(article) Affective Deprivation Disorder: Does it Constitute a Relational Disorder?

[Guest guest]

Is AS a gift or a curse? Few topics seem to be as controversial in the

neurodiversity community as this question.

In my experience, that question can be tame stuff. I personally find any

discussion of the CADD behavioral dynamic in AS/NT relationships to be

far more controversial. Of all the topics that have a tendency to stir

the AS community, this one seems to get the most knees jerking.

I myself have been in two long-term relationships where the CADD

behavioral dynamic existed. I don't much care whether the syndrome has

been officially blessed by the DSM or not. I've experienced the emotions

from both sides of the fence, and know that AS is not a requirement for

the phenomenon to be present.

This article is not new, yet it's new to me. If you are interested in

CADD, you may want to take a look. What I especially like about this

article is that it stresses the role that *both* parties play in the

development and treatment of this destructive relationship dynamic.

Excerpt:

" Unfortunately, Maxine Aston’s earlier development of the concept was

misconstrued by AS/autism advocates to mean that AS-individuals caused

individual psychiatric disorders in loved ones, independent of the loved

one’s contribution to the relational interaction. Some AS/autism

advocates have interpreted these earlier concepts as blaming the partner

with the neuro-developmental difference for harming the non-AS partner

who is perceived as being blameless. In their view, the term reflects a

prejudice against those with such differences; however, this perspective

does not acknowledge the very real deficits which exist and must be

addressed. Aston later broadened the diagnostic scope and applicability

from CADD which applied to AS to include all relational disorders in

which low emotional intelligence (EI) or alexithymia contributed to the

relational dysfunction, labelling these conditions Affective Deprivation

Disorder (AfDD). Affective Deprivation Disorder results from a

relationship in which emotional needs are chronically unmet creating a

sense of emotional deprivation. This in no way should be taken to mean

that either partner is actively or deliberately depriving the other. The

deprivation is created by the fact that the partners are emotionally out

of sync and it is overly simplistic to say that one partner causes the

deprivation of the other. Instead, the reality is that each partner may

contribute to the dysfunction in different degrees. While the relational

difficulties may have originated from one partner’s emotional

constraints, the other partner’s reaction may exacerbate the tension

leading to defensiveness and creating a spiralling effect. For instance,

the non-alexithymic partner’s reactivity can affect the alexithymic

individual potentially creating anxiety attacks, anger, or distressing

physical symptoms just as the alexithymic individual has been shown to

impact the non-alexithymic partner. "

more...

Affective Deprivation Disorder: Does it Constitute a Relational Disorder?

http://affectivedeprivation.blogspot.com/

Enjoy (or not),

~CJ

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress,

you are still way ahead of everyone who isn't trying.