Poor socialisation-ASD/NVLD traits vs severe MI?
I have always wondered how much my poor social functioning/interaction is down to ASD/NVLD traits vs severe mental illness. I first started developing overt signs of mental illness with what is now known as social anxiety just before I was 14. I got my first diagnosis(has changed several times) of schizophrenia at 18. For some/many with schizophrenia and other severe mental illnesses the difficulties with socialisation kick in after the illness starts. There is a circle of friends which diminishes due to illness effects.
For me though difficulties with socialisation are a chronic factor stretching back many years before the overt signs of sever mental illness . I had no friends to lose due to the effects of illness. As the mental illness symptoms have become less acute over the years the social functioning/interaction has not really improved. For sure I had a wife I met in hospital but outside of her there were no friends. For me it was very much her and I with additional contact with our respective families. Now I will have been widowed 13 years in September and have had no friends in that time. I seldom mix with anyone outside of family. There have a few interactions with other mentally ill people through groups run by mental health trust and a mental health charity but even less so with the general public.
It has to be said I really don't know how to form friendships /relationships ,the process of doing so . The only person I would say has ever been a true friend was my late wife. There was however no courting ritual/dating . We just clicked and despite our age difference left hospital together. I am not even sure how to go about forming a friendship with anyone else.
It also has to be said that I am quite asocial and make little attempt to socialise.
Thoughts welcomed.
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Socially drifted middle class
I was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome (a PDD) in 2008 and in 2015 I was diagnosed with schizotypal disorder. In 2016 I had for certain amount of time diagnosis of (paranoid) schizophrenia. I had social issues since childhood, I was not interested in making friends although I wanted to have a girlfriend.
I suppose that I have NVLD because in IQ test made when I was about 24,5 years old I scored significantly better in verbal part (126) than in performance (104). I scored 17 in Information and 9 in Object Assembly. It is quite large difference, I think that it may mean a presence of some sort of NVLD. I tend to think in words, I am poor in visual thinking and have no talent for typically technical activities.
I have doubts that I have schizotypal disorder or schizophrenia and pervasive developmental disorder. I was diagnosed with both and have relatively small need of social interactions.
