Character Flaws and Asperger's Syndrome

NeantHumain · Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 7:42 pm Post subject:

The psychiatric literature refers to them as personality disorders: character flaws. Everyone has a few of them, but I am wondering whether AS exacerbates inherited personality traits (i.e., temperament), leading to a higher likelihood of developing a personality trait outside the normal range (e.g., either too much or too little extraversion). Asperger's syndrome and the autistic spectrum more generally probably carry with them a few personality tendencies (e.g., preference for routine).

I have read some research that indicates children with ADHD are more likely to develop a personality disorder (especially the Cluster B personality disorders), and I'm wondering if AS is the same.

These character flaws in AS probably come in two styles: those innate to autism and the exacerbation of other genetically inherited temperamental traits.

I noticed that, in my young-adults-with Asperger's-syndrome support group, everyone (including me) showed some strong signs of personality disorder. Maybe adults with AS who need support and therapy most are those with comorbid personality disorder. Among NTs, on the other hand, I have noticed the majority of them have personalities that tend towards one style or another, but most of them are still fairly flexible, cooperative, and aware of other people's sometimes conflicting needs and desires.

It would be wrong of me to mention other people's character flaws here—since everyone has them—but I have no problem mentioning my own vices (I believe it is best to share your best attributes as well as your weaknesses with others; it is dishonest to give anyone a false, overidealized impression of yourself, in my opinion).

I am too self-indulgent. When I really want something, I can't get my mind off it until I have it. I desire immediate pleasure maybe a little bit too much. I am almost addicted to sweets and good-tasting food in general. I tend to binge-eat when bored.

When I am convinced I am right, I rarely back down even if there is little to be gained from the disagreement. In this sense, I am quite strong willed and stubborn. I am not intimidated away from my beliefs.

I am usually a little too passive and agreeable. In contrast to the previously mentioned strength of will, I am usually helpful to the point of masochism, nearly. I very rarely express much disagreement unless it's a strong principle I am firm in. I generally am not very willing to speak up for myself; I'm very shy. I sometimes put things too "diplomatically."

I am very lazy. I do things at a leisurely pace usually, but I do get assignments finished on time almost always. I might half-ass the work, though, if I feel it is a waste of my time and rather not be doing it, especially if it's probably not going to be checked thoroughly. I rarely go beyond the requirements unless I am genuinely interested in it.

I can be pedantic when I know a subject very well and am interested in it.

I cannot handle uncertainty. I must know definitively whether someone likes me or not, when something is supposed to happen, etc. I tend to ask questions about these things obsessively until my mind has a handle on the future; this annoys people who prefer to go with the flow. I essentially must know every facet of something or someone I am concerned with.

I become bored very easily. When I become bored, I tend to become either depressed or frustrated. I don't derive much pleasure from doing things on my own and might even "stir the cauldron" to bring things to a higher level of excitement when my "boredom quotient" is too high for me to do things like work well.

When I am tired, hungry, bored, etc., I tend to be a little less pleasant to be around or more self-centered. These immediate concerns are the one thing I can think of, and so I must take of those above all else. An extreme example of this is when I lost my wallet at Wal-Mart, panicked, and went off on my dad after he threatened me.

I am too inconsistent and sporadic. I do things when I feel like it; when an idea catches my interest, I do it; but I often don't come back to it for a while, if at all, after the initial enthusiasm has worn out.

I am too oblivious to what's happening around me. My reactions to external events seem to be mostly guided by the thoughts swirling around in my head at the time. If I am feeling depressed, I will sense every interaction as negative. My tendency to overanalyze things leads me to conclusions that are artificial. In some sense, I am well aware of what's going on (the concrete events); but, at another level, I am away "in my own world." My analysis leads me astray. This detachment has sometimes led me to act outright bizarrely. For example, last spring at my old college, I began to ruminate on my failures and felt like I was a lost individual. I had to triumph over conformity in small ways; I chased after a stray cat a few times just to pick it up and hold it. Of course, other people probably just saw this as freaky; I believed I was putting my individuality over other people's standards of proper conduct. I usually only realize just how out of whack these things are well afterwards.