Tales from the Couch by Dr. Bob Wendorf

Author:Dr. Bob Wendorf
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Carrel Books
Published: 2015-04-05T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

Elvis and Asperger’s

THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY FIFTIETH BIRTHDAY, and one of the most touching moments of my career, was to be serenaded by Elvis Presley. In full rhinestone-studded leather jump suit and shades, the King of Rock and Roll sang “Happy Birthday” to me in my office. It wasn’t actually Elvis, of course, but in some ways this impersonator was more remarkable than the real owner of Graceland. For this Elvis was my long-time and presumably permanent patient Donald, and Donald suffers from a little-known psychiatric condition called Asperger’s Disorder. His story is a tale of tragedy and triumph, of a man who has struggled with life and himself and his illness at great cost, but with considerable success.

When I first met Donald I didn’t know he had Asperger’s, but then neither did he, nor his psychiatrist. I’d never heard of Asperger’s, and neither had they. Since then I’ve seen a number of Asperger’s patients and realized a couple of old ones also suffered from this syndrome. Donald was severely depressed and had a history of attempted suicide, which had several times landed him in psychiatric hospitals. He was obsessive-compulsive and as anxious as anyone I’ve ever seen, especially in social situations. He also was easily over-loaded by excessive stimulation, especially noise, and would go into either a panic attack or a sudden episode of rage. He couldn’t drive most places alone and couldn’t handle the freeways at all. With high speeds and multiple lanes there was simply too much happening for him to deal with it all, and he was terrified of having an accident and hurting someone. (Dustin Hoffman’s character in the movie Rain Man also had Asperger’s, I believe, and also feared the Interstates, forcing Tom Cruise’s character to take secondary roads.) Donald worried almost paranoically over comments he’d made years ago, which someone might have found offensive and might yet beat him up about. Donald had been diagnosed with major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, paranoid schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, social phobia, panic disorder, and a raft of other illnesses, but he really didn’t fit the classical picture for any of them. He’d been on anti-psychotics, anti-depressants, and anti-anxiety medications, and we even tried him briefly on Ritalin (for ADHD). When I met him he was still employed, but barely hanging on. To complicate matters even further, Donald also suffered from a form of chronic colitis or irritable bowel syndrome closely resembling Crohn’s Disease. He was subject to bouts of sudden, explosive, and bloody diarrhea, which struck without warning and left him weakened and, often, embarrassed. His illness was exacerbated by stress, and Donald had plenty of that.

Donald was looking for help with stress management, assertiveness training, low self-esteem, and relationship problems. His psychiatrist had put him on medical leave, because he’d gotten so stressed he’d stomped off the line at work, ranting about “kicking someone’s ass.” Ordinarily he’s the mildest, gentlest, most tender-hearted people-pleaser you ever met, but when he gets rattled Donald can curse like a modern comedian.

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