what’s this disorder...? | Autism PDD
I don't know....but you have it ...and so do I and a lot of people here...LOL Sorry....Hope I didn't offend.
Karrie
Someone who gets obsessions, but not compulsions - someone who gets absorbed in a certain topic of interest to the detriment of other areas of their lives. For example, someone who suddenly gets an 'antiques' fetish, but becomes so absorbed with their new hobby, that they neglect their work and other responsibilities, spend all of their free time (and much of their committed time) researching antiques, chatting online, reading books on antiques, leaving work early to frequent antique shops, etc. This might go on for a few months or a few years, but will eventually be replaced by a new but equally intense obsession. The person realizes that the obsession is getting in the way of normal functioning, but they derive immense satisfaction from their interest and feel somewhat helpless to control their impulses. Sometimes, this person can catch lightening in a bottle and become employed in a field that utilizes their obsession, and the person will become a world beater in this occupation, at least until the obsession fades.
This is not obsessive/compulsive disorder as that seems to have to do with obsession with things like germs that result in compulsions such as constantly wasing the hands, etc, and the obsessions are not negative, per se.
This is not autism, as the obsessions and lack of ability to control them is the sole symptoms - social and communication skills are adequate, though they have to conciously resist the tempation to talk incessently about their interest.
What the heck is it?
fred-what you note is OCD. You say-"no compulsions," but you further state the needing to research, go to "antique shops," read, leave work early. These are all compulsions that are employed in an effort to relieve the anxiety caused by the obsession. That is the nature of OCD. You have defined OCD in your own description as stated in the DSM.
What you are trying to make analogous though is pertinent in that many of us who have indeed become "obsessed" with finding answers to our quandaries regarding the "spectrum" and our children, but I think if put into the context of parental concern, hope, fact-seeking and a need to understand it can be seen in a different light.
There are those that use these pages and the tools at our disposal that are truly trying to educate themselves and arm themselves and their families against a world that may or may not understand our unique (or given the current statistics...not so unique) circumstances.
There are those of us here who are indeed "obsessed" and live on these pages, live on this forum and do nothing else with our time save try and find a "cure" as it were.
The latter example is, of course, not healthy and is an obsession. It may be borne of good intention and a love for our children, but becomes detrimental nonetheless...to our mental health and other.
"The behaviors or mental acts are aimed at preventing or reducing distress or preventing some dreaded event or situation; however, these behaviors or mental acts either are not connected in a realistic way with what they are designed to neutralize or prevent or are clearly excessive."
The problem is that they usually lead to more stress...as we all know.
Is this a fetish?
I don't think so though I think it becomes a personal crusade and it can be called an obsession without pause.
I am going to take a chance by telling my own analogous, real life story and hope tat I don't offend, but on the off chance I do...sorry for that, but try and figure out, "why" it offends you.
I had a summer romance one time with a girl who was adopted. She was "obsessed" as it were with finding her birth Mom. She said she was not so much interested in Dad [for some reason that we never quite got to], but she needed to find Mom. This beautiful young lady was 21 years old (yes, I was in my twenties too at the time you cheeky little monkeys) and had a wonderful home life prior with her adopted parents, but she just had to meet her birth Mother.
During the time we were together she found her Mom! She was so excited. She could not wait. They planned a date. She was ready. She brought a camera. She could not be more tickled. I was very happy for her.
The day came. She went with her adoptive Mother and they had an amazing day. She came back to my apartment that evening and told me everything. We got the pictures. We watched video. It was just marvelous, but I had some trepidations. I will get to that.
The next day came and she seemed a bit deflated. She did not seem as passionate...it was almost as if she had lost something! HOW ODD eh?! She had just found something! She had just found the object of her long-time search. She should be happy, but...no...she seemed a little "emptier."
Why? Because...her quest was over. That which she had built her entire life upon over the past decade or more had come to bear fruit and now the quest was over...the answer found...the holy grail uncovered and the great adventure had come to an end. I had been afraid of this given how she reacted to the news of finding her Mom. It didn't seem so much like she found her Mom as uncovered some long sought after jewel and now that she had it...where was the meaning in life? This quest defined her! She allowed it to define her.
You know what she did next and I don't even need to tell you...she decided she wanted to find her Dad. She never cared about this before, but now she did...kinda...not really, but...what else was there to define her at that point?
