Does Asperger's syndrome count as "Mental Illness"?

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Look closely enough and you'll decide everyone has autistic traits, because we all do. This is why they call it a "spectrum."

My wife specializes in teaching kids with Autism (the newest PC-speak in education is never to say "Autistic kids" or, worst of all, refer to people as "Autistics.") She sees everyone around her as having it--she tells me I'm Autistic over and over.

Personally, I think she's higher on the spectrum than I am. Ever meet someone with a tactile repugnance for cotton balls? Touching a cotton ball freaks her out. She has what we call "sensory issues."
 
Wow . . . I just checked out the Wikipedia artical on Asperger's, and found myself nodding along as I read it. "Wow. So that's what's up with me. . ."

Eye contact is almost painful for me. My handwriting sucks, but my english teachers often drooled over the quality of my prose. I don't socialize well; I've frequently stated that "I don't like people." Intense, almost obsessive interest in physics and chemistry. I took a day and read through all one-hundred-and-umpteen Wikipedia articles regarding the known chemical elements. That was fun. The bit about pedantic speech rings true. On the rare occasion that I said much of anything back in school, I usually got a blank stare followed quickly by "Why you always talkin' so crazy, man?"

Again, wow. We must learn more of this. . .


(Once again, I love THR :) )
 
Ever meet someone with a tactile repugnance for cotton balls?
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Yup--matter of fact I have. My wife and her sister both can't stand the kind of cotton ball that makes tiny "scrunching" sounds when you squeeze them. Very strange...
 
Yup--matter of fact I have. My wife and her sister both can't stand the kind of cotton ball that makes tiny "scrunching" sounds when you squeeze them. Very strange...
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My wife is going to DIE if she ever sees this - she's convinced that I'm the only wackjob in the world that gets the creeping willies at the squeeking sound that cottonballs make. This is too funny.

See? I'm not crazy. :D
 
Umm, I'm pretty sure I'm one, too. I mean, ain't it obvious from my sig file? Not as Aspie as some, but not as smart as they, either.

Y'all might look at another board I belong to, www.aspiesforfreedom.com. They're kinda into autistic politics, and based in UK to boot, but there are some Americans there too, and some good information.
 
inspired to join in

Arrg! I hate the sound of scrunching snow and cotton balls. I would guess that many highroaders are avoiding treatment for minor mental problems for fear of losing gun rights.
 
Exactly ! Amen, brother !

BTW.. you could lose gun rights if you started seeing a shrink ?
That's preposterous.
People who acknowledge they have a problem are far less dangerous than those who think they are completely OK, yet are barking mad...
 
Asberger's Syndrome is probably entirely brain organic, like mental retardation, however with this particular syndrome, they can have normal or even high IQs. It merely has to do with the way they relate to other people. They may be more likely to perceive a threat when none exists, however, which would be a concern of mine. A high school student with AS might perceive hostility in another student when none was there. I have heard some such students angrily complain to the teacher that a certain student won't stop looking at them. Being looked at is a normal part of living in the world, not a threat. They might perceive it as a threat when nothing unusual has occurred. So, in sum, not sure if one should be barred from a CCW license, but it is a thought.
 
Welcome, cottonballs! You do realize you'll have to buy all of the ammo for the eventual meeting of all of us together, maybe some time before the Heat Death of the Universe. Unless somebody else joins up later. It's sorta like Amway, or Social Security.

Snork.

BTW, see the sticky thread about agitating to make suppressors (aka silencers) easier to get. Talk about sensory insults!
 
As far as mental illness and guns in general goes, I met a man at an gun rights convention who told me that the police came to his home and removed all of his guns after they found out he had received care from a psychiatrist for depression. This was a non-shall issue State (NY), and their stated reason for removing the weapons was that he attested on his application that he did not suffer from mental illness, yet he recently received treatment from a psychiatrist. The NRA was providing him with legal representation.
 
Hawkeye, aspies and auties are more likely to get real threats, and actual physical violent bullying, to to point of dang' near killing them, than the other way around. We tend to obey the rules, and shy away from confrontation. We're happy to obey all just and reasonable law, and even the unjust and unreasonable laws (though much less happily) because "Them's the Rules!"
 
Hawkeye, aspies and auties are more likely to get real threats, and actual physical violent bullying, to to point of dang' near killing them, than the other way around. We tend to obey the rules, and shy away from confrontation. We're happy to obey all just and reasonable law, and even the unjust and unreasonable laws (though much less happily) because "Them's the Rules!"
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Sorry. Didn't mean to offend. I worked in a program for high functioning Autistic and Asperger adolescents for a couple of years. The "Aspies," as you call them, were invariably mild mannered kids who typically enjoyed playing chess (often better than me). I have heard from teachers, however, that kids with Aspergers do tend to perceive threats that don't seem to be intended. That doesn't mean they are likely to attack someone, though. They just complain to the teacher. I only said it was something to think about RE a handgun license, but you would know better than I.
 
