The Possibility of Mental Illness

[The Sevenshot Kid]

I've been off the past few days and it's really been bothering me because it tend s to happen to me every now and then. My family and a psychiatrist I saw a long time ago suspected me of having Asperger's Syndrome but it never quite fit me.

Now I'm starting to worry because I checked some of my symptoms and they fit schizophrenia much better than AS. This scares the living hell out of me. Should I talk to my parents about this because I have no idea what I'm supposed to do in a situation like this. I just feel ashamed of admitting that there might be something wrong with me.

I'm only comfortable mentioning this here because nobody knows me personally and I figured someone has to have some good advice.

[Pip Boy]

This probably isn't the best forum to get advice from. Try Uncommonknowledge forums.

[The Sevenshot Kid]

I'll do that.

[Pip Boy]

Although as a good fail-safe method of finding out if you have schizophrenia, you could always just ask those people in your head what they think.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

Just to say, assuming you're using the DSM list of definitons, pretty much everything fits into schizophrenia under those definitions. Self diagnosis will cause massive troubles, you really have to get someone else to do you.

[Meister]

The very worst idea is self-diagnosing without following it up with a visit to the doc. It's a great way to end up driving yourself nuts about whether or not you might have [serious illness] and put yourself under extreme stress, or alternatively to dismiss something potentially serious as "oh it's just [harmless illness]," neither of which are what you want to do in the long run if you're seriously worried (and if you're worried enough to check your symptoms, you are seriously worried).

Whether ot not you tell your parents is another matter, although unless you know for a fact they'd react very negatively I'd gravitate towards "yes of course." If they already took you to a psychiatrist once, they're going to be at least somewhat prepared.

Take care.

e: fast replies ITT

e2: I would actually recommend you disregard any advice from the internet that goes beyond "see a medical professional," or at least take it with massive amounts of salt. Even a forum filled with medical professionals will probably tell you little more than to see one.

[The Sevenshot Kid]

I think I'm gonna see a professional ASAP.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

e2: I would actually recommend you disregard any advice from the internet that goes beyond "see a medical professional," or at least take it with massive amounts of salt. Even a forum filled with medical professionals will probably tell you little more than to see one.

That is very true. They can't examine you properly online.

[Bells]

Also also, sometimes the fear of having a problem make us believe that we actually have the problem... i'm pretty sure every single person in this forum can look at a chart of Symptoms for various Mental Diseases and come up with at least one or two "I-could-have-its" ... if you really think you might have a problem, check with a doctor. You could still be perfectly fine.

[Seil]

Gunslinger, to be a member of this forum, you have to have at least one medical "illness."

But in all seriousness, don't worry too much about it, man. Worrying'll make you stressed and whatnot. I know that sounds like an impossible task, but try to keep your mind off it. See the doctor and listen to what they have to say, but whatever they tell you shouldn't be a death sentence - worst case scenario they'll have you take a few meds, but they just want to talk to you and figure out what's going on first.

Don't worry about it, Mr. Slinger.

[synkr0nized]

Gunslinger, to be a member of this forum, you have to have at least one medical "illness."

I know that was a joke, but man. Not all of us here are retarded.

[Nikose Tyris]

I know that was a joke, but man. Not all of us here are retarded.

I actually have diagnosed Bipolar issues (type II), and I don't think "Retarded" is really the right term for it. Not offended but... could have been, I think is the right word.

[Fenris]

I actually have diagnosed Bipolar issues (type II), and I don't think "Retarded" is really the right term for it. Not offended but... could have been, I think is the right word.

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o159/posindustries/facepalm/bruce.jpg

[Lumenskir]

I thought it was like a nerd badge of honor to self-diagnose as having Asperger's in order to justify why they suck at interacting with people.

[rpgdemon]

Yeah, don't try to self diagnose yourself, and go see a professional.

People, when they read about illness, tend to think that they have it, because they'll fit whatever they read to the woes that they've experienced. I think I remember hearing somewhere that a lot of people in medical training, when they learn about some of the rarer diseases, all think that they have it. On the flip side of that, when you self diagnose yourself, if you DON'T want to have something, you're liable to go, "Well, that was a one off thing, I don't have to worry about that happening again". So, see a professional.

[Seil]

I know that was a joke, but man. Not all of us here are retarded.

I was meaning things like strange fetishes, certain fanfiction writers and our spurts of Tourette's when mentioning some bow-tied politicians. Hence the "".

[Token]

I was meaning things like strange fetishes, certain fanfiction writers and our spurts of Tourette's when mentioning some bow-tied politicians. Hence the "".

Bow-ties are cool.

