I'm 14: Asperger's Syndrome, Bipolar Disorder, Mania, Depression, and God knows what else?

Question

I am 14, and I am fairly sure that I have had Asperger's Syndrome for all my life without getting diagnosed for it. Over the past few months, I believe the effects have become more profound. I am intensely passionate about math, philosophy, psychology, [theoretical] physics, art, poetry, literature, and ancient history. I feel that over the [course of] past year or so, I have become much more knowledgeable and intelligent. My mathematical prowess, philosophical insight, visualization skills, and raw intelligence have increased noticeably. Correspondingly, however, I have had increasing headaches [both in longevity and severity]. I have very low self-esteem. I do not enjoy "normal" social interaction, and when in social situations I feel mostly fear and anxiety. Recently, this anxiety has become terrible. I do not mind the social awkwardness, but psychologically I am deteriorating, and that has affected me deeply. I've had extreme highs and lows emotionally.

I have researched it a bit online, and it is called "Creative Mania", or something of the sort. These days, I become incredibly nervous over almost the smallest things, and I spend long amounts of time pacing around. I have also been having some excruciated physical pain [right lung area, right kidney area, heart, inability to move back, and finally almost electric "jolts" in my left parietal lobe area].

Thus, I believe I am [to an extent] depressed. I just want to curl up into a ball and hide in a dark corner and think. =P Do you guys have any suggestions? What do you think I am going through? Is this normal? Should I seek psychiatric help?

Sorry, I don't actually believe I have all of those disorders, so no, I am not a hypochondriac. Perhaps I listed all of those to get your attention. =P

Perhaps I should have clarified with regard to AS. Sociality is not the only concern I have. To be honest, I do not care for socialization -- I do not view socializing as an ideal, by any means. I exhibit many of the other symptoms. I have talked with other students around my age who also have AS.

Also, please note that I am not attempting to self-diagnose myself. Perhaps it was foolish of me to list all of these things in the title. I apologize if that is how I came off.

Sorry if I came off as arrogant. I should spend more time typing up my questions.

Answer 1

Sounds like you may have hypochondriacism, you have every disease under the sun, but you have no doctor that has told you of it. Be glad for your intelligence, get a good physical, once you learn you are healthy, put everything out of your mind and move on with life!

Answer 2

I imagine the doctor at the hospital took about two minutes to come up with that. That is not the way to diagnose! Your symptoms sound most like the anxious type of depression and Asperger's. Not everyone with depression is the same. Anxious depression is not the type people generally think of when they think of depression, but it should not be confused with bipolar. The symptoms they think indicate mania are experienced by many people with anxious depression, Asperger's, and also bipolar, but they are not on their own enough to make a diagnosis. Everything else that you say fits with either Asperger's or anxious depression. Asperger's will make it hard to deal with most psychiatrists. Many people with Asperger's are depressed a lot. People with Asperger's tend to have abnormal serotonin systems. Psychiatric illness can be difficult to treat in people with Asperger's. Asperger's is fairly common. It is hard to tell how many have it. You are not an alien and not crazy.

Answer 3

Wow, you seem extremely bright! And that can be a curse to the same extent that it is a curse.
It is not my place, or any of ours, really, to answer this as though we have a background, and even having a background, to purport to be familiar enough with you to help.
I hear the similar strains of thought that ran through my head for many years, always self-diagnosing.
One phenomenon surfaced ten years after my adolescence and the birth of my child- a hyperthyroid disorder after ten years post probable onset, was threatening my life.
Three therapists and a doctor never made the recommendation for simple blood screening.
What I am saying to you is this:
You have no idea what's wrong, and I with all of my medical and psychological reading had no idea what was wrong.
You need the right professionals, which is a matter, as Einstein might say, of 5% luck and 95% perseverance.
Find the right people, no matter how many years it takes.

Answer 4

I am 13, and exactly the same way. Maybe you feel awkward around others because you need to tone it down a little bit on the big words (i.e, profoud, prowess, longetivity). I used to use them constantly to express myself but it didn't get through to the other kids who had a different way of talking. I did water down my vocabulary but even now everyone thinks I sound like a very intelligent person.

It sounds like perhaps you came on here to brag about your intelligence. After all, if this was true, wouldn't you turn to a parent, counselor or teacher for advice?

I sympathize greatly with you about the social anxiety. It is hard for me even to say hi or High 5 someone. When other people greet you or try to initiate a conversation try to go along, don't walk away or shut them out. Ask questions about them, open up with something about yourself, or comment about the class or something. Join afterschool clubs. Is there a math club, tennis club, Spanish, something for you to join? Try sitting at different tables to mingle with different kinds of people.

The headaches are definately a bad sign. Go to a doctor. I don't know you and can't really help you, just give some social tips and my sympathy. Try to get two or three phone numbers every month from friendly people until you have a good roster built up, and then you'll have some friends to talk to. Eat with them at lunchtime. When you get to know them well enough invite them to the movies or something.

Answer 5

I think people with asperger's usually have only a couple of interests. I also believe that their social skills are quite awkward. I think your parents would have noticed this. My brother who is 40 almost certainly has aperger's, he is also bipolar, and has tourette's (a tic disorder). He's really into chemistry, and if you needed to know the light transmission characteristics of various plastics, he would know (THIS type will block 50% of UV, that type won't block more than 10%, use THIS material to make an infrared cameral filter, etc). He had the periodic table of the elements memorized in junior high. He did lots of other geeky stuff, you get the idea.

