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Howlin Mad

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Do sensory hallucinations have any relation with ASD?

When I told a therapist, she said it was likely I was simply hearing my own thoughts, and I never brought it up again, because I don't like people questioning my honesty.

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I always stacked hallucinations, depression, bipolar, anxiety and depersonalisation/derealisation under ASD because they are "as a result of".

Edited by Howlin Mad

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i was diagnosed years ago as having psychotic episodes,ive just recently been diagnosed with aspergers and on one of the leaflets i was given, it says that a small percentage of people who have aspergers also have these, but it also says that this usually happens in adolescence, im 40 now and still having them x

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I always stacked hallucinations, depression, bipolar, anxiety and depersonalisation/derealisation under ASD because they are "as a result of".

 

No their not 'as a result of'...

 

As Blue71 states a small percentage of autistic people will also have halllucinations. A small percentage of non-autistic people will also have hallucinations. In essence, a small percentage of people will have hallucinations.

 

L&P

 

BD

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I always stacked hallucinations, depression, bipolar, anxiety and depersonalisation/derealisation under ASD because they are "as a result of".

 

 

Hi.

Some people with ASD have in the past been described as hearing voices which professionals would describe as auditory hallucinations.However it was fequently later found that this was because the professional did not understand what the person was describing.So a person may describe their thinking as a voice in the head but this is not the same as actually hearing voices.

Professionals in the field of ASD would usually say that this was a miss diagnosis because of a lack of understanding of ASD.

 

There is solid research evidence of a larger proportion of people with AS experiencing depression than would be expected within the normal population.However this could well be due to the difficulties faced by people with AS in areas such as finding work.

However there is as far as I am aware no scientific evidence of any link between what would be called major mental illness [bi-polar disorder and psychosis or schizophrenia.]

which are the main forms of mental illness for which hallucinations are recognised symptoms and ASD.

It is possible for a person with ASD to also have Bi-polar or schizophrenia however this would be a coincidence.

 

I think this is important because early diagnosis and treatment for anything unusual like hallucinations can make a huge difference to how well a person copes so anything new like that should be taken very seriously and not just thought of as part of AS.

 

Also a person with AS who described their experience ''as hearing voices '' who had had a diagnosis of ASD since childhood would always have described it that way.Children are not diagnosed with bi-polar or schizophrenia.However if an adult with AS described a new and different experience of ''hearing voices'' then this would be worth investigating through a referal to CAMHS or an adult mental health team.

 

Karen.

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Do sensory hallucinations have any relation with ASD?

When I told a therapist, she said it was likely I was simply hearing my own thoughts, and I never brought it up again, because I don't like people questioning my honesty.

 

I am fighting for my son to be assessed for asd/aspergers and he hears a voice in his head which is not his own so yes you are completely right you should never question what you know to be right xx

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i was diagnosed years ago as having psychotic episodes,ive just recently been diagnosed with aspergers and on one of the leaflets i was given, it says that a small percentage of people who have aspergers also have these, but it also says that this usually happens in adolescence, im 40 now and still having them x

 

Where did you get the leaflet hun as i am wanting to go with as much evidence as possible to make them listen my son is now attempting suicide as he cant cope and they wont listen?

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is he living at home with you? if he is and it emergency MH crisis by trying to attempt suicide i would take him up A & E hosp right now and get him seen by on call pysch team as my parents have done this with me before! or ring for ambulance!

 

check out this website for helpline etc

 

http://http://www.youngminds.org.uk/parents

 

XKLX

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Hi.

Some people with ASD have in the past been described as hearing voices which professionals would describe as auditory hallucinations.However it was fequently later found that this was because the professional did not understand what the person was describing.So a person may describe their thinking as a voice in the head but this is not the same as actually hearing voices.

Professionals in the field of ASD would usually say that this was a miss diagnosis because of a lack of understanding of ASD.

 

There is solid research evidence of a larger proportion of people with AS experiencing depression than would be expected within the normal population.However this could well be due to the difficulties faced by people with AS in areas such as finding work.

However there is as far as I am aware no scientific evidence of any link between what would be called major mental illness [bi-polar disorder and psychosis or schizophrenia.]

which are the main forms of mental illness for which hallucinations are recognised symptoms and ASD.

It is possible for a person with ASD to also have Bi-polar or schizophrenia however this would be a coincidence.

 

I think this is important because early diagnosis and treatment for anything unusual like hallucinations can make a huge difference to how well a person copes so anything new like that should be taken very seriously and not just thought of as part of AS.