I think this is a common malady on this board. Again, I take the risk of offending, but...hey...I wouldn't be me eh? So many posters I see here get up in arms if anyone mentions that someone has been diagnosed as "off the spectrum" or that there is a "cure" or that there are "alternative therapies" which may be helpful. Many people on this board have decided how it is and will see no other way. Some claim that they need empiricism and even when the empirical evidence stares them in the face they are afraid to look and WHY?...Because that person has let the spectrum and the search for the answers on the spectrum define who they are and are afraid that if they actually find real answers...their meaning in life will cease to exist.
Find the meaning in yourself.
In the meantime I will continue to strive for the grail, but at the same time...live my life and my son, who is my son and not a diagnosis, will live as blissfully as the world might allow...carved by all hands concerned including his own.
Be well all...and do believe...miracles do happen and don't let the doom and gloom define you.
I think it might be ADD -not sure.
[/QUOTE]I have ADD, and it causes me to not be able to follow through on any
projects, and not be able to focus intensely at all. So I'm gonna rule this
one
out. Adults with ADHD are usually not the obsessive types--they are the
disorganized, unfocused, lose-your-keys-every-damn-day type
But you may have a touch of aspie in you. Really. When I talked to Dr.
Ritvo, we spoke at lentgh about adults with "sub-clinical" asperger's.
Meaning, it hasn't interferred with your life or functioning level. The only
folks that come in for a dx are having lots of problems--they are more
affected. There are lots of folks out there who are so mild, it doesn't even
matter. You can still have some traits. Every person who has a couple of
autistic traits, obviously don't all have asperger's, but having dx'd
children increases the liklihood.
On the other hand, some folks are just OBSESSIVE. It's just personality. If
it's interfering with relationships, you just go in for some
counseling...that's it. There's no disorder involved in being a human
being.
Go to a psychiatrist and get tested. There are all kinds of "aholics" and these obesession can be treated with therapy and/or meds. If something is interfering with life, that is the very definition of an obsession. It may not be OCD, but if it's interfering with life, it's something. We are not doctors here, so we can't diagnose. But there are doctors who specialize in gambling obsessions, food obsessions, etc. They are the sorts of doctors who may be able to help.
A guy called einstein had something similar - he couldn't even get his hair sorted for all his obsessing and he was supposed to be a patent clerk or something like that, bet he wasn't a very good one.
I don't know what to tell you, but if I post you a couple of pics of interesting items, recovered on my various travels, could you value them for me?!?!?!
It's called an obsession Fred. Hope that helps
There is a world of difference between someone having just a couple of quirky aspects about themselves and someone being on the spectrum (I know there are things like ADD and OCD but I'm just talking of the spectrum here). For example, this is a description of my dad:
He's vey routine driven, he is very much set in his ways. He has a strong ability in mathematics and in engineering, but has never been much of a reader of fictional books, or of writing. He's socially reserved a lot of the time. He concentrates and gets worried by small details and yet big details don't seem to bother him as much. He often appears incapable of realising other people have their own views and a right to express them.
He is NT, he may come close to being on the spectrum, but he is not on it.
I am diagnosed Aspergers. If you look up Lorna Wing's description of Aspergers you'll find a good description of myself. I did also find a 1980's PDD description that could fit as well, but Aspergers appears to be the one that fits in the best way. It can be seen in my mode of speaking, in my gait, in my motor co-ordination, in my communication, in my sensory issues, in the way that I perceive things (though I am still unsure of a lot of the differences) all things that can't be put down to social awkardness, or an obsession with things. I do have obsessions (my longest, most overwhelming one has lasted since I was about 8), but these are just one part of me.
thanks for the thoughts, folks - no time to read through them carefully at the moment (trying not to be obsessed so I can get some work done!) - but... as some of you know, my father is a late stage alcoholic and a lot of his behavior is similar to mine, except I don't drink - not a drop (probably subconciously aware that doing so would be baaaaad). Someone PMd me and suggested that some of this might be because I'm an adult child of an alcoholic, which is interesting indeed - need to look into that. In any case, there's no doubt that my dad has had obsessions throughout his life, too, but his way of coping with these things has been self medication. I've found other ways, thankfully, but as my mother says, there's "something" there and we both have it and it's at the root of many of our problems.
