Grym’s Rant

Thoughts on my mental illnesses

I’ve been doing a bit of research lately on some of the mental peculiarities that I normally experience.  I’ve come accross a relatively new (in the last 10 yrs new) syndrome that has been identified.  Asperger’s Syndrome is a form of autism that manifests in completely different ways from what we all consider to be autism.  It is differentiated from other pervasive development disorders in that a person with AS also has normal to above normal intelligence, and standard language development compared with classical autism.

AS correlates with Asperger’s Disorder defined in section 299.80 of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) by six main criteria. These criteria define AS as a condition in which there is:

1. Qualitative impairment in social interaction;
2. The presence of restricted, repetitive and stereotyped behaviors and interests;
3. Significant impairment in important areas of functioning;
4. No significant delay in language;
5. No significant delay in cognitive development, self-help skills, or adaptive behaviors (other than social interaction); and,
6. The symptoms must not be better accounted for by another specific pervasive developmental disorder or schizophrenia.

Now those who suffer from AS can be characterized by:

1. Limited interests or preoccupation with a subject to the exclusion of other activities;
2. Repetitive behaviors or rituals;
3. Peculiarities in speech and language;
4. Socially and emotionally inappropriate behavior and interpersonal interaction;
5. Problems with nonverbal communication; and
6. Clumsy and uncoordinated motor movements.

Since I can personally attest that I suffer from #s 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5; I am beginning to believe that this may be my overall issue vs the seperate diagnoses that I am currently under.  I’ve been diagnosed with various?dissorders such?as obsessive/compulsive dissorder, attention deficit/hyperactivity dissorder, general anxiety dissorder, clinical depression, and bipolar dissorder.  All of which are listed as comorbidities of AS, or in other words, other disseases that may present or be diagnosed in addition to the primary disorder.

Now, I might ask, what does this mean to me?  I’m not sure, I don’t really know for sure that this might explain all of the things that have puzzled me about how different I’ve felt.  Of how many difficulties I’ve gone through in life.  But I do have another set of questions for my primary doctor when I next visit, and this might lead to something better than not knowing.  I need to find out what this means to me, and I guess that is all I can do at this point.

September 27th, 2006 Posted by Grymwulf | Rant | no comments