 

Also a person with AS who described their experience ''as hearing voices '' who had had a diagnosis of ASD since childhood would always have described it that way.Children are not diagnosed with bi-polar or schizophrenia.However if an adult with AS described a new and different experience of ''hearing voices'' then this would be worth investigating through a referal to CAMHS or an adult mental health team.

 

Karen.

My son has the voices and mostly all traits of as. there is also scitzaphrenia and bi-polor and autism in the family but camhs are saying i have done this to my son personally!!! they have been a major let down for my son he feels he doesnt fit and the wors he feels the more suicide attempts we r getting he hits his teens in two years so adding hormoans to his now state of mind is not even to be bared thinking about but camhs refuse to admit they are wrong?

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he may be in pyschosis crisis in which he needs intermediate evualation and assessment to look into what is going on ....

 

http://http://counsellingresource.com/ask-the-psychologist/2008/03/12/aspergers-and-delusions-hallucinations/

 

 

 

http://http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100817105209AAxW0qR

Edited by smiley1590

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Where did you get the leaflet hun as i am wanting to go with as much evidence as possible to make them listen my son is now attempting suicide as he cant cope and they wont listen?

 

 

sorry i didn't see your reply. i got the leaflet from my local aspergers support group "BAAGS" not sure how i could get a copy to you though.

 

i can try and create a pdf file and email you it or i could scan the pages into laptop and send you them that way ? just pm me and let me know if i can help.

 

sorry again about the delay in replying :oops:

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In my eyes.. my hypothesis:

the basic 'problem' is in the sensory information proces..

That can cause different levels of anxiety and stress, even unnoticable!

People with problems with SI, also have difficulty releasing stress.. it adds up through the years..

NT encounter the same problems, just as annoying (so why do we complain.. ) well: their system flushes it out easier..

 

ie. Kids get a sensory approach plan (SAP) from their SI-therapist.. so they can function

more effectively in several situations or know what to do when they do/do not encounter certain stimuli..

(yes, there is also understimulation, just as undermining.. though less stressful)

 

The SI can manifest in a certain way that fits a description in the DSM IV.. ADHD/ADD/AS/..

 

If there are more issues, than stress levels are even higher, thus more aspects of other disorders:

borderline/schizophrenia/OCD/MCDD/...

 

That in my eyes is the hierarchy of it all..

If the underlying problem isn't seen, than the approach will not work as efficiently

Edited by butterfly73

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Because I also have a sleeping disorder (narcolepsy), I know that certain hallucinations can come from lack of sleep..

as in, daytime REM!, thus that is also something to take into account!

NB: Actually I sleep too much, in hours, spread over day and night..

but the quality of the sleep is abnormal.. Certain stages are passed (like waking up during REM, 5-7times a night).. thus I'm more sleepy in the daytime!

 

Lack of energy / feeling sleepy can have several causes, mind you! Food, excercise, sleep, meds, sensory overload, ...

Lack of sleep or sleeping too much is rather common with a stress-related disorder like AS!

 

(I'm glad I don't have hallucinations though.. ;-) )

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If it is something you have heard in the past then that sounds like a flashback.

If you can hear things others cant trying seeing if you can have some supporting evidence.

 

i live about 3 miles up a hill from a train station. i thought every time at night i heard the noise a train driver makes when they pull their horn. Eventually i got so fed up i looked up the train times and sure enough a train was due at around the same time i heard the horn. i am up a steep hill so my hearing is that good, in fact i can hear about 20 dbs lower than the average person including the painful dog whistle.

 

You might also want to check out the SPD/OCD thread as this is one symptom of sensory issues.

 

http://www.visualstresstest.com/ explains visual hallucinations.

 

The question of 'do you hear voices?' was once answered with "well of course". Instead of being asked to describe what that means to them an unsuitable MH (mis)diagnosis is given. ironically being autistic in some areas of the UK makes you "ignored or ineligible" ...

 

http://www.autism.org.uk/about-autism/our-publications/reports/our-policy-and-research-reports/ignored-or-ineligible.aspx

 

...for MH services. A problem with schziophrenia is that the symptoms are quite similiar to verbal ASD;

 

http://allpsych.com/disorders/psychotic/schizophrenia.html

 

So is the antisocial personality disorder as well in fact the boundaries between the different disabilities are very blurred. Sounds ironic a diagnostic system that isnt black and white!

 

http://allpsych.com/disorders/personality/antisocial.html

 

Im wondering if sleeping better could help? What do your 'hallucinations' (politest form as they may seem like hallicinations but be something else) tell you to do? Or does your brain feel like a hard drive in need of a cleanup or a defrag? It is possible to mishear things and as my speech was delayed in my case i think that is related.