On the other hand, I had very wide interests and was passionate about all of them. When my brother and I get off onto astronomy or evolution type geeky conversations, we go off in a corner and laugh at ourselves and tell others that we are being "aspy." But my interests are FAR broader than my brother's, so I don't know as many factoids on topics when we talk.

I think that perhaps you have low self-esteem and you are having trouble in your relationships with others. Joining a club or an extracurricular activity at school probably would help. I was really introverted, but highly gifted, and I went into speech and debate, and went on some science/backpacking field trips with my high school. We didn't have any gifted programs at our school, but in extracurriculars your coach spends a lot of time with you in small groups and maybe even some one on one time. I don't know if you are gifted or not, but these extracurriculars are really fun and you can learn a LOT> I think I learned more in my extracurriculars than my regular classes, plus gained a lot of confidence.

Being stressed out and lonely and not feeling accepted can cause headaches. You need to hang with others. Humans are social animals, we need to be with others, it is how our brains have evolved. Loneliness can cause mood swings too, depression also.

Good luck to you, I hope you will pay attention to what I wrote! I am 42 and I used to be about where you are now. You really should talk to your mom or dad about this stuff.

PS bipolar can be very disabling. When I had my bipolar symptoms when I was your age, I could not go to school. I would cry and cry over my math homework, when other times it was very easy for me. I missed about 40 days of school a year because I was so depressed. In college, when I was manic, I'd do anything BUT my homework. If you are keeping up with your work, it's not bipolar, I'd say.

Answer 6

As some have mentioned, you seem to be a bright 14yr old kid. Very analytical.
Try not to take everything too seriously, there is plenty of time in the future for that.

Do you have any hobbies? Likes or interests?
Get involved with something like a school activity or community event.
Learn to play chess or learn to skateboard.
Whatever peaks you interests.
It helps to get your mind off of things and before you know it, you won't feel as stressed out.

I think you should really speak to an adult that you are comfortable with about your feelings.

Sometimes just talking to someone about how you are feeling can relieve some stress and make you feel better.

Take care and hold on!

Answer 7

Before you jump into the deep end of the 21st century's impulse to over-diagnose everything, lets look at this rationally, shall we?

you might have all those very fancy things you mentioned above. however, its not likely.

just because you intelligent and obviously like to tell people doesn't mean you have asperger's. during adolescence, your body and brain changes and develops, making processing information and solving problems easier.

the social awkwardness sometimes associated with asperger's could just indicate you are socially immature or isolating yourself becuase of your inherent brain-power.

The headaches are most likely caused by the stress of keeping up your intelligence, an increased work load at school, or your admitted low self-esteem.

the emotion highs and lows are probably hormones and the side effects of an incredible phenomenon called puberty!!!

so before you start labeling yourself with a bunch of disorders which you probably don't have, stop and think about it logically.

and while having several disorders (especially asperger's) might seem wild and exciting, its not. you shouldn't WANT to have them. it's sort of sick.

Answer 8

Headaches have nothing to do with any of these issues. You may not even has Aspergers. Even if you do, what does it change?

Not everybody is a social butterfly. We need to be glad for that. Can you imagine a world of Lindsay Lohans and Brittany Spears. GAG.

Back when I was a kid, we didn't know about Aspergers. Those kids were known as the smart kids. What happened to them? They invented computers.

Not all people have to have tons of friends. There have got to be other nerds (said lovingly...I too am a nerd) that you can discuss theory with, or bat around ideas. Please get it out of your head that being socially astute is the highest ideal. We used to believe those people were good at that 'cause they weren't smart, so they had to be nice.

Now go pull out a really juicy math book and satisfy your mind.

Answer 9

You sound like a smart "normal" 14-year-old. Believe me, as someone who has had exposure to more than one child with one or more of the above-named conditions, there would have adults looking into the situation by now if you were afflicted with them. Kids don't develop Asperger's, for example, out of the blue. Parents NOTICE that at a very young age.

Smart kids often feel socially isolated from their peers because they understand things more deeply. That blows your Asperger's Syndrome out of the water.

Virtually all teenagers experience mood swings because of the hormone tug-of-war that is being played out inside you right now. There goes your Bipolar Disorder and Mania diagnosis.

You might be on to something with the depression diagnosis, not that it is particularly rare in teenagers, but it is worth pursuing. Can you talk to your parents about this? A school counselor? A clergyman? Or is there another trusted adult who can counsel you?

You are not as alone as you think, but as long as you dwell on your differences, you will not be able to overcome them.

Answer 10

Right now, all you have is a 14-year-old's self diagnosis. I don't say that disrespectfully; I'm just saying you're far from qualified to rule on this without a Ph.D. in psychology.

You seem to be a bright person who'd rather deal in an intellectual comfort zone. That happens to lots of us, not all of whom are diagnosable on the DSM IV.

Ask your parents if they'd be willing to have you screened. You have nothing to lose, and you'll gain some interesting insights into psychology from the experience.

Don't research the tests before you take them. Skewing the results is bad juju.

Sincerely,
Ex Aspergers Guy

Answer 11

I agree with one of your points, you are a bright 14 year old. I do not believe you have self diagnosed yourself correctly. At this age it is not unusual to become more introverted, and to discover interest you feel are unique. If you are truly concerned see your school counselor and ask for a referral, speak to your parents and ask for help. I think you have issues, but you are not on the right track in my opinion.