First let me start out by saying that I do Not have Schizophrenia and this has been confirmed by 2 shrinks. Including the one who first diagnosed me with asperger syndrome and has plenty of experience with schizophrenic patients. However, Many people have falsely accused me/or rather suspected me of having schizophrenia and being "delusional". I dont know if so-called stereotype behaviours are seen in schizophrenics but I have tendency to talk to myself(out loud)-always a monologue which may be part of the reason people think I might be schizophrenic.
I've been spotted talking to myself as I walk alone to street.
I do this to organised my thoughts, examine ideas and rehearse what I'll say in certain situations.
Talking out loud holds my attention more easily than an internal dialogue.
It’s so important that I deliberately set aside time each day to ‘talk to myself’.
I’ve encountered people with Schizophrenia as well as others with AS; there is a distinct difference in the way Schizophrenic people talk to themselves as compared with those with AS and others.
I talk to myself as well. Sometimes saying them out loud is the only way to understand my thoughts. I've had a psychiatrist asking me schizophrenic questions as well. What started her on the track was that I was smiling when I clearly wasn't happy... I also hadn't realised I was smiling and I jiggled my leg. My uncle is schizophrenic, but I have trouble following his thought processes sometimes and he often has these wonderful inventions that he talks about but never does. He also moves a lot.. Now we think he's living on the streets.. But basically it seems to me that schizophrenics are different to autistics.
I get really paranoid and start having these thoughts, like, "Right behind me if I look there will be this creepy floating monster with a red and green eye" and things like that.
I also experience the sense as if there are all kinds of weird creatures coming up through the sinks and pipes, as well as the feeling of "knowing" that my house is bugged with listening devices and such.
Whoa! This is exactly like me too, it happens mostly when I am alone. I've always put it down to having watched too many horror movies and having an overactive vivid imagination.
The question is not are
YOU schizophrenic,but if you are autistic,is anybody schizophrenic/bipolar in your family ? Especially a sibling.See
this.I was diagnosed with autism,at the age of six.My two sisters were diagnosed as schizophrenic,or bipolar,at the age of ten.One with each.We all have autoimmune disease.My father is an undiagnosed aspergerian.At least one of his brothers had Fragile X.
I'm sorry,but there is a lot to this genetics stuff.
I also experience the sense as if there are all kinds of weird creatures coming up through the sinks and pipes, as well as the feeling of "knowing" that my house is bugged with listening devices and such. Actually a number of schizophrenic-like things I experience, but it always goes away for me if I am actively doing things (which is one reason why I'm taking four college classes this semester, as well as being active in five clubs at school and ten high school courses, plus a social life IRL and online discussion). I'm actually able to think much clearer, and be less over-reactive emotionally with regard to stress.
Not to derail the thread, but that's a lot of stuff there--how do you manage to keep yourself all in one piece? Unless academics is your "great Aspie interest," I can't fathom how one could manage this. Speaking for myself school was NEVER an interest, so I barely managed to get through it.
I was very poor at school for one thing, but going further than that, my executive dysfunction is so bad I can barely plan things beyond one day. It seems you must be at the polar opposite area of the spectrum that I'm in.
I get really paranoid and start having these thoughts, like, "Right behind me if I look there will be this creepy floating monster with a red and green eye" and things like that.
I also experience the sense as if there are all kinds of weird creatures coming up through the sinks and pipes, as well as the feeling of "knowing" that my house is bugged with listening devices and such.
Whoa! This is exactly like me too, it happens mostly when I am alone. I've always put it down to having watched too many horror movies and having an overactive vivid imagination.
Same thing here--as a kid, I was unable to sleep fully in the dark for a LONG time... overactive imagination is my calling card. I had trouble staying home alone as well. I seem to be prone to paranoia.
I get really paranoid and start having these thoughts, like, "Right behind me if I look there will be this creepy floating monster with a red and green eye" and things like that.
I also experience the sense as if there are all kinds of weird creatures coming up through the sinks and pipes, as well as the feeling of "knowing" that my house is bugged with listening devices and such.
