Personality disorder vs Asperger's

In my case, I'm still working on it, but I'm trying to life a life that's a better fit for me instead of trying to squeeze myself into a lifestyle that is a poor fit for me.

Antidepressants aren't really the answer, and just provide a bit of support while a person reconfigures their way of living.  The stuff your GP can prescribe is the same as what you're likely to get of a consultant or in a hospital setting: I've had a few slightly more exotic things, but they're all much of a muchness to be honest.  I just wish I could go back in time and tell myself to stop doing stuff that was really bad for me (by which I mean working in the City of London: not the ideal setting for a shy, awkward person with ASD) and doing stuff I was more comfortable with.  But I think most people wish they could do things differently having learnt the hard way!

GP cannot prescribe me anything stronger than all the usual antidepressants, which never really felt like they did too much good anyway ,so i'am waiting to see mental health team in the hope of being given stronger medication, knowing that i'am autistic and that will never change, how did everyone else deal with their diagnosis?

Martian Tom said:

I often wonder how many undiagnosed people out there are suffering from mental health problems and being given anti-depressants, when the source of their problems is really autism - in which case anti-depressants probably won't do any good for them at all.

That was certainly the case with me: I've been through most of the relevant section of the BNF (in many cases more than once, and in some, several times) without much success, perhaps unsurprisingly: most of my problems have probably been caused by trying to live as though I were NT.  Or something like that, anyway.

The theory behind CBT therapy is that negative feelings and actions can follow from specific automatic reflexive habitual thinking patterns. 

CBT aims to analyse one's  thinking patterns and teach one to think differently  so that more positive feelings and actions may follow.

Ok, thanks for that. I guess i'am stressing because so far all my negative actions and feelings are being put down to having ASD, maybe therapy would cover for both autistic negative traits and negative personality disorder traits. And then i'm thinking it'll be a case of 'there goes that neurotic woman again'

Regarding treatments for a wide range of mental health conditions, apart from medications, there are all kinds of psychotherapies available both in the public and private sectors with different degrees of difficulty in accessing them.

The current and most popular intervention that is in fashion these days is scientific evidence based cognitive behavioural therapy which in some forms is refered to as a talking therapy, but it is also available as a mobile APP.

Theoretically it is possible to have Aspergers AND a personality disorder. Aspergers itself is not a personality disorder but a developmental condition. Personality disorders come in many flavours, one example being paranoid personality disorder. One could also have several other things in parallel to these, such as Anorexia and OCD and Depressive disorder and Anxiety disorder. Theoretically one could have a cornucopia of behavioural diagnoses, what the medical gurus refer to as comorbidity.

My experience has been that the majority of neuro-typical people are taken-in by an expensive suit, and by what it says on the tin. Once recognised professionals brand someone and stick labels on them these labels stick like superglue, both in the mind of the one labelled as well as the audience in the public gallery. Whether this is a good thing or not is another matter which depends on a host of factors.

NAS20054 said:

I presume you were assessed thoroughly and rigourously and told by a qualified officially accredited  expert in mental health diagnosis who has a long list of qualifications behind their name and years of relevant experience and held in high esteem by their peers ?

In which case their pronouncement can be held as credible.

I must admit this is a point I'm really terribly ambivalent about.  I'm often of the opinion that such people are really the only ones who can offer a properly educated opinion, but so often I've encountered examples who've ticked all the boxes who are, well, less than one would expect.

I've no reason (so far) to expect that any of the autism experts are anything other than "what it says on the tin", I guess I'm just slightly cynical about professional qualifications and peer-reviews after working in computing.  Where both were about as convincing as wearing an expensive suit.

I presume you were assessed thoroughly and rigourously and told by a qualified officially accredited  expert in mental health diagnosis who has a long list of qualifications behind their name and years of relevant experience and held in high esteem by their peers ?

In which case their pronouncement can be held as credible.

I don't think AS is classified as a personality disorder because the autistic brain isn't really considered 'disordered' - just different.

A disorder is something that perhaps can be treated with therapy and I think autism can co-exist with other stuff that NT's experience as well.

I'm not an expert as I'm only just starting down this path myself in a rather staggering and wrong-footed way!  But personally I think the biggest treatment is simply understanding oneself.  That's often the biggest challenge facing all of us, autistic or not.  Which isn't just some glib sound-bite, had I understood myself and my capabilities especially as a young adult I think I would have had a much less troublesome and more fulfilling life.

I think it's also too easy to get bogged down in varying diagnoses and it's something I tend to do myself.  Not least as I have quite a number of them, though I suspect that many if not most or all have a common factor.  Whether or not warranted, I have a slight suspicion of "complex needs" (which is where I've ended up) as it ends up being nobody's responsibility to help with.

Going back to the question in the subject line, the phrase "personality disorder" is an unfortunate one: "personality description" would probably be more helpful, at least to those of us at the pointy end of such diagnoses.  In that regard, I'd say that ASD is simply one of them because it's not a disease, it's not treatable, it just is.  It's a descriptive term, and knowing that is actually more helpful than it is fatalistic.

So, a person could have both those things going on, now I wonder would a health professional be willing to test me for that with already having an asd diagnoses? It is the major negative impact that i have on my kids that bothers me the most, knowing how you should and should not do/say but still not able to change! What treatments are on offer?

Curiously enough, I also received a diagnosis today that stated ASD (Asperger's in old money, it says) as well as a personality disorder.  I did a bit of head-scratching about that one but my gf who is more cognisant about such things suggested it simply meant it was part of me rather than a transient illness that could be expected to be cured in short order: "it's not a bug, it's a feature", as software development types would say.

I think I'm also understanding why things like Asperger's and HFA are now longer a thing as the "high functioning" element is liable to be misunderstood, even by people whose business it may be to understand it.  Though that's just an assumption on my part.