Suicide?

I saw this film last night and enjoyed it very much. However I doubt very much that Gould had Aspergers. The moving interiews with his long time love and her two young children make it crystal clear that Gould's relationship with them was far from superficial and distant. I can't image some one with Aspergers being able to have such intimate and caring relationships as the hallmark of the disorder is a serious disturbances in close relationships.

Rather I think Gould suffered from serious obsessive compulsive disorder, compounded by depression and possibly a personality disorder. His compulsive preoccupation with his health, somatization tendencies, his paranoia, and his excessive need for control all point to this.

Also, the idea that he committed suicide and didn't die from stroke related problems is ridiculous. Do you think he faked several severe strokes, to die sometime later from their complications, and was able to disguise his suicide?

It is obvious that Gould was either abused by his parents as a child or was sexually abused by someone other than his parents and his parents knew but did nothing. This trauma and betrayal causes life long effects. It is also obvious that his parents never gave him support or validation. No wonder Gould was adamant about not having them at his wedding if he were to have one. It also explains his lack of trust in people to the extreme of giving up the concert stage where he could be immediately 'judged'. Child abuse survivors are often misdiagnosed as having Asperger's, ADD etc. I find it especially moving to hear Gould play the works of Beethoven who was another abused child.