Would YOU take medication that "cured" autism?

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This is basically scaremongering...

Kolch et al. (2010, NERVENHEILKUNDE, 29(7-8 ): 451-455) found that there was no evidence for any connection between SSRIs and school shootings. This is unsurprising- school shootings are very rare. They also found that "aggressive tendencies are no contraindication (reason not to take) for antidepressant medication but they should lead to careful monitoring of these patients."

That is the only study accessible through the Web Of Science database on this matter. I would suggest that anyone who hasn't read the translated abstract has not done their research.

There was an antidepressant that made young people more likely to commit suicide, but it has thankfully been pulled.

As for long lists of side effects, there is a legal obligation to list anything reported by anyone, regardless of whether there's actually an increased incidence of that side effect.

Pharmaceutical companies do some very bad things (the aforementioned "suicide pill" is probably the worst of many), but if you criticise them for things that aren't based in fact then you undermine the very real criticisms that people do make, and you unfairly tarnish a class of medications that have done a great deal of good.

Last edited by The_Walrus on 31 Mar 2014, 1:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Are you definitely sure anti-depressants aren't the cause of school shootings? I'm going on anti-depressants from tomorrow and I live right next door to a primary school......I don't own a gun though......but we do have a sharp knife in the kitchen drawer......I'm scared now.

^
SSRIs absolutely don't cause school shootings.

btw, I take them too, I'm on Cipralex.

But if I did suddenly get the unthinkable going through my mind, would there be any way to resist doing it?

Well, I'm not sure what goes through someone's mind when they do something like that or how strong the urge would be. If you had serious homicidal thoughts and urges you could go to the emergency room of a hospital and tell them you're concerned about your mental health and think you might be a threat to others. If they agree you might be a threat to others then they'll put you in a psych ward for a 72 hour psychiatric watch. You can do the same thing if you're suicidal because then you're a danger to yourself.

I honestly do not know if I would take a med to cure Autism. There would be pros and