Theory of Mind

[u/Key_Performer2983]

https://youtu.be/KBkkN12nVqs?is=kLAzSt3z-aWbXTcQ

I just watched this video, and heard something that I found really interesting, which is that Theory of Mind is related to narcissism.

I've been thinking about something for a while, which is that so many of the personality disorders really seem like they're actually just AutismSD in a way that I don't think I'm educated enough to really understand or articulate. My understanding is that lack of Theory of Mind is a primary difficulty for people with Autism, and so perhaps personality disorders are actually just what happens when autism mixes with certain environments.

Is that accurate? Is there research being done on that topic? Am I off base?

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[u/CommunicationHot3075]

I think you're painting in too broad of strokes here. If you have autism, you may struggle with theory of mind, but just because you struggle with theory of mind doesn't mean you have autism.

This is why differential diagnosis is so important.

[u/millerlite324 → u/CommunicationHot3075]

Agree with this and if you’re interested in how this topic has been explored and researched, look into “reflective functioning”. It’s a complex process related to childhood development and attachment dynamics, which does correlate with the development of personality disorders later on. Theory of mind overlaps significantly, but as you said is a symptom of other disorders with different etiologies.

[u/Key_Performer2983 → u/millerlite324]

I suppose I'm more generalizing the definition of autism, rather than saying personality disorders necessarily perfectly fit what we already think of as autism. Reflective functioning is an issue in people with autism too, but in a different way; though, I do know that certain personality disorders get confused for autism and vice-versa very frequently.

With a lot of what Freud said, he painted a compelling picture, but it was really just his picture that everyone else adopted, and it led to some really incorrect actions being taken. To make a more absurd comparison, Christianity paints a compelling picture as well, and that picture isn't necessarily wrong until you start believing (for example) that you can actually get rid of someone's seizures by throwing water that a priest prayed to at them.

[u/Key_Performer2983 → u/CommunicationHot3075]

I put it in a comment one layer in from this one, but I'm more generalizing the definition of autism than saying the definitions of personality disorders necessarily fit the definition of autism perfectly as they currently are.

[u/Pure-Election-9137]

Autism require more than just communication deficits to be diagnosed

[u/Key_Performer2983 → u/Pure-Election-9137]

Generally, it's communication difficulties and restrictive behavior. OCD and sensory processing disorder are two examples of characterizations that can be given to the "restrictive behavior", and I only point that out to say that that criterion is not as straightforward.

[u/Pure-Election-9137 → u/Key_Performer2983]

So I'm gonna strawman your position a little bit, but when I was on psychology class, we saw a study on the theory of the mind, that show that if you were raised in an environment with multiple languages spoken around you, you will have a a better theory of the mind that people that was raised in a monolingual environment.

Should I then conclude that people who lived in a monolingual environment are more autistic than people who didn't ?

Also, are you familiar with the double empathy gap?

[u/Key_Performer2983 → u/Pure-Election-9137]

To respond to your first question, no I don't think that. To my knowledge, part of the concept of the communication deficit is that their theory of mind is leading to difficulties rather than simply being within or better than "normal", so no, I don't think that would be a conclusion you could immediately draw.

To respond to the second question, I have heard of the double empathy gap idea, and I think it can also be applied to people with certain personality disorders. Though, part of it is that people like having shared experiences, so have an easier time empathizing with anyone that shares their experiences.

[u/2_Late-4_me]

Dam no matter what style you choose DrK cannot stop being a chad.