I have taken the Aspie quiz, btw, and I am not an Aspie (at least according to that quiz). I do have some social ambivalence, but my ability to read social body language and such is good, I have no defecits with pragmatic use of language (though I can be wordy, lol) and not particularly routine oriented. I also have always been coordinated and athletic, which goes against the type - no sensory issues, etc.
I'll read these posts more closely tonight - thanks for the input.
Have you always had obsessions or did it start with a diagnosis and this board? Because if you always have had them then I hate to tell you but it's not normal....welcome to the crazy club..lol NOt talking to fred. Talking to swankyankee
Karrie
Hi Karrie, thanks for the welcome.
And, since when is normal desirable?
Thats what I call "pieces" And when I say pieces i don't mean normal behavior. I mean actually symptoms that effect our lives. I think a lot of us Parents have them.
Karrie
[QUOTE=swankyankee]Hi Karrie, thanks for the welcome.
And, since when is normal desirable?
[/QUOTE]
Amen to that....(Cam...I didn't' mean that in a religious sense..more of a figure of speech OK? LOL)
Karrie
Human nature?
A new interest is fun, it's educational, it's an escape from the normal "same old, same old". It's healthy. It's a choice - the drive might be overwhelming but it's still a choice.
It also describes me with these boards for the past two weeks in particular, and scavenging for information about autism for the past several months in general. Should I feel bad about spending oodles of time "obsessing" about trying to help my child reach her potential? Nah.
No...it's different than that...obsession to the true sense of the word...to the point that it can hurt your personal life.
Karrie
it;s why I ask ;)
I think it might be ADD -not sure.
I know that I have ADHD...so maybe you are right. My oldest does too and he has obsessions without compulsions. My sister does also but she ALSO has OCD. But it's easy to separate the obsessions that are caused by OCD and the ones from what ever else she and I have. The others are more like scrapbooking for a few weeks ....then on to something else etc...etc.. OH...and she has gotten like almost MANIC ....and so have I during the midst of an obsession. ????
Karrie
"Pieces"
Karrie
I don't know Fred. The older our kids get and the more we learn about autism and aspergers the closer my husband and I are to wondering how much on the spectrum we are. We are are very similiar in that we are not social people and are very uncomfortable in social settings. He more so than I. But, I have the obsession thing and yes it interferes with my daily life. He does not necessarily have the obsession things but he has anxiety about change. It's sp odd because we have always talked about the fact that we felt like we were different than other people. I have actually imagined what it feels like when Daniel (my son)flaps his hands and gets into his trance. And I know what the stemming feels like. Mind you, I don't have the handflapping but I believe I have the stemming thing. And then just like with my son I start second guessing myself and feel like "Oh there's not anything different about me and everyone feels this way. But, just like I know with both of my kids there is something going on with all four of us.
The person realizes that the obsession is getting in the way of normal functioning, but they derive immense satisfaction from their interest and feel somewhat helpless to control their impulses.
Fred, it could be a symptom of asperger's or HFA or it could also be a symptom of pathological avoidance disorder depending on the context. It could also be a maladaptive coping mechanism like gambling or drinking; some ppl are able to keep these things undercontrol and some are prone to addiction.
But, since you're referring to objects many ASD ppl are natural hoarders and more geared to objects or information. My uneducated guess goes to ASD perserveration.
I'm kind of obsessed with the computer - especially recently can you tell?
It is really basically an addiction. There are people who have addictive-type personalities. Thus, we have people who are compulsive gamblers, alcoholics, drug addicts, shop-a-holics, etc.
I do wonder as I do more and more research how much I have contributed to my son's ASD, genetically. He definitely gets my lack of coordination! Now, I start to see that I have some obsessive/addictive tendencies as well. I'm very social though although there are times I need my space (always put that down to being an only child though!). I'm very much an activist as well and always advocate for those in need. It's why I chose my career as a social worker. I don't have an ASD, but I am thinking I have some symptoms! Dh has sensory issues (BIG time!) and does some stimming, but is very social (although he wasn't terribly social as a child) and has some obsessive tendencies.
It is probably why our house is never clean! If 1 out of every 150 kids is now diagnosed with ASD, maybe ASD will soon become the new normal.
Fred,
Have you ever taken the Aspie Quiz?
http://www.rdos.net/eng/Aspie-quiz.php
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