Hypomania following bereavement in Asperger's syndrome: a case study

Asperger's syndrome is a subclass of pervasive developmental disorder closely related to childhood autism. Accumulating evidence suggests that individuals with Asperger's syndrome are predisposed to develop comorbid psychopathology during late adolescence or early adulthood. We report the development of hypomania following bereavement in an adult depressed woman with Asperger's syndrome. Neuropsychological assessment uncovered specific deficits in social cognition, executive function. and affective recognition domains suggestive of a combined frontal and right hemisphere dysfunction. These neuropsychological deficits probably contributed to the emergence of hypomania following bereavement and to a limited ability to conceptualize the loss.