Tech Billionaire Elon Musk, Tesla and Space X Founder, is always in news for his futuristic ventures and statements. Be it about Electric Cars, Travel to Mars or Cryptocurrencies. But a few days ago Elon announced while hosting the US comedy sketch how Saturday Night Live that he has Asperger’s syndrome.
“I’m actually making history tonight as the first person with Asperger’s to host SNL … or at least the first to admit it,” the Tesla CEO said during the opening monologue of the show.
This was reportedly the first time Musk has publicly spoken about having this mild form of autism.
So, what is Asperger’s Syndrome?
Clinical Psychologist, Ruchika Mehta, says “People with Asperger often focus obsessively on a complex topic and have trouble with social relationships.”
The disorder is named after German doctor Hans Asperger, who first described it in 1944.
It belongs to the autism spectrum, a family of conditions, which can severely inhibit a person’s mental and social development.
Doctors used to think of Asperger’s as a separate condition. But in 2013, mental health experts defined it not as a diagnosis on its own. It is now part of a broader category called Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This group of related mental health issues shares some symptoms. Even so, lots of people still use the term Asperger’s.
The condition is what doctors call a “high-functioning” type of ASD. This means the symptoms are less severe than other kinds of autism disorders.
The DSM-5 also includes a new diagnosis, called social pragmatic communication disorder, which has some symptoms that overlap with Asperger’s. Doctors use it to describe people who have trouble talking and writing, but have normal intelligence.
According to Elon Musk you meet someone who has you might notice two things right off. They’re just as smart as other folks, but they have more trouble with social skills. They also tend to have an obsessive focus on one topic or perform the same behaviors again and again.
On the show, Musk also joked about his controversial tweets. “Look I know I sometimes say or post strange things, but that’s just how my brain works,” he said.
“To anyone who’s been offended, I just want to say I reinvented electric cars, and I’m sending people to Mars in a rocket ship,” said the SpaceX founder.
“Did you think I was also going to be a chill, normal dude?”
He was accompanied by his mother, model Maye Musk, who also joined him on stage to talk about what her entrepreneur son was like when he was 12.
This is good news for us cause when Influencers and CEOs come out in the open and talk about their mental health issues or problems; we too are encouraged to take baby steps in the direction. Often times families or the person suffering from any kind of mental illness even refuse to acknowledge the problem. Unfortunately, overtime, the illness escalates into a bigger problem.