[Magus]

I thought it was like a nerd badge of honor to self-diagnose as having Asperger's in order to justify why they suck at interacting with people.

A person could have the problem of not being able to interact well with others from something other than a physical disorder, you know. There are things people build up over time due to stresses/events throughout life. You can't dismiss having problems interacting with people as "not a problem" if it doesn't stem from an obvious physical abnormality. The person could have some other disorder stemming from something they've experienced after they left the womb (and not something which physically affected them, either). You seem to imply there is no excuse for an anti-social person to be anti-social if they don't have Asperger's or some other actual physical condition, when they may very well have something else, they're just wrongly attributing their problems to Asperger's when it's quite possible it's something treatable or even completely fixable (unlike Asperger's, which even with treatment never fully "goes away").

Also yeah Synkronized didn't mean that having schizophrenia was the same as being retarded, he meant the illness that Seil thought you need to have to post on these boards is being retarded. So the only people who would take offense are people who are actually suffering from actual retardation and not the "metaphorical" kind. Because there are many, many "metaphorical retards" on the internets.

[Token]

I don't think that's what he was implying at all. In fact, it looked like he was poking fun at the dumbasses who think that's an excuse.

[Fenris]

Also yeah Synkronized didn't mean that having schizophrenia was the same as being retarded, he meant the illness that Seil thought you need to have to post on these boards is being retarded. So the only people who would take offense are people who are actually suffering from actual retardation and not the "metaphorical" kind. Because there are many, many "metaphorical retards" on the internets.

I think he was just calling people who post on NPF stupid.

[Rejected Again]

I think he was just calling people who post on NPF stupid.

Shall I form the lynch mob Mr. Wolfowitz? Since, yaknow, only most of us are stupid.
Fenris Von Wolfowitz would be a better name imho.

[Seil]

I think he was just calling people who post on NPF stupid.

...I'd make in image macro that showed one of the X Wings taking on the Death Star, writing "Stay on topic, stay on topic," but man. That would just be stupid!

[Token]

...I'd make in image macro that showed one of the X Wings taking on the Death Star, writing "Stay on topic, stay on topic," but man. That would just be stupid!

Par for the course, really.

[Magus]

Is that an original image macro, 'cause you should probably go ahead and make that one anyway if it doesn't exist because that's not that bad, to tell you the truth.

Anyway, uh, yeah, schizophrenia, talk to a doctor about that, Gunslinger. Although I'm not sure what symptoms of schizophrenia matched up with Asperger's in the first place? I thought the main symptoms of schizophrenia was some level of auditory or visual hallucinations, I've never heard of that with people with Asperger's, which is like a mild Down Syndrome.

[bluestarultor]

Is that an original image macro, 'cause you should probably go ahead and make that one anyway if it doesn't exist because that's not that bad, to tell you the truth.

Anyway, uh, yeah, schizophrenia, talk to a doctor about that, Gunslinger. Although I'm not sure what symptoms of schizophrenia matched up with Asperger's in the first place? I thought the main symptoms of schizophrenia was some level of auditory or visual hallucinations, I've never heard of that with people with Asperger's, which is like a mild Down Syndrome.

Actually, Asperger's is a mild form of autism. Bit of a diff.

As to overlap, no, there really isn't one. Asperger's is characterized by social incompetence and often above-average intelligence along with attention issues, where schizophrenia has more to do with paranoia, delusions, lack of reference of time, and/or hallucinations, depending on the type.

Edit: Also, schizophrenia doesn't generally manifest until your 20s or so unless you've done drugs, so there's that. Asperger's manifests much earlier.

[Token]

Say (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome) What? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_syndrome)

[Magus]

Oh, yeah. Well it was a mild version of something or other~

Anyway, I meant to say autism because when I was thinking of Asperger's I was thinking of this kid of my neighbors who has autism. For some reason I said Down's syndrome and was associating that term with the symptoms of autism in my head. They are quite different, yes.

In any case, never heard of hallucinations with that, which was my main point. I was just wondering if Asperger's does have hallucinations as some of it's symptoms, otherwise I'm not sure why Gunslinger would think he had it if he's having hallucinations, or if schizophrenia has non-hallucinatory symptoms that he has that makes him think he has it. Of course, he doesn't have to tell us (he probably shouldn't), as it's personal medical info. But anyway I just thought going from Asperger's to schizophrenia seemed like a big jump.

"They may be unusually sensitive or insensitive to sound, light, and other stimuli;[31] these sensory responses are found in other developmental disorders and are not specific to AS or to ASD." like this is the closest thing I can find that seems like it could even be related to schizophrenia.