system, that means we react differently to stress. This is physical as well as mental, because our bodies do not produce the right amounts of the stress hormone cortisol.

Normally our cortisol levels are too low - so when something stressful happens, our body may not be ready for it. This makes it seem more stressful for us than for others.

If we get really stressed out, the cortisol level will shoot up quickly and go too high, and this can trigger a meltdown, which might be yelling or crying or freaking out in some way.

Then the cortisol doesn't go back to normal as quickly as for other people. So we can stay in a stressed state a lot longer. Something that a NT would get over in half an hour can affect us for a day or two.

People may think you are acting crazy, but it is not exactly a mental health issue. It is mostly nervous system dysregulation from autism.



Kitty4670
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09 Mar 2022, 9:03 pm

IsabellaLinton wrote:
Aspergers isn't actually a mental health condition or mental illness. It's a developmental difference that you were born with. It's common to experience anxiety like you describe though, in addition to having Aspergers. You might also be having meltdowns which are a part of being on the spectrum. You aren't insane and Aspergers can't make you insane, but I hope you can reach out to your caseworker or let your doctor know that you need more support emotionally, and in terms of practical matters (housework, etc).

Then why Aspergers can make people mentally young like being a child again?



Kitty4670
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09 Mar 2022, 9:23 pm

MrsPeel wrote:
A lot of autistics have a dysregulated nervous system, that means we react differently to stress. This is physical as well as mental, because our bodies do not produce the right amounts of the stress hormone cortisol.

Normally our cortisol levels are too low - so when something stressful happens, our body may not be ready for it. This makes it seem more stressful for us than for others.

If we get really stressed out, the cortisol level will shoot up quickly and go too high, and this can trigger a meltdown, which might be yelling or crying or freaking out in some way.

Then the cortisol doesn't go back to normal as quickly as for other people. So we can stay in a stressed state a lot longer. Something that a NT would get over in half an hour can affect us for a day or two.

People may think you are acting crazy, but it is not exactly a mental health issue. It is mostly nervous system dysregulation from autism.

Thanks :D When I hear ALOT of noises in the apartment above my head & I yell, cry & can end up in depression, maybe I’m having a meltdown & it not my sensory issues. I should know this already.



funeralxempire
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09 Mar 2022, 9:25 pm

Kitty4670 wrote:
IsabellaLinton wrote:
Aspergers isn't actually a mental health condition or mental illness. It's a developmental difference that you were born with. It's common to experience anxiety like you describe though, in addition to having Aspergers. You might also be having meltdowns which are a part of being on the spectrum. You aren't insane and Aspergers can't make you insane, but I hope you can reach out to your caseworker or let your doctor know that you need more support emotionally, and in terms of practical matters (housework, etc).

Then why Aspergers can make people mentally young like being a child again?


If one is developmentally delayed in some manner one will seem less mature in at least some ways, right?


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13 Mar 2022, 2:55 pm

I feel like I turn inwards when things get too much. Like I shut the world out and exist in a fantasy world inside my own head.



kuze
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15 Apr 2022, 10:38 pm

Kitty4670 wrote:
Can Aspergers make you mentally insane? I mean when things get tooooo much, you really don’t know how to handle it & you become sooo overwhelmed that it makes you feel sooo scared, feel like the end of the world, you really act like a child & you have a little hard time breathing. I know Aspergers is a mental health condition. And since I have Cerebral Pasly too & that effects your brain, I’m wondering if I have extra brain damage or something else wrong with me. When I cannot control being mentally crazy, being hysterical with crying & screaming, & acting like a child, I feel like I’m transfer back into a child again.


Not sure, but I do know that I don't like the term 'Aspergers' or 'Aspies' because from what I have read, Asperger sent severely autistic children to their deaths between 1939 and 1945 to hide his own identity.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/ ... study-says

kuze


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ScroogeMcDuck666
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13 May 2022, 8:36 pm

I suspect the isolation that is typical with people with this condition can lead to mental health issues. There may be other possible contributors as well.