When people say Asperger's is a 'mental health' problem...

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undefineable
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20 Feb 2011, 10:49 am

OddDuckNash99 wrote:
anbuend wrote:
People who have psychiatric conditions have to constantly prove to people that our conditions are neurobiologically based, as well, as a way to get rid of stigma and show that our disorders are no more our fault than somebody who has epilepsy or Huntington's or the like.


I don't see that chemical imbalances in one's brain can be that person's fault entirely; when everything and everyone in a person's life - including genetically-determined elements of one's temperament - encourages stress, can a person really be wholly to blame for getting so 'stressed out' that they break down in some way?

As a believer in rebirth, however, I do feel that choices/actions in previous lives led directly to our autism in this one - If this were not the case, I wonder then why I would be autistic, as the only reason for 'me' to experience being 'me' (and not a non-autistic person) would then be pure chance (or ofcourse the will of God or somesuch). Also, the only plausible 'rational' explanation for autism seems to be Murphy's Law {Whatever can go wrong will go wrong on occasion} - Arguments favouring selective value fail to recognise that in survival situations (i.e. environments where natural selection is able to take place), NTs too fall under pressure to make maximum use of their more technical faculties, which can then be further developed alongside their empathising strengths etc..

If anyone is both confused and curious about my last paragraph, please PM me, as I am planning to write a philosophical thesis to prove that there is no need for a causal link between an individual thread of conscious experience and the individual set of conditions (body, circumstances etc.) to which it is connected {In other words, I feel I can demonstrate that there is no scientifically respectable reason why any of us should not have been born as a dog or a cat}.



Last edited by undefineable on 20 Feb 2011, 11:01 am, edited 2 times in total.

XFilesGeek
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20 Feb 2011, 10:52 am

undefineable wrote:
aghogday wrote:
undefineable wrote:
Trust me, being aware of your feelings while autistic is worse


Yes, I agree this can be the case. Some suggest this emotional turmoil eventually leads to to a psychological cause of alexithymia and the numbness that goes along with it. I understand forty percent of those with PTSD suffer from psychological alexithymia. None of it is pleasant.


I had to induce emotional numbness in myself from age 19 on, using the thought 'nothing can possibly matter' and other buddhism-derived nihilism, though I've had to use antidepressants to maintain the numbness from soon after my AS diagnosis at age 20. I'm about to explore if CBT can lessen my need for chemical aid in coping with my knowledge of the permanence of 'my problems', as I called AS symptoms during my teenage years.

I'm not strictly alexithymic for all this, though, as I could tell you what I'm feeling at most points. I would imagine that true alexithymia, where it exists alongside autism, contributes to the notion current among so many autistics that they wouldn't want anything internal to them or to their lives to change.


Not knowing what you are feeling and not feeling anything are two seperate things.

In any case, I'm chronically apathetic and always have been, but it doesn't make my life "easier." It amuses me when people assume us "apathetic types" must not have any problems in the same way it amuses me when individuals insist introverted Aspies have it "easier." A lack of emotions about the issues most humans have emotions about makes me ill-equipped to deal with life and hard-pressed to find reasons to get up in the morning. Oh, and you're always being accused of being a sociopath.

And being "apathetic" does not make problems dissapear. My bills don't go away, my mother's multiple sclerosis doesn't magically heal, and my father's looming unemploment doesn't resolve itself just because I don't shed tears.


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20 Feb 2011, 11:07 am

XFilesGeek wrote:

Not knowing what you are feeling and not feeling anything are two seperate things.

In any case, I'm chronically apathetic and always have been, but it doesn't make my life "easier." It amuses me when people assume us "apathetic types" must not have any problems in the same way it amuses me when individuals insist introverted Aspies have it "easier." A lack of emotions about the issues most humans have emotions about makes me ill-equipped to deal with life and hard-pressed to find reasons to get up in the morning. Oh, and you're always being accused of being a sociopath.

And being "apathetic" does not make problems dissapear. My bills don't go away, my mother's multiple sclerosis doesn't magically heal, and my father's looming unemploment doesn't resolve itself just because I don't shed tears.


You clearly DO have feelings towards your problems - Feelings of things not 'being easy' (i.e. feelings of stress and concern for yourself and - maybe - others). You also have feelings about the things you like (the X-Files etc.); otherwise you wouldn't have ever found ANY reason to get up in the morning.



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20 Feb 2011, 11:29 am

undefineable wrote:
XFilesGeek wrote:

Not knowing what you are feeling and not feeling anything are two seperate things.

In any case, I'm chronically apathetic and always have been, but it doesn't make my life "easier." It amuses me when people assume us "apathetic types" must not have any problems in the same way it amuses me when individuals insist introverted Aspies have it "easier." A lack of emotions about the issues most humans have emotions about makes me ill-equipped to deal with life and hard-pressed to find reasons to get up in the morning. Oh, and you're always being accused of being a sociopath.

