Do most of us have Asperger's or are we just too introverted and freethinking?

[onethousandknives]

I think it depends on culture. For example, something like 30% of Swiss people could qualify as having Aspergers based on questionares they've answered.

This is not true. Switzerland has the highest amount of Psychiatrists per capita in the world. They keep their jobs by trying to convince everyone their mentally ill. My wife's brother lives in Switzerland and the school psych wanted to put him on medication because he was too quiet, the truth is there's nothing wrong with him.

If you have mercury amalgam fillings in your teeth my guess is your Aspergers symptoms will improve once you get them removed.

Nope, don't have those. My dad actually was hesitant about me getting one of the controversial vaccines because of the autism link and made me do them separately at separate times or something like that (I think it was MMR.)

And I guess don't move to Switzerland. Heh.

Also, if you didn't get the jist from my post, I basically don't care about Aspergers. It's my NVLD, which is concretely provable. For my NVLD, I feel the best solution is just healthy diet/supplementation, along with adequate exercise as exercise is good exercise for the visual spatial component of my brain. Unfortunately I'm sorta left on my own to treat my NVLD as not too many doctors really specialize in it or even know it exists and are much more likely to just wanna tell me I'm "depressed" when I'm actually brain damaged. It's like saying someone's depressed when they have a broken leg.

[C.J.]

I recently discovered I have high-functioning autism, or asperger's. Pretty much, either or both.

Those who don't know muuch about this subject should do some research. Very interesting. Society at large doesn't help in any way. For example, I may talk low sometimes, but I'll explain something to my family in a moderately loud voice in a slow-paced setting and I may think I'm not awkward, but many people consider that awkward or nonsensical and just ignore me. Sometimes, it's because they don't give a shit about you, and/or don't understand your interests and inclinations enough to respond. Sad, but true.

I'm much too "awkward" for the majority, but I'm not "retarded" enough to want to join the minority. It really sucks!

[Winston]

I saw an old thread by repatriate comparing elliot rodger to winston wu. Lol. He said i sound flat on video so i may have Asperger's. Is that true?

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=23231

Do we have Asperger's? Semi maybe? If so does that explain why we are on different wavelength than mainstream and sharper and deeper and not connected to the mainstream hive mind? Have any of you ever wondered about that?

Does Asperger's really exist? Or is it just a negative label on anyone deep and introverted and too intellectual and nonconformist and is on a deeper wavelength than the masses? Have you looked up the checklist criteria for Asperger's? How much of the list applies to us?

I looked up the checklist for narcissism. I may have 40 percent of the traits. however its nebulous because a lot of the traits are just general selfishness which is normal in the modern "every man for himself, do whats best for you" type world right?

But Asperger's are functional when alone right? Didn't a lot of geniuses have Asperger's?

Don't u wonder if it explains why we don't connect with most "normal" people?

Some Chinese guy mocking my Taiwan article said that only delusional people think they are the only ones normal while everyone else is not. So mainstream people like him see me as delusional when I say I feel like a survivor in a zombie apocalypse or the last survivor in the movie "invasion of the body snatchers". Lol

[Das verlorene Reich]

Sometimes I just think all those easy labels put on "people who think too much" say more about the "normal people" than anything. It seems to me that most of the time it's a problem of ego. People have been led to believe the society they live in is healthy and that things work best like that. In a way they have been personally invested in the lies that were told to them. So just like trying to convince a hardcore Christian that his God doesn't exist can't work, telling someone who never questioned authority to think won't work. Because admitting you can be right would basically lead the whole edifice of falsehood their entire life is based upon to collapse. Imagine how hard it is to realise everything you have ever believed was a lie? It sows deep confusion and unpleasant emotions which most people refuse to deal with, so they just take refuge in denial and label those who approach the truth as "aspergers" or "mentally ill" or "creeps and weirdos". Their life is basically a life of escaping reality because it doesn't stick with what they believe.

[hypermak]

I saw an old thread by repatriate comparing elliot rodger to winston wu. Lol. He said i sound flat on video so i may have Asperger's. Is that true?

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=23231

Do we have Asperger's? Semi maybe? If so does that explain why we are on different wavelength than mainstream and sharper and deeper and not connected to the mainstream hive mind? Have any of you ever wondered about that?

Does Asperger's really exist? Or is it just a negative label on anyone deep and introverted and too intellectual and nonconformist and is on a deeper wavelength than the masses? Have you looked up the checklist criteria for Asperger's? How much of the list applies to us?

I looked up the checklist for narcissism. I may have 40 percent of the traits. however its nebulous because a lot of the traits are just general selfishness which is normal in the modern "every man for himself, do whats best for you" type world right?

But Asperger's are functional when alone right? Didn't a lot of geniuses have Asperger's?

Don't u wonder if it explains why we don't connect with most "normal" people?