Whoa! This is exactly like me too, it happens mostly when I am alone. I've always put it down to having watched too many horror movies and having an overactive vivid imagination.
Same thing here--as a kid, I was unable to sleep fully in the dark for a LONG time... overactive imagination is my calling card. I had trouble staying home alone as well. I seem to be prone to paranoia.
I'm the same...even now I can freak myself out occasionally.
Aren't we sensitive souls...LOL 
Batman, my father has sczhiophrenia; my mum (who is actually evil) spent most of my childhood saying I was "crazy like your dad" because I used to spend most of my time alone, talking to myself, reading, playing with Lego in my teens (I still love Lego at 24)...etc. Education has always been my big interest - its the one thing that stops me wanting to pull my hair out. Unfortunately it makes me stand out a mile in tutorials - I just get so excited about my subject and the things I always read about it that I just want to talk about it to everyone, and I used to get picked on quite badly in first year. These days I tend to ignore it because I realise academics do far more for my future than students who just want a degree lol
And even now I can't sleep in the dark. When I was a kid I used to scream if I was upstairs alone because for some reason I was convinced that there was a ghost upstairs and I used to work myself into such a fit I was inconsolable if I was left alone. Even these days I get strange ideas like that.
Oh, and I spend a lot of my time surfing sites like AFF
Woah, that's a lot of consecutive posts.
Still, I mean... 14 classes and you're active in five clubs at school... and you're able to contribute to AFF as well.
I know if I was you, I wouldn't have one minute available to spend surfing the Net... so, that's why I ask how you manage... you seem able to divide your time equally, which is not something Aspies are particularly good at. This is not a criticism--I'm just jealous of anyone who's good in academics, that's all.
As said before, I had a lot of difficulty in school, and to measure myself against the academically-oriented Aspies... almost makes me feel I'm not an Aspie... usually we have the kind of intellect that would be beneficial in school. *I*, however, do not.
Still, I mean... 14 classes and you're active in five clubs at school... and you're able to contribute to AFF as well.
I know if I was you, I wouldn't have one minute available to spend surfing the Net... so, that's why I ask how you manage... you seem able to divide your time equally, which is not something Aspies are particularly good at. This is not a criticism--I'm just jealous of anyone who's good in academics, that's all.
As said before, I had a lot of difficulty in school, and to measure myself against the academically-oriented Aspies... almost makes me feel I'm not an Aspie... usually we have the kind of intellect that would be beneficial in school. *I*, however, do not.
*sigh* Once again, all aspies are different.
No-one on the site but you still believes the "all aspies are acedemically gifted" thing anymore.
You gain nothing by the comparison, unless you are merely seeking attention.
Etc, etc.
And also note that my post count has jumped way up in the last two weeks to a month. That's because I have a whole two weeks off for winter break, my college classes ended a week before high school and don't resume until a week after high school resumes. So I've posted more than 70 times since vacation, and by vacation's end, I will probably have tripled my starting post-count. (I'm procrastinating, though.)
Yeah as said before I didn't mean to derail the thread, and I hope the OP isn't annoyed by this. To see you explain your scholastic agenda was illuminating for me. As mentioned a few times by now, I'm not trying to put you or any other academically-inclined Aspie on the spot... I tend to express myself spontaneously on occasion--in a seemingly random way. How else can I explain the tendency but to say my mind works in a very unorthodox way (which I guess is normal among ASers.)
B"H
I sometimes feel hypocritical. I have to try to help an Autistic student to control his stimming and his talking to himself. However, I do the same things myself! I stim and talk to myself when no one is apparently there. Frankly, I even stim a little bit on the job!!!
What I try to tell the student is that he can do all of these things in an appropriate venue. That is the best I can do. I am a little less noticeable than he is. And, that is what I want to encourage, his being himself naturally, without drawing the attention of a whole room. That is a realistic goal, one that I have accomplished myself with great difficulty.
Is that not a better goal than stopping the stimming process entirely? What fun would life be without a little stimming? I think everyone should do a little of it now and then! Just stim responsibly. Have a designated driver...
Have a good weekend.
All the best.