Aspergers--The Most Underdiagnosed Disorder?

What is the most underdiagnosed psychological disorder?  Twenty years ago, I would have said that it was Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.  However, public awareness of that problem has grown.  And I wouldn't say it is depression.  Both ADHD and depression can respond somewhat to medication, which has been an incentive for drug companies to spend considerable resources on public education through the TV and other means.

Right now, I would say that the most underdiagnosed disorder is Asperger's Disorder.  Considered by many to be a high functioning type of autism, it can cause major problems in a person's life.  But most of the time, the problems are simply attributed to being an odd personality.  Or the person gets a diagnosis, but it only captures part of the person's problem, such as the ADHD component, the anger, the depression, etc.

Asperger's Disorder is mostly a problem with social communication.  It inhibits the persons ability to communicate with others of their age group.  They usually lack the social skills to easily interact.  If they are told to "just be themselves," they don't know what that means.  Social skills have to be learned step by step with someone to instruct them. 

Persons with AD often have some unusual sensory integration problems, what I refer to as "sensory hypersensitivities."  They may have difficulty with certain foods, certain sounds, loud noises, strong light, and so on.  Aspergers children often avoid certain foods, not because they taste bad, but because the texture of them looks "yucky" or "nasty", or because the texture of the food feels bad in their mouth.

Often AD children have a particular area of interest which is unusual in either its focus or the amount of time they spend on it.  They may focus on a typical area of childhood interest, such as cars, but be more knowledgeable than most adults about the area.  Or they may focus on an area which is not typical for children, such as learning a certain foreign language.

Persons with AD are often withdrawn, preferring their own company to being in a group. They can do quite well at tasks which involve taking things apart and putting things together, but they do not do well with interpersonal tasks.  Children with AD generally prefer the company of adults, where more objective, less emotional communication is the norm, or the company of younger children.  They generally do not make friends easily with children of the same age.

Sometimes, but not always, they have an aversion to being touched.  This can cause great distress to their parents, who may wonder if they did something wrong to cause this.

There is much more that could be said about Asperger's than I can put in this one single column.  And there are many good resources on the web.  The best place to start, if you suspect that you have if or a family member has it, would be looking at the DSM-IV criteria for it.  DSM-5 criteria will take effect in a couple of years.  Asperger's Disorder will probably be renamed Autism Spectrum Disorder at that time, and it will be somewhat more difficult to be diagnosed, based on those criteria.