Posted by jimmygold70 on December 27, 2006, at 17:15:48
In reply to Re: Jimmy and Others Re: Last Night's Post » becksA, posted by Quintal on December 27, 2006, at 12:24:14
Many symptoms of many people do resemble those of Asperger's, and it's very easy to think you have Asperger's when you read the stories - but that's the trick. Some aspect of Asperger'a simply can't be described in those stories. It's something you can only see, it's a matter of severity but very hard to describe. So go and look at a group of Asperger's (I've visited treatment centers several times) to understand that difference. A diagnosis is more than a group of symptoms; it has a deep and complicated essence.
What is frequently described as Asperger's is more frequently some manifestation of a personality disorder - be it schizoid, schizotypal, paranoid, etc... If you can put your hand on some PD diagnosis tool (say MCMI) you'll understand what I'm talking about. I have NPD and NPD is beyond 'malignant self love' (wrong) - lots of anxiety, confusion, hard to verbalize in social settings, mood changes, hard to display one's persona (e.g. smile) - all that shi*t. You will not find those symptoms in the DSM because none of them in particular characterizes NPD: these are peripheral symptoms, but on the other hand, you will see them in many NPDs, especially those with unstable mood (bipolar II and the like).
Look at all the classic NPD symptoms and see how helpful Zyprexa is in that state. I don't say it's a great therapy (have gained 50 pounds in half a year despite diet and exercise!), but it works. Incidentally, it works for the comorbid anxiety symptoms too.
So I find the diagnosis of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (or style), which is VERY prevalent, with comorbid unstable affect, as one of the hardest to treat psychiatric conditions. Let's pick a name for that - "Syndrome Y" (-:
What do you people think?
J
poster:jimmygold70
thread:716494
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061224/msgs/716742.html