Expert: Paul Johnson - 3/24/2011

Question
Hi
I would like to know if paranoia is part of asperger syndrome. I had a hard time all through middle school and high school. I feel like everyone in my town hates me even though I never hurt anyone .I now think that my former high school peers and bullies are plotting or conspiring to do me harm. I don't see or talk to these people much or at all anymore.
Are there any suggestions for this? I am seeing both a therapist and a psychiatrist as well.

Answer
Hey Jason,

Thank you for your thought provoking question.

As you may know, Asperger's Syndrome is thought by many Psychiatrist to be co-morbid with many other psychological disorders. I have even written a seminal essay that ties all functional levels of Autism with anxiety. We are commonly thought to also possess high rates of depression as well. Some look at our repetitive and special interest activities and liken it to traits of Obsessive-Compulsive disorder.

Nowhere in the literature, that I am familiar with, is there any association with Autism and paranoia. Paranoia in many professional eyes are closely related to psychosis. And Schizophrenia is a type of psychosis that we are often also thought to be co-morbid with. Our way of thinking is so unfamiliar to those around us that we are though to be often out of touch with reality. Reality has a component that requires not only group compliance but a social ability to express such thoughts/sentiments. These are two qualities that we do worse.

Okay so much for the foreshadowing. Now to address your question. The word Autism is Greek for self. We are self oriented, as such, we use thoughts and concepts to create our reality and sensibilities. However without expressing these thoughts socially with others we are at the risk of our thoughts being not firmly attached to "conventional wisdom". So if somebody truly is conspiring against you, how would you know? You would best need to see how "real" your thoughts are by testing it against others' thinking. Without this test you are left to running these thoughts through your mind over and over until your standard of truth is all that is left.

Here is an analogy. The owners manual on your car states that you should change your oil every few thousand miles. The risk you run by not adhering to this policy is that your auto engine would bog down under the currency of oil that has become sludgy. This is how our minds work. We run thoughts in our minds thousands of times until we bog down.

As a therapist I would advise my client to learn to do cognitive restructuring and I would interject more objective reality thoughts. Try suggesting this with your therapist.