Aspergers Life Span

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I know they say people with AS have normal life expectancies but can comorbid conditions such as overwhelming anxiety, panic disorder etc make us die much younger? Our brains cannot regulate emotion that way neurotypical brains can


I am doing this thread because my job coach said to me that aspergers can lead to health conditions such as irritable bowl syndrome because of our high levels of anxiety. My job coach also said that AS is a 'health condition"

Nah, I don't think it affects the lifespan. I know they say that stress can be a killer, but I know elderly people in their 80s and 90s who have had a lot of stress in their lives and are still going strong. My grandmother had 4 kids and also a severe alcoholic for a husband, and she had 4 jobs going at one point whilst bringing up 4 children, and she's had other stresses and pressure too, then her husband died of bowel cancer which was awful. But she's 83 now and is still here with us, which is brilliant.

Nobody knows when they're going to die. Some healthy people with an easy life can get strokes and die in their 60s or 70s, whilst others can have a lot of health issues but still live to a good age.

Its always the ones who are very happy and enjoy life the most that get it robbed from them prematurely

Those make your lifespan shorter if you commit suicide because of them.
It's not so unusual for people with depression and anxiety disorders to commit suicide, and those conditions can be co-morbid with AS, so I guess that, if you commit suicide because of them, your life span is shortened... In a certain way.



As far as I know, AS is considered a mental health condition. So I guess your boss was right in some ways.

I half disagree with AS being a health condition..... we are very gifted people look at albert Einstein or Bill Gates. I don't see how having a superior intellectual ability to that of average person can be seen as a mental health condition either.

YES AS can cause mental health problems such as anxiety, bipolar disorder and social phobia etc etc

'Considered' and actually 'being' a mental health condition are 2 entirely different things but the prejudiced views of mainstream society don't seem to process that. Society fixates on our bad points while completely ignoring our many talents and diverse way of being

I don't believe that Einstein and Bill Gates have Asperger's.
That has never been confirmed.

I read about Einstein, Gates, Newton, and all those "geniuses" that they had ADHD, dyslexia, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and some others mental disorders that now I can't recall.

Then what's the truth in there? How can people really know if Einstein had Asperger's, or ADHD, or dyslexia, or all of them, or just none of them?
I don't assume that they have (or had) it just because they are (or were) gifted.
I'll never be able to know the truth, and I'm not interested in knowing it.

And then, maybe you are a genius. Certainly I am not.
I'm not gifted; when I was a child my parents were told that I was "talented", but that is not as much as gited (as far as I know), because gifted people are supposed to be able to apply their mind and focus on anything (or almost anything), while talented people can't (this is what I've been told at least).

And then, what has my talentedness really brought me? I have low processing speed (not only in social situations but in every situation), I have to act on instinct because I lack the ability to reflect properly on things I don't care about and/or have no ability in, I still have self-help skills delay and I've never been able to learn much from therapy.

Some people with Asperger's might be geniuses, and you might be one of them; I'm not saying this is impossible.
But surely I am not.

I am talented in some areas, but I completely lack ability in others and I have to use instinct and impulse to get along with this.

Well it depends nobody that has Aspergers is the same, most people here is very mild.

But if you have it in the stronger end, like some of us here, where you live alone and is alone most of your life, well, then you will die earlier.

Remember reading up about that the more alone you are the shorter your life is. You live longer if you have have familiy, friends, girlfriend that sort of stuff.

[/quote]I half disagree with AS being a health condition..... we are very gifted people look at albert Einstein or Bill Gates. I don't see how having a superior intellectual ability to that of average person can be seen as a mental health condition either.
[quote]

Given that even when AS was first being diagnosed the cut off criteria for IQ was 70, which means only that you don't qualify as learning disabled, it seems very arrogant to assert superior intellectual ability.

Intellectual ability has nothing to do with being on the spectrum or having AS - a person on the spectrum may have any level of intellectual ability and there is a normal distribution within the population, just as there is a normal distribution within the NT population.

Just because you and a few others have a higher IQ than most doesn't mean it is a feature of the condition, most people with AS have quite ordinary IQ levels and people like you think it's ok to rub yours in their noses and make the majority of AS people feel like second rate players which clearly shows that you have no intelligence with regard to anything outside the narrow range of the IQ test.

Normal (anxiety and whatnot shouldn't have too much of an effect), unless you have epilepsy with it (though it's usually a part of more severe forms of autism rather than the milder ones).

Though, I think the rate of suicide is higher for people with an ASD, so that'd technically affect it.

ps.
i wished my lifespan is short , bc i have nothing to gain or to offer to this world and my surroundings.

AS only affects lifespan in the ways the individual lets it.

Women typically outlive men (in part) because they are inclined to see a doctor over the smallest of issues and men are not. Hence, the odds of early detection is better for women as a whole. Early detection is key in treating life-threatening issues.

So, if your co-morbid has negative health impacts, it can shorten your life. If your co-morbid makes you diligent in keeping good health habits, it may extend your life.

An ASC is a neurological condition which may or may not have health implications depending on the lifestyle and presentation of the person

People on the spectrum are more likely to present with associated health conditions such as anxiety disorders, irritable bowel, pain amplification, etc. than most of the NT population but it is not in itself a health condition and if you learn to manage your stress and maintain a healthy lifestyle you can reduce the risk of suffering from those conditions just like anyone else can - it just tends to be a bit harder if you are on the spectrum (quite a lot harder for some and virtually impossible for others).

I am a female and I don't do that.
In fact, I seem to worry much less than almost every other person I know (both males and females) about smaller health issues.

This is probably because I can't care enough about issues that aren't that severe and also because I don't like going to doctors or hospitals.

I don't think that this will make my lifespan shorter.

You die when you die, ASD notwithstanding. My mom was NT; she died of cancer at 34. My dad was AS; he did all the healthy stuff except that he smoked like a train and died of heart arrythmia at 58. My mom's dad I suspect was AS; he lived a miserable life 'cause he worried all the time about what people thought and died of congestive heart failure at 77. My dad's mom's grandfather, I never knew, but from all the stories I've heard he must have been an Aspie. He was still fathering children at 80.

I wouldn't worry about AS killing you, or taking a bite out of your life. I suspect whether it does or not is all in how you choose to handle it.

I'd worry about living too long. 'Cause, not to be a Debbie Downer or anything, but I really don't think that ASD and senility or Alzheimer's would make a pretty or pleasant combination. I think that would absolutely really suck, both for the individual and his/her caregivers.

And before this turns into a eugenic discussion... While I hope I die of natural causes before I find out how it feels to be a senile Aspie, if the Good Lord wills me to get there, then I certainly want to retain the right to that experience.

My autistic father is showing the early signs of alzheimer's and you are absolutely right - it is hell on wheels for both him and those around him; he has less control over his moods, acts irrationally, goes into rages over forgetting things, blames everyone else for not telling him things, etc, etc., - and that's before it even enters the really difficult phase. The worse part for him is that he is aware it is happening which makes it even more frustrating.

I sort of hope his other health conditions bring his life to a close before the alzheimer's gets too bad but if they don't then he will have all the care we can give him to help him cope and retain a decent quality of life for as long as possible.