 

i think the 'voice in your head' is your concious or subconcious planning things, so it could be saying "this morning i need to get some breakfast, write a shopping list, go back home then watch some tv then go to bed" for example.

 

If you are a trauma survivor then an assessment for CPTSD or PTSD might be in order. i have CPTSD and get angry flashbacks of what people said or done which causes my 'severe challenging behaviour". It is a difficult fight and sometimes my MH looses out, but that cant possibly be a MH problem (sarcasm aimed at my PCT).

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i dont think so, i have a diagnosis of BPD combinated with my autism, at times i disagree i have BPD.. But I reckon, its a way of how your anxiety is coping when you hallicinate i suppose.

 

i feel it is disgusting that they slapped that inappropriate diagnosis on you my friend. You definately fit CPTSD criterion more. Wish i knew how to overturn that 'diagnosis'.

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I don't suffer hallucinations normally but when I was in hospital a few years ago after falling from a horse, I was kept topped up with morphine intravenously and the morphine caused some nightmarish hallucinations. The specific hallucinations are not relevant but they make for good reading:

 

I was convinced I had killed someone because I could hear lawyers talking outside my room, discussing whether they could make a charge of murder stick. They eventually decided that misdemeanor manslaughter would be the best they could hope for.

The next night I saw two armed policemen outside my door, waiting to receive orders to arrest me. I waited for them to enter with my hands in the air.

The next night, I heard hospital security staff down the corridor, restraining the family of the deceased who were shouting and trying to get into my room. I also heard an angry news reporter asking nurses about the injustice of my not being charged with murder.

On other nights, I saw a weird-looking patient staring at me through the window in the door, heard a male nurse and a female nurse screwing in a store room next to my room, heard the same nurses plotting to kill me, heard my mom and dad asking nurses how I was then leaving without seeing me, and saw an intruder on the roof trying to get into my room through a skylight. Needless to say, I was a paranoid, terrified wreck throughout all of this.

 

Anyway, the point I wanted to make is that all of these hallucinations were absolutely real in my mind. In my doped state, I was just about able to rationalize some of the visual hallucinations like the weird patient at the door but the auditory hallucinations were totally indistinguishable from reality. They were not voices in my head; they were real voices being projected from outside my head and outside my room. As a result, I have a much better understanding of why people with such realistic hallucinations will not be convinced that they are false.

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Not when I'm awake as such, but sometimes when I'm asleep and my alarm goes off, I begin this weird repeating 'dream' where I am convinced I have turned my alarm off, got up, had a shower and eaten etc and am getting on with my day. It happens in what feels like real time and it's all exactly like it would be, no weird 'dream' like occurrences for a while, but then something will seem a little off, maybe a picture isn't right or something and I think..'hang on...' and then I wake up briefly, with my alarm going, without being able to move at all, then it starts over..and goes on for hours until someone physically wakes me up or calls me or something. I've wasted so many mornings having had this happen. :(

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Hi, a lot of what's been discussed here could also be described as a spiritual experience, for example, Willow-tree's morning dreams sound a lot like out of body experiences. I've had similar things happen to me in the past, before i knew i had aspergers, and that's what i used to put it down to. It worries me now that i used to be so convinced of these things, however, i can't deny that some very strange happenings occurred as a result of the `voices` and `visions`. For example, Once, while working in a restaurant, i walked past the kitchen and thought I saw a man washing dishes who was dressed in very smart naval uniform, with the flared trousers, a cap and shiny boots. I walked into the bar in astonishment, asking about the new guy, and he walked in right after me, dressed in grubby over-alls. He was the new pot wash. I questioned him of course, and he told me this was his first job since leaving the navy. People looked at me like i was mad of course. Also, when i used to hear voices, they would tell me things i could never have known, which were about to happen....even down to movies that would be on tv that day. I got told things about people i had met, that i could never have known, and freaked people out regularly with the info. I was even led to people who needed my help and was told what to do for them, like homeless people. I got very into the spiritual/religious obsessions as a result of all this.

I knew a lot of mediums at one point, and am certainly convinced of their skills....however, i'm no longer certain that we know what we're messing with when we get into this stuff so i tend to leave it all alone these days.

Unfortunately, my 15 year old cousin is now suffering with rather more negative voices in her head and terrible nightmares, and as a result of the conversations we've had in the past, i think she's assuming it is spiritual in nature, as are her parents. I'm not so sure. The whole thing baffles me now.

It was a past that happened, people witnessed these things happen. so i don't know how to explain it all now. Mind you, my obsession for a while was meditating for around 10 hours a day, so was probably just floating about, misunderstanding what went on? Who knows.

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