And being "apathetic" does not make problems dissapear. My bills don't go away, my mother's multiple sclerosis doesn't magically heal, and my father's looming unemploment doesn't resolve itself just because I don't shed tears.


You clearly DO have feelings towards your problems - Feelings of things not 'being easy' (i.e. feelings of stress and concern for yourself and - maybe - others). You also have feelings about the things you like (the X-Files etc.); otherwise you wouldn't have ever found ANY reason to get up in the morning.


I didn't say I have absolutely no feelings towards anything...........and we clearlty differ on what constitutes a "feeling."

My impetus for getting up in the morning is "motivated" by very diffferent factors than what motivates most of the other people I know. You can derive motivation from sources other than "feelings." And a "problem" is a "problem" regardless of whether or not one has "feelings" about it, or, more specifically, whether or not one has the normal degree of "feelings" towards said problem in comparison to the rest of humanity and if the individual with said problem can articulate their "feelings" and respond appropriately.

My "feelings" are greatly reduced in most situations, non-existent in others, and/or highly abnormal. It hasn't made my life "easier."


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20 Feb 2011, 11:47 am

XFilesGeek wrote:
undefineable wrote:
XFilesGeek wrote:

I didn't say I have absolutely no feelings towards anything...........and we clearlty differ on what constitutes a "feeling."

My impetus for getting up in the morning is "motivated" by very diffferent factors than what motivates most of the other people I know. You can derive motivation from sources other than "feelings." And a "problem" is a "problem" regardless of whether or not one has "feelings" about it, or, more specifically, whether or not one has the normal degree of "feelings" towards said problem in comparison to the rest of humanity and if the individual with said problem can articulate their "feelings" and respond appropriately.

My "feelings" are greatly reduced in most situations, non-existent in others, and/or highly abnormal. It hasn't made my life "easier."


As you say, we differ on semantics - Some would call motivation itself an emotional, or else (for smaller-brained animals such as insects especially) an instinctual process that a being is often aware of on some level. A problem, ofcourse, is only a problem for you if you have the goal of remaining alive, which is to say the feeling of wanting to remain alive, in mind. If you don't eat or drink, ofcourse, that goal becomes a sensation-related rather than emotional or motivational goal. I suspect more of us aspies are merely unable to 'articulate their "feelings" and respond appropriately', however much we may feel them in the privacy of our own bodies. Others observing us may be 'unnerved' by our demeanour as a result - For instane, when I discovered I was unable to socialise normally at age 19, my eyes usually bulged out of their sockets when I was around others, clearly indicating that there was something 'going on' with me on an emotional level.



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02 Aug 2015, 10:33 am

Autism spectrum disorders, including Asperger's, are all neurological in basis, which makes them biological issues. However, some of the possible symptoms, such as stimming, social dysfunction, and depression, manifest themselves in a way that has psychiatric aspects, and thus, can sometimes benefit from psychiatric therapy.

Basically spectrum symptoms fall into several main categories, and then a number of subcategories from there. The first would be neuro/bio/neuro--yes a second neuro, the second main category is neuro/bio/physical, and the third is neuro/bio/social, and the fourth category is neuro/bio/psychiatric.

1. Neuro/bio/neuro covers brain processing issues, sensory issues, and some other traits.

2. Neuro/bio/physical covers motor skills issues and to some extent sensory issues--and yes there is some overlap with other categories with at least some traits.

3. Neuro/bio/social covers social skills issues. And again there is an overlap with category one, as this is at least partly a processing issue.

4. Neuro/bio/psychiatric covers major depression, bi-polar, and some of the co-morbids, like schizophrenia, OCD, ADHD, and others related to mental illness.

There is also a fifth main category:

5. bio/physical--many people on the spectrum have intestinal problems, and some have been found to have lung irregularities, and there may be other such bio/physical issues as well.

I believe, after studying it from the inside, that the co-morbid known as Executive Function Disorder (EFD) falls in the first category--neuro/bio/neuro. From my own experience, it appears to be a mental processing issue, so it belongs in this main category.

I have sensory processing issues, too. I am somewhat sensitive to bright lights, loud noises, and certain types of non loud noises. I also have skin sensitivity issues. From my own experience, I believe sensory processing issues fall into both main category 1, and main category 2.

My social issues fall firmly in category 3, and my depression falls in category 4. I also have intestinal problems, including IBS, and a kink in the bowel. I have a few other co-morbids, too, but these are the main issues. At least my depression is under control. Wish my EFD was, too. I do have some motor skills issues, but fortunately, they are minor. Unfortunately, I have symptoms from all five main categories. :( :roll:

So, yes, some of the symptoms of Asperger's put it in the mental health/psych category, but what it really all boils down to, is that our brains are wired differently (neuro/bio issues) which causes all kinds of processing problems. Many of them are bad, but at least a few of them can have beneficial outcomes, like being able to concentrate intensely on your special interest, especially if it helps you to earn a living.

Hope that clears things up some. :D


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