This thread was dead for most of 4 months, then it springs back to life!

The Real Hawkeye said:
A high school student with AS might perceive hostility in another student when none was there. I have heard some such students angrily complain to the teacher that a certain student won't stop looking at them. Being looked at is a normal part of living in the world, not a threat. They might perceive it as a threat when nothing unusual has occurred.
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Thanks for this tidbit - it fits the boy that prompted this thread to a "T".:what:

And thanks to all that have posted their input, much food for thought!
 
The Real Hawkeye-

Do you know if there's anything on the web about that case?

Some of the anti-gun groups are starting to lobby for legislation that makes medical records checks part of the NICS process so the case you mentioned may be very important, precedent-wise.

That scenario frightens me like none other. Clinical psychology is pseudo-science at best and the DSM has a diagnosis for everyone on Earth. Handing over the power to decide who has Constitutional rights to shrinks is a bad move.
 
No offense taken, Hawkeye. We are notoriously clueless about other people's social intentions. That's why I thank the Lord I was raised Southern, and taught formal social manners, and why I can't stand most of my damyankee neighbors.
 
If you read the definitions broadly enough *EVERYONE* is mentally ill.
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Thats my concern (and why I refuse to see a mental health professional even socially :p *).

All it takes is some clever wording by a lawyer with a case before a high court and BAMO Asperger's (or ADD, or whatever mental health issue you got) counts as a "mental illness" and large blocks of the law abiding population are barred from keeping and bearing arms.

The Ayn Rand quote in my sig is incomplete, it should read:

"There's no way to rule innocent or sane men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals and the insane. Well, when there aren't enough criminals or insane people one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime and so many things to be "Mental Illness" that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws or being declared insane...you create a nation of law-breakers and crazy folk and then you cash in on guilt and insanity."


At some point I believe the fed.gov will start restricting our basic rights as citizens for the most minor of "mental illnesses" (some would argue its already happening).


*Honestly I believe I've crossed the line into a full blown case of clinical depression, but I'll be damned if I'm going to risk my RKBA by seeking treatment...and since I don't feel suicidal I figure I can just suffer with it on my own.
 
Zundfolge-

DISCLAIMERS: I am not a doctor, a clinical social worker, a whatever-the-Scientologists-call-their-equivalent-of-therapists, a high school guidance counsellor, or anything like that. Keep that in mind as I dole out free and unsolicited advice.

"Clinical depression" is a crock. It's your fundamentally stone age psyche's way of responding to the essentially unnatural psychological environment of modernity. Our age is boring, sterile, easy, gender confused, constricting, etc.

My experience has been that to keep depression away I simply need to add more physicality to my life. Walk more, screw more, fight more, shoot more, hunt more, play with your pets more, and so on. More activity + less interaction with paper and screens = less depression. Not letting a non-physical job consume your life doesn't hurt either, even if it means adjusting to a lower (albeit more emotionally satisfying) standard of living.

We did not evolve to work 9-5 desk jobs, shop for food at grocery stores, and watch television. Less of all of that is good for the spirit.
 
First you say clinical depression is a crock, and then you explain how you keep it away.

If it's a crock, why do you need to keep it away?

John
 
hm

+1 american by blood.

This is a major social syndrome in this detached age. It is reflected not only in our medical continuum, but also in the murmuring cultures that have become inextricably intertwined with non-reality.

We have been quietly struggling with this for many years, with our collective worries expressing themselves in film and literature (Full Metal Alchemist, The Matrix, etc).

How do we survive an age which, increasingly, replaces our reality with the electronic aether?

Lift your hand, stare at it. Where does flesh meet aether, where do the hours of internet teleconsciousness factor into Day? I am staring at excited electrons parading across a charged array of crystals, peering into a spray coated well of cathode particles.

I'm not talking to anyway. There's no save button in conversation. There' no delete button to reword my thoughts into something more savor faire.

I felt myself slipping deeper and deeper into non-existence, so I took some lessons from my dog.

We went walking together for two days, hiking into the woods, sniffing flowers, poking at shrubs, peering at bugs. I climbed a tree and shared an apple with him. When the sky grew dark, we curled up in a tent and fell asleep.

No lights to push back the restful night, no digital devices to keep me in an undead day.

I'd never felt so good.
 
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