i’ve been reading about personality disorders and I feel like a lot of the symptoms fit autism as well. both have a rigid and “unhealthy” patterns of thinking, functioning and behaving, troubles perceiving and relating to situations and people, the early age of onset, both are pernament
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(It’s already been a day, please spare me of endless replies.)
I would say it’s because there’s not really anything harmful about autistic people’s brains, they’re just structured in a way that society isn’t built for. I wouldn’t say autistic people automatically have thoughts or behaviors that are unhealthy or disruptive to their lives as a whole, things mostly become a problem in an environmental that isn’t suitable.
Edit: I understand that autism can be disruptive and harmful in certain instances but it isn’t inherently that way. Some behaviors characterized as such are valid reactions to unsuitable conditions in their lives as opposed to simply being effects of the disorder. My point is that I don’t think being autistic should be viewed as a bad thing, it’s just the reality of their brain.
Think of it like a computer. A computer’s personality is its software, the way it works and the way it responds to things. But sometimes the computer has a hardware problem, like a broken part or a problem with its wiring. That’s like autism. It’s a problem with the way the brain is wired and how it processes information, not a problem with the person’s personality or their unique way of being.
So, while personality disorders can affect a person’s behavior and relationships with others, autism is not a personality disorder because it affects the way a person thinks, learns, and processes information.
EDIT- as mentioned by some commenters below, it’s better compared to perhaps being a different OS. I’ll leave the original up to bring attention to the difference.
Personality Disorders are not neurological, meaning that there is nothing biologically different between a person with, say, NPD (narcissistic personality disorder), and a “regular” person. Their disorder is a series of learned personality traits through evironmental conditioning. Autism is a neurological disorder, which means that their (our) brains are biologically different from “regular” people.
I will address your last line. Autism is a difference in the brain that lasts from birth, thus it’s permanent. Personality disorders are generally not diagnosed until age 18 because your personality is still forming in childhood. Many PDs can go away with treatment, some simply as time passes.
ELI5: for treatment, with autism you learn how to live with your different brain. Personality disorder treatment works on changing the brain.
Edit: wording and spelling
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Personality disorders are primarily learned traits. They are not caused by genetic abnormalities or neurochemical changes. Treatment for them is almost entirely centered around talk therapy like CBT to help the person change the way they think about the events of their life. And also EMDR to treat any trauma memories that also tend to affect personality disorders. If you compare them to somatic health problems they are more like chronic injuries.
Autism has been shown to almost certainly be genetic in origin. Treatment for it centers around building an individualized learning plan to help your patient achieve as much functionality as possible so that they may pursue their life goals effectively. It would include things like coping skills, communication-assisting devices, and speech/occupational therapy.
because it is just your brain being a completely different type. sometimes autism gets diagnosed as adhd or something else and occasionally you have ppl like me with both. personality disorders also dont start showing at literally the age of 2 (and autism like any other thing where your brain is just wired way differently is already there from birth). on top of that there really isnt much (if anything) wrong with being autistic. society is just built for nuerotypicals (aka “normal” ppl) and we arent them
Hi! I have autism and a personality disorder (kind of a rare diagnosis, honestly). My special interest is psychology.
The thing with autism is that it’s considered a developmental/neurological disorder in the DSM V (the manual that diagnoses mental illness). This is because the symptoms are present from birth. Your brain (and body in some cases) are built differently! Symptoms of autism can be physical as well as mental due to the different formation of the brain and sometimes joints and organs during birth. For instance, many autistic people such as myself have gastrointestinal problems and joint problems! Don’t get me wrong, there is therapy for autism. It just focuses on learning to live as you are, though. It focuses on coping with the way you see the world and your surroundings.
On the other hand, I am also diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. Some traits it has are shared with my autism, but some of my thinking patterns that are strictly from the BPD can be restructured through CBT or DBT, two different forms of therapy that focus on changing the way you think. You cannot do this with autism, although social skills and other skills can be faked or “masked”, in my case at least they were never fully learned.
The real, if a bit unfortunate answer is that most neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental (and indeed even neurodegenerative) disorders are like constellations.
Symptoms are like stars, and until we figure out exactly what’s going wrong in the bodies/brains of people with ASD, BPD, bipolar, OCD, vs. NT folks, we’re largely just drawing imaginary lines around them. Definitions always changing, often overlapping, mired in things like historical context and the sudden surge in ASD prevalence.
Good question. ASD is a neurodevelopmental disorder, meaning that there are differences in how the brain works. Neurodevelopmental disorders are fixed in stone, they were there at birth (but may not be diagnosed until later on). A personality disorder is less about the brain being wired differently (though some studies show differences, for example borderline PD and the amygdala), and more about an engrained pattern of learning how to see and relate to the world.
ASD and other neurodevelopmental disorders are generally quite heritable. But whilst there is some genetic heritability for personality disorders, it is mostly the environment which shapes them.
Insofar as treatment is concerned, because neurodevelopmental disorders are entirely differences in the brain, not character, you cannot treat the condition itself – only it’s symptoms. Personality disorders on the other hand, whilst difficult to treat (given their challenging personality characteristics and behaviours may undermine the therapy), are ultimately changeable.
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