Aspies For Freedom

Kurai-Gaka Wrote:

I know this may seem like a silly excuse for a new thread but I was looking through numerous sites on whether Tim Burton is autistic, bipolar or both and I now want to ask people.

Apparantely, Tim Burton is bipolar rather than autistic. However, he may have been misdiagnosed as many autistics do or it could be the other way around.

Well, what do you think? Do we have any burton fans in the house?!

There's no reputable sources about Burton's diagnosis, the only convincing information we have is that his partner Helena Bonham Carter said that (after she worked on a TV movie that featured autistic children) he shows some of the signs of Asperger's. This dialogue snippet is available on several websites, including the Wikipedia entry on Tim Burton. But that's all we have.

I don't believe he has an official AS diagnosis, or so I have not found anywhere on the web.

M Wrote:

No, no, no. I met someone who I think was Johnny Depp. He asked me if I had Asperger's. I was really shocked. He said that he had worked with Tim Burton. He said it was a great experience for him and that Tim Burton had Asperger's. He appreciated people with Asperger's.

Really? Ihats amazing!

Well, I've got Burton on Burton and a lot of his films (particularly the ones that he had the most creative control over). These give me an insight to his supposed autism or bipolar syndrome.

Not many Bipolar people are bipolar ALL their lives but Tim seemed to be a loner for all of it. He has certain mannerisms and habits that are similar to mine, his outlook on life is quite similar and dangnabbit! We speak similarly too!

However, he did seem quite depressed in one phase of his life (during his years in disney) which could have prompted a diagnoses for Bipolar syndrome as most Bipolar people are diagnosed at a crisis point.

However, to me, he seems to be the sanest person on the planet. Then again, many people thought that about Stephen Fry and he has severe bipolar syndrome.

Again, I myself have been sort of studying his case and at the moment, I strongly believe that he could be an Aspie but I might accept that he developed mental health problems later in life.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas + Edward Scissorhands = Instant respect for Johnny Depp.

M Wrote:

No, no, no. I met someone who I think was Johnny Depp. He asked me if I had Asperger's. I was really shocked. He said that he had worked with Tim Burton. He said it was a great experience for him and that Tim Burton had Asperger's. He appreciated people with Asperger's.

I'm not surprised that Johnny Depp appreciates aspies. He's a pretty weird guy himself, and he likes to play weird roles. I respect that guy very much, he's a great actor too.

Noetic Wrote:

Kurai-Gaka Wrote:

However, to me, he seems to be the sanest person on the planet. Then again, many people thought that about Stephen Fry and he has severe bipolar syndrome.

Well he's not severe enough not to be able to cope without meds for now... plus I still think he's the sanes person on earth Smile

I watched a documentary about Stephen fry and Bipolar syndrome. Apparently he falls within the range of severely bipolar. Also, Fry is more open minded to treatments.

M Wrote:

About Tim Burton "However, he did seem quite depressed in one phase of his life (during his years in disney) which could have prompted a diagnoses for Bipolar syndrome as most Bipolar people are diagnosed at a crisis point."

Working at Disney would make anyone, especially an aspie depressed. Disney are big on CONFORMITY and even your ATTITUDE. Disney is considered a "cult" company.

Yeah. Tim's a strong guy. I would've hung myself going through that! LOL!

Noetic Wrote:

Ziyaret Wrote:

Aspergers(or autistic spectrum) is also the latest fad in diagnoses, both professional and amature.Honestly though, bipolar and Aspergers are quite different.

Agreed on both points, *however* there is a high comorbidity (up to 40% according to the NAS) with ASDs and Bipolar.

What about comorbidity with Borderline Personality? I'm either Borderline Personality or very Borderline-like...

Anyhow I consider Borderline Personality to be similar to Bipolar in some ways. I am not Bipolar but have some Bipolar features (black and white thinking is common with Bipolar AND Borderline), and I also have an unusual creativity which comes in spurts (and lasts for days at a time) and then just evaporates and doesn't come back for another month or so, this is something that is common to Bipolar, although I don't have a "genuine manic phase"... I just have periods where I'm much more creative than others.

I think Borderline could be misdiagnosed as Bipolar, and vice versa.

But that's just from what I know so far and could be wrong.. I'm not an expert on the subject, and am just offering this as an educated guess.

