• Welcome to Autism Forums, a friendly forum to discuss Aspergers Syndrome, Autism, High Functioning Autism and related conditions.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Private Member only forums for more serious discussions that you may wish to not have guests or search engines access to.
    • Your very own blog. Write about anything you like on your own individual blog.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon! Please also check us out @ https://www.twitter.com/aspiescentral

Why do so many people define Asperger Syndrome as a mental health condition?

pjcnet

pjcnet

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
I was diagnosed from a very early age with autism in the 1970s and was obviously born with it, much later I was re-diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome and both my brothers are severely autistic (E.g. they can't count to 5, read or write Etc Etc.). I am however sick and tired of being told even by professionals (E.g. social workers) that Asperger Syndrome is a mental health condition and also that it's NOT a type of learning disability. In the past this has caused me to be placed in supported living with others that have mental health issues (not aspies) which I found to be extremely incompatible causing me serious issues and clashes with other residents, I was extremely unhappy in what was a very destabilising environment. I also keep getting offered support only from mental health organisations that don't seem to have the first clue about understanding Asperger Syndrome and since it's also been stated that Asperger Syndrome is NOT a learning disability it is severely reducing the support and help I am eligible to receive. I understand that many people with Asperger Syndrome also suffer from mental health problems associated to the condition, E.g. depression, but I get really angry to be repeatedly told that Asperger Syndrome is a mental health condition in itself and have actually completely fallen out with my social worker over it (I have not spoken to her for a year+).

What do others think? Do you truly believe that Asperger Syndrome is in fact a mental illness in itself? Do you think that it isn't a learning disability? Maybe this is something specific to the United Kingdom? Please be honest and I promise not to get angry if you disagree with my opinion. If you do agree with me, do you have any advise on what I can do about it? Thank you in advance. :)
 
Because most mental health disoders are only called so upon self reporting, I do not think it is mental health unless the person thinks so.

I would have liked to have been cured when young, but now, I am me . Now i like my special interest. It saves my life and keeps me company.
 
I like to think of us as more evolved on the evolutionary scale.
Some of us even have super powers, i have super hearing and super smell powers :)

Because there is more NTs than NDs, they just dont understand us so they throw us in a stereotypical category for their own benefit.

We are growing in numbers so one day we shall take over and hopefully the world will be a better place :)
 
Tunnel Vision short sighted ignorant lazy are words used to describe psychiatry that I've heard
which is strange because the dsm-5 describes it as a developmental disorder, it's also the government trying to give people less money
 
Jennacide said:
I like to think of us as more evolved on the evolutionary scale.
Some of us even have super powers, i have super hearing and super smell powers :)

Because there is more NTs than NDs, they just dont understand us so they throw us in a stereotypical category for their own benefit.

We are growing in numbers so one day we shall take over and hopefully the world will be a better place :)
Click to expand...
come the day citizen come the day :-P
 
Jennacide said:
I like to think of us as more evolved on the evolutionary scale.
Some of us even have super powers, i have super hearing and super smell powers :)

Because there is more NTs than NDs, they just dont understand us so they throw us in a stereotypical category for their own benefit.

We are growing in numbers so one day we shall take over and hopefully the world will be a better place :)
Click to expand...
my comment on your quote -is taken from a 1970s-80s bbc comedy citizen smith, a cockney man ,who is enamoured by the cuban communist Che guevara.
 
Professionals have their own identities, belief systems on what they believe is right and wrong, it was a doctor who tried to blow up glasgow airport etc, and we rely on them for help, which depends on what they think when we go to them.

Temple Grandin calls Silicone Valley aspies, who don't seek diagnosis as they don't need it 'happy aspies

It's a medical diagnosis for those who need it, it affects me mentally, and probably physically as I'm a sporty type.
 
I don't really know why autism is considered a mental health condition, I like to think of it as more a way of being, wiring so to speak. Making out to be a mental health condition makes it sound like NTs can come down with autism like depression, amd also makes it sound like therapy can 'cure' autism. I don't particularly like that.
 
I prefer the term 'condition' to 'disorder' which some Autism organisations are now going. My mind runs perfectly well with it's ASC operating system thank you. I have an IQ of 140+ so have the capacity to learn , though I am a bit dyslexic.

By all means deal with my depression and anxiety as mental health issues because that is a sign of my mind not coping with the world. Cure that not the autism.

What most Auties need is the correct environment to be able to function well and be happy not another layer of stigma and labels we, nor the medical profession, can't do anything about.
 
To the NT world who has very little knowledge of aspergers, we are indeed mentally ill. In fact, my husband only recently stated that it is a mental illness to NT's and that is because of how we function to them.

I can actually see where they are coming from. If you have someone in front of you, who looks like everyone else, but suddenly has a meltdown or puts their hands to their ears or starts stimming or even gets aggitated because something is out of place etc, it would definitely look to be a mental illness.

But, of course it is not that at all. I twist it around now and say: if the world was dominated by mostly aspies, then NT's would be the odd one out and could be considered mentally ill; just because they are wired differently.

However, within the bounds of aspergers, there are mental issues going on. I have severe anxiety and social anxiety, which are definitely mental issues.
 
Last edited:
pjcnet said:
What do others think? Do you truly believe that Asperger Syndrome is in fact a mental illness in itself? Do you think that it isn't a learning disability?
Click to expand...

I'm on the "no" side of the fence. I don't believe it is a disability at all. I believe it is a way of thinking, almost a personality type.

I think at the core of autism/hfa, there is a fundamental independence. For aspies, this manifests as the inability to accept brainwashing, seeing things as they are, not following the crowd, not accepting the way of things because we are told to do so. Always questioning, researching, not thinking main stream. For more extreme cases I believe that this goes one step further and those in this category don't fully accept this physical dimension, that they are here and elsewhere. I believe it is a way of thinking that drives our neural connections.

I believe my aspergers is me. I am not part of the crowd, and whether I like it or not, no amount of brain surgery or drugs would ever change that.

However, I only recently talked to someone who doesn't share this belief at all. Who things aspies are "crazy". It is these people who define it as a "disability".

The definition of disability is to "a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities."

But if you think about it, being an NT, dismissing people as crazy and not even trying to understand the world around you, is a limitation. A mental condition that limits a person's perception. I genuinely believe that NTs are the 'disabled' ones. I am pretty much alone in this belief, but it is what it is!
 
Co-morbid conditions ARE mental illnesses. Many NTs cannot distinguish them from base autism, which is not. It is the rise in co-morbid mental illnesses that is new.
 
StephF said:
ASD isn't a mental illness. It is a developmental neurological disorder.
Click to expand...
i dont like the term disorder, in medical terms it means an illness that disrupts normal physical or mental functions.
Now how can one define what is normal?
I dont think i have a disorder that disrupts my mental function. Its most of the NT humans that disrupt my function lol they are the disorder
 
It's not a mental health condition, and it's also not a learning disability. Asperger's is a neurodevelopmental disorder.
 
Imagine the difficulty of being a smart Aspergers Syndrome/Savant... o_O

I'd have to let everyone know in advance, "I can't help it. I'm a smart A.S.S.!"
 
As to why so many people consider Asperger's a mental illness: the simple answer is they don't know any better.

Fortunately there is a cure for ignorance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New Threads

Top Bottom