Some Chinese guy mocking my Taiwan article said that only delusional people think they are the only ones normal while everyone else is not. So mainstream people like him see me as delusional when I say I feel like a survivor in a zombie apocalypse or the last survivor in the movie "invasion of the body snatchers". Lol

Besides some severe mental disorders, I don't think there is a standard concept of "normality" in society. Societies segregate those who do not conform to the prescribed and expected behaviours, which change over time and place.

Look how funny conformism in the UK used to be behaving in a disciplined way during the peak of the Covid pandemic, respecting social distancing, wearing face masks and gloves, and so on. When the Black Lives Matter protests started, all of a sudden it's perfectly OK for young people to gather in the thousands or hundreds of thousands in large city squares, all without a single thought about social distancing, all perfectly approved, in fact applauded, by the mainstream media and politicians.

There is a funny story my Dad used to tell me when I was a kid and stuck with me. It went like this. An old farmer was going back home with his young son and the mule, after a hard day in the fields. As they walked through the lanes, people would watch and comment.

Boy asked his dad to ride the mule, so dad lifted him and sat him on the mule. The next man they passed by saw them and thought to himself "Look at that young brat, riding the mule like a king while his poor father is walking after a hard day!". Then the boy wanted to get down so dad and his son continue walking with the mule by their side.

The next man the passed by saw them and thought to himself "Can't believe how stupid those two guys are, walking after a hard day when they have a mule next to them!". After a while, dad got tired and jumped on the mule.

They passed by another man, who saw them and thought to himself "Look at that selfish old man, letting his young son walk while he rides...he's just a child!".

After a little while, boy jumped on the mule, too. That very moment a woman saw them and thought "Oh, poor mule, a whole day working in the fields and now he's got to take the burden of two men riding him for God knows how long!".

The story is basically saying that, whatever one does, there will always be someone disagreeing and criticising. All four situations were perfectly normal for the farmer, his son and the mule. Yet, people had something mean to say.

Conforming to a rule, a policy, a trend, an ideology just for the sake of complying, hoping to some rewards or respect, is not only silly, it's also useless, especially in this time and age when people are constantly swallowing whatever the mainstream media (which now include all the large social media) tells them to think, or do.

Better to be just yourself, @Winston. You will be criticised anyway but, at least, you will follow your conscience and heart. That's what I tried to do, too.

[HouseMD]

Do you think most of us have Asperger's syndrome? Is that why we don't fit into America, even though we are more deep and intellectual than average?

Does Asperger's even exist? Is it a biochemical imbalance or just a label that society slaps onto misfits?

What are the exact symptoms of Asperger's? Just anyone who doesn't fit into groups or can't communicate well? Is that all? If so, couldn't that be due to introversion and wanting freedom of mind too?

Or are we just introverted types who think on a deeper wavelength than most?

What's the difference between Asperger's and introversion?

I heard that in other countries, misfits aren't slapped with such a label. Is that true? Does Asperger's exist outside the USA?

You've got the autism, sorry bro

[Winston]

Do you think most of us have Asperger's syndrome? Is that why we don't fit into America, even though we are more deep and intellectual than average?

Does Asperger's even exist? Is it a biochemical imbalance or just a label that society slaps onto misfits?

What are the exact symptoms of Asperger's? Just anyone who doesn't fit into groups or can't communicate well? Is that all? If so, couldn't that be due to introversion and wanting freedom of mind too?

Or are we just introverted types who think on a deeper wavelength than most?

What's the difference between Asperger's and introversion?

I heard that in other countries, misfits aren't slapped with such a label. Is that true? Does Asperger's exist outside the USA?

You've got the autism, sorry bro

Based on what evidence? You don't know me and never met me. Just because we disagree on stuff and you are not a freethinking and I am, doesn't make me autistic. And even if I did have autism, who's to say that the mercury fillings in my teeth from your establishment that you defend, aren't the cause? You know if you make unsubstantiated claims without evidence, you can lose your medical license, you know that?

[Winston]

It could also be that many of us are just old souls or wanderer souls, rather than that we have aspergers, and since younger souls see older souls as eccentric because we don't try to conform and fit in and follow the crowd and whatever is "hip and cool" they put weird labels on us like "aspergers"? What do you think? See the videos below.

[SheriGoddart33]

We are just very cool and smart, haha.

[Winston]

@HouseMD

I have a few questions for you that I was wondering about.

1. Do all or most misfits have Aspberger's? Is that why they are misfits and outcasts?

2. If someone is on a deeper wavelength than most, like philosophers and intellectuals tend to be, and therefore doesn't connect with the mainstream people, does that mean he has Aspergers? Can't someone be deeper and see a bigger picture and be normal without mental disorders? Yet almost all philosophers have written that they felt alienated from society. Does that mean they all have some mental disorder?

What does the mental health profession say about this? Is there an official view about these things?

3. When I was a teenager, I would ask inappropriate questions to my church pastors, that no one else would. For example, in my American church I wrote down a bunch of Bible verses about Predestination and brought them to my youth pastor to ask him to explain them away because he, like most American Christians, believe that Salvation is from free will, not predestination. He could not and instead got annoyed and changed the subject and tried to hound me about something I didn't know by demanding that I explain the difference between soul and spirit first. He dodged the whole issue and looked upset that I would even debate him in the first place or tell him that his doctrines were wrong. Teenagers don't do that. They just go with the group.

One time at a Chinese church, I also pissed off the head pastor when after church one Sunday, I went up to him and asked why he was allowing women to speak in the church, when Paul says literally in 1st Corinthians that women are to be SILENT in the church, and showed him the Bible verses. I was curious about what he would say and how he would justify that. He got pissed off and started lecturing me about consistency and asked me if I did everything that every Bible verse said literally, implying that we cannot and have to take each verse in its context and situation rather than trying to follow them literally. Whatever. He also looked annoyed and upset that I would challenge his authority like that. It wasn't my place to do so of course, and no one would do that, so he was probably shocked and felt it was very inappropriate for me to do that, and unusual too. Teenagers do not walk up to their pastors and criticize them for not following what the Bible says.

However, I had theological justification to do so, since Christian fundamentalism taught that the Bible is the ultimate authority and infallible, so I had a logical basis to criticize the pastor if he wasn't following what the Bible says. You know how it is. Christianity is dogmatic about such things as the authority of the BIble, so theologically I felt I was justified to challenge them, even though it was socially inappropriate and must have looked awkward. What do you think @Neo and @MrMan? lol

Anyway my question is: Do these things indicate that I have Aspergers since normal people don't do these kind of things? Or that I just think too much and am too analytical and outspoken and argumentative? Or do I just have a talent and knack for seeing contradictions and logic fallacies that other people do not? How do you know? What's the difference?

4. From my experience, psychiatrists are quick to label you and tell you you have some disorder so they can prescribe medication. They don't talk to you much. They are like doctors. That's all they care about, prescribing some medication to you. But talking therapists are different. They try to be open and understanding and sensitive to you and will talk at length with you. Am I right? Is that still true today?

Does the mental health profession consider things like I describe above to be mental problems or disorders or normal? Can't some people be deep thinkers and think outside the box and challenge what society says, without being mentally ill or having "opposition to authority defiant disorder"? Can't someone be unique and different without being mentally ill? At what point is mental illness real and at what point is it just a label and judgment that society slaps onto dissenters and independent thinkers?

Thanks for reading. I was just curious about these things. I'd be glad to get your honest take on these questions. Thanks.

[HouseMD]

@HouseMD

I have a few questions for you that I was wondering about.

1. Do all or most misfits have Aspberger's? Is that why they are misfits and outcasts?

2. If someone is on a deeper wavelength than most, like philosophers and intellectuals tend to be, and therefore doesn't connect with the mainstream people, does that mean he has Aspergers? Can't someone be deeper and see a bigger picture and be normal without mental disorders? Yet almost all philosophers have written that they felt alienated from society. Does that mean they all have some mental disorder?

What does the mental health profession say about this? Is there an official view about these things?

3. When I was a teenager, I would ask inappropriate questions to my church pastors, that no one else would. For example, in my American church I wrote down a bunch of Bible verses about Predestination and brought them to my youth pastor to ask him to explain them away because he, like most American Christians, believe that Salvation is from free will, not predestination. He could not and instead got annoyed and changed the subject and tried to hound me about something I didn't know by demanding that I explain the difference between soul and spirit first. He dodged the whole issue and looked upset that I would even debate him in the first place or tell him that his doctrines were wrong. Teenagers don't do that. They just go with the group.

One time at a Chinese church, I also pissed off the head pastor when after church one Sunday, I went up to him and asked why he was allowing women to speak in the church, when Paul says literally in 1st Corinthians that women are to be SILENT in the church, and showed him the Bible verses. I was curious about what he would say and how he would justify that. He got pissed off and started lecturing me about consistency and asked me if I did everything that every Bible verse said literally, implying that we cannot and have to take each verse in its context and situation rather than trying to follow them literally. Whatever. He also looked annoyed and upset that I would challenge his authority like that. It wasn't my place to do so of course, and no one would do that, so he was probably shocked and felt it was very inappropriate for me to do that, and unusual too. Teenagers do not walk up to their pastors and criticize them for not following what the Bible says.

However, I had theological justification to do so, since Christian fundamentalism taught that the Bible is the ultimate authority and infallible, so I had a logical basis to criticize the pastor if he wasn't following what the Bible says. You know how it is. Christianity is dogmatic about such things as the authority of the BIble, so theologically I felt I was justified to challenge them, even though it was socially inappropriate and must have looked awkward. What do you think @Neo and @MrMan? lol

Anyway my question is: Do these things indicate that I have Aspergers since normal people don't do these kind of things? Or that I just think too much and am too analytical and outspoken and argumentative? Or do I just have a talent and knack for seeing contradictions and logic fallacies that other people do not? How do you know? What's the difference?

4. From my experience, psychiatrists are quick to label you and tell you you have some disorder so they can prescribe medication. They don't talk to you much. They are like doctors. That's all they care about, prescribing some medication to you. But talking therapists are different. They try to be open and understanding and sensitive to you and will talk at length with you. Am I right? Is that still true today?

Does the mental health profession consider things like I describe above to be mental problems or disorders or normal? Can't some people be deep thinkers and think outside the box and challenge what society says, without being mentally ill or having "opposition to authority defiant disorder"? Can't someone be unique and different without being mentally ill? At what point is mental illness real and at what point is it just a label and judgment that society slaps onto dissenters and independent thinkers?

Thanks for reading. I was just curious about these things. I'd be glad to get your honest take on these questions. Thanks.

1. No. They usually just don't have the same interests or desires as others. Being different doesn't make you socially inept, and in many cases actually can benefit you socially. People with Aspergers can't recognize social cues and thus tend to irritate those around them because they can't tell when they are doing so. It's a lack of mirror neurons, or so the theory goes, which are neurons in the part of the brain that allows you to see and reflect on the behavioral patterns of those around you. Plenty of very odd people have great social skills, and it is these social skills that are what allow them to be effective communicators and lead to their ideas being remembered.

2. No. First off, caring about "deeper things" doesn't simultaneously make one unable to appreciate the rest of life. The idea that great philosophers were all lonely recluses is largely nonsense, aside from a few exceptions. People who have the "oh I'm so deep you just can't relate" mentality are usually not mentally ill, they're either childishly simple to the point they think their ideas are profound (think the guy writing songs for his high school band) or so wrapped up in their own belief that they're great (in a grandiose sort of way) that their ego depends on the idea that they are better than other people. These people are generally considered what the Brits would call wankers, and don't have Aspergers or any other mental illness. They're just annoyingly wrapped up in a superiority complex.

3. I can't diagnose someone I've never seen. You certainly sound annoying though. Not all annoying children have mental or neurological illness. Actually, the vast majority do not. Whether it's due to a condition only a doctor could tell you. Aspergers is just a no longer used word for a specific kind of autism. Autism is more a neurological than psychiatric disease, and the social variants really have no evidence based treatment, that's just kind of how a person is. A very, very small percentage of the population has this particular variant of autism, but it is defined by an absence of the ability to properly recognize social cues and facial expressions and the like. You can show them video of certain situations that any normal person would say, "oh this woman is clearly annoyed at this man she is having dinner with" but they will just see two people having dinner, for instance, since they miss the social cues. Most people who think differently can still understand social context and read the expressions of others and thus do not have autism of any stripe.

4. There's different kinds of psychiatrists. Some do only talk therapy, but 90% do medication management and refer out for therapy. There are good therapists and bad therapists out there, and most aren't all that good. A good therapist though, they are with their weight in gold.

[yick]

These people are generally considered what the Brits would call wankers, and don't have Aspergers or any other mental illness. They're just annoyingly wrapped up in a superiority complex.

3. I can't diagnose someone I've never seen. You certainly sound annoying though.

[MrMan]

Aspergers is light autism right? People with this condition would have difficulty reading other people's emotions.

[IraqVet2003]

It could also be that many of us are just old souls or wanderer souls, rather than that we have aspergers, and since younger souls see older souls as eccentric because we don't try to conform and fit in and follow the crowd and whatever is "hip and cool" they put weird labels on us like "aspergers"? What do you think? See the videos below.

These videos Winston describe me to a "T".

[MarcosZeitola]

Most people on this forum aren't anywhere intelligent enough to have a mental illness that allows one to focus on a single subject and become develop skills that would enable you to have a lucrative career in programming, science or the IT sector. Maybe at most they'd be the lower-functioning step on the autistic spectrum who collects stamps or little model trains and obsesses over a single subject that won't get them any cash or recognition. They just get the social awkwardness, trouble establishing or getting in or maintaining relationships and general bad vibes. Doesn't know when to shut it.

It's been observed that about 50% of "English teachers" in Asia are on the autistic spectrum. No brilliance to be found, but a whole lot of social retardation and general awkwardness.

No one here, not a single person on HA (myself included) is "too intellectual". That's just a sorry excuse. There's a lot more stupidity here than there is genius, just like in the general population. The problem is all the idiots thinking they're geniuses, because many of them are coddled only children... again, Winston... well-off, only child. Special snowflake. The 'only original thinker from Asia'.