Syndrome \Syn"dro*me\, n. [NL., from Gr. ?; sy`n with + ? a
course, a running.]
1. Concurrence. [R.] --Glanvill.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Med.) A group of symptoms occurring together that are
characteristic and indicative of some underlying cause,
such as a disease.
[1913 Webster]
3. generally, a pattern of characteristics or behaviors
occurring together, that are sufficiently common and
distinctive to indicate that they are due to a known
cause.
[PJC]
I suppose it's because Asperger's is actually merely a list of symptoms, of which all are not always present, that they named it a "syndrome", eh?
Even for a syndrome, Asperger's is an extremely broad disorder. The problem is that it's not clearly defined. For instance, Down Syndrome is a lot easier to diagnose because they have an extra chromosome, and the majority of them have similar faces that give away their disorder. Unlike Down Syndrome, AS is so broad that a lot of people can fit in. Even the DSM definition of it may change because people aren't happy with it.
I know there are disorders that mimic AS, but I was talking about one that mimicked both AS and bipolar, hence why so there are so many people that think they have both AS and bipolar. I don't know if schizoids have bipolar traits or not, as I don't know much about the disorder.
Well is that not dual diagnosis? That is what it would be referred to in a uk clinical setting
A mental health problem combined with a learning differance/difficulty
On my current placement we have people who are very much learning disabled (mental handicap/retarded whatever you want to call them) who are bi polar and they would be referred to as dual diagnosis clients.
Bi polar is not a means to an end people can aquire it over time as a mental illness inflicted on them through abuse, trauma, PTSD all sorts. My uncle is bi polar and i attribute that to possibly genetic pre disposition/susceptibility but also to his wife who used to be an alcoholic and assualted him on several occasions. My recent ex was bi polar and you can attribute it to abuse she recieved in school for being undiagnosed ADHD from an early age and social exclusion combined with her self harming behaviour which also began at an early age.
Why label the scared and the abused with further afflictions? We need to see these individuals in the here and now allow them to confront their demons to control their mental health issues and take back their lives
If there were one or two people that I know of claiming to have both AS and bipolar, I wouldn't see a problem, but I think a lot of people are getting over dxed or over dxing themselves. What really bothers me is the people who claim to have like five disorders. They're hypochondriacs IMO. For example, Sean claims he has AS, bipolar, tourette's, ADD, and OCD. He also says he's deaf in one ear and has cerebal palsy. Maybe the latter are true but I doubt he has all those disorders.
I don't know about other countries, but bipolar is definitely over dxed here. I myself was diagnosed with it the first time I ever went to the hospital, along with a lot of other people. I've been to hospitals and various programs, and met many people who say they're bipolar when it's obvious they're not, and it's just mood swings they have. In order to have bipolar, someone needs to go through periods of mania as well as periods of depression. All of my mom's brothers and sisters have bipolar (not from abuse, it was hereditary) and have had the manic AND the depressive phases. My one aunt went to Cancun and Jamaica and bought a brand new car during her manic phase. My mom was recently dxed with it as well, and I've researched it heavily, so I know a lot about it. I'm sick of people asking me if I'm bipolar when I get moody and bitchy because I've never been manic except when on certain antidepressants, the rest of the time I'm either moody, depressed, or content.
Anyway, I just find it extremely odd that there are an abundance of people saying they have bipolar and AS and think that either the disorders overlap a lot for some reason, or there's another one out there no one's discovered.