Burton is one of my favorite Directors,and,the odd thing is,i can actually relate to alot of his characters...
as to him being AS or Bi-Polar,i dont know.but i would guess he can relate,and,even if he where to be an NT,i think i could still like him Tongue

Noetic Wrote:

Kurai-Gaka Wrote:

I watched a documentary about Stephen fry and Bipolar syndrome. Apparently he falls within the range of severely bipolar.

I am aware of that, however he is also able to control it without medication, so the severity of his symptoms rather pale in comparison with some of the other people featured in the same programme. Not that it's *mild* as such, just not as disabling (because his episodes, especially mania, are very far apart).

Quote:

Also, Fry is more open minded to treatments.

More open minded than who, and what does this comment have to do with my quote?

Fry is more open minded to the treatments than he was before. Sorry, i could have made it clearer.

I don't mean to cause tension. I'm just answering according to what I saw on the documentary.

Ziyaret Wrote:

Noetic, where did you get your statistics about the comorbidity of Aspergers and Bipolar? One thing I do know for sure is that bipolar disorder is much more common than any autistic spectral disorder. I've read at the NIMH website that 1 in 50 people is affected by it, whereas Asperger syndrome is something like 1 in 1000(the Maximum possible frequency).What I have been told by professionals is that there is an Extremely high comorbidity of Aspergers with OCD-which to me makes total sense. Being an aspie myself and being around bipolar people when they are manic, I would say that the preoccupational interests of aspies is really not like bipolar mania but more like OCD.Many bipolar folks can be scatterbrained when they're manic-almost like people with ADD only more extreme.

Yeah, I found out that an average of 1 in 4 people have suffered a mental illness in their lifetime (or maybe it's just us Brits- I got it from a British source).

Noetic Wrote:

Ziyaret Wrote:

Not AS?! You've gotta be kidding me!! I seriously doubt AS is as common as bipolar.Every professional attests that such types of developmental disorders are much rarer than mood disorders. But if you have proof I'd be delighted to see it.

Not AS but the whole autistic spectrum. Get it now?

The NAS has released statistics that indicate around 30% (as I corrected before) of people on the Autistic Spectrum have some degree of Bipolar.

What does this have to do with AS being "as common as bipolar"?

I believe I have some degree of Bipolar/Borderline or whatever, perhaps just mildly, and it might just be from my Black-and-white thinking tendencies... But I believe Asperger's can also cause identity problems in those who don't know they have it (even some who do know, probably) and therefore growing up undiagnosed is likely to lead to Bipolar tendencies, or at least inconsistencies in personality/mood.

So AS and Bipolar disorder are related? I have an aunt who has pretty heavy Borderline and Bipolar disorder, she was put in a mental hospital on various occassions and she can really go nuts (believe me I've seen it happen). My family has always been a bit 'odd', I believe my mother thinks that her father had AS. I think my grandma has some sort of paranoid/anxiety disorder (never diagnosed but becomes awfully clear when you get to know her). I'm not surprised anymore that I (probably) have Asperger's.

Well, in my view, I feel that it could be linked because of all the isolation we may face but I still don't believe that a mental illness can be genetic. I can understand inheriting it from living with a family member but i don't really understand how it can be genetic.

Maybe I should take a closer look at some of these posts. Very interesting.

I wonder if any psychologists are interested in Tim's supposed autism/bpd

likedcalico Wrote:

M Wrote:

No, no, no. I met someone who I think was Johnny Depp. He asked me if I had Asperger's. I was really shocked. He said that he had worked with Tim Burton. He said it was a great experience for him and that Tim Burton had Asperger's. He appreciated people with Asperger's.

Oh I love Johnny Depp. I have heard he had AS too but I'm not sure or not. You should have asked him if he has it or not. Why did he ask you? Maybe because you were showing the same characteristics Tim showed. Only people online have asked if I have AS because of my stories I wrote.

No, he doesn't have it. He most certainly has ADHD though, the guy was terrible in school and incredibly creative but not socially stunted.

nyanchan Wrote:

Natalie Wrote:

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas + Edward Scissorhands = Instant respect for Johnny Depp.

Yeah Johnny Depp's my favourite actor. And Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam are definitely both up on my list of top five favourite directors.

(And I was so frustrated watching "Lost in La Mancha" because that looked like it would have been such a cool movie, eh? -- off topic. Excuse me.)

Bottom line: Depp, Burton, Gilliam -- all cool.

You and I have a lot of common interests, nyanchan.

Too bad you live on the other side of the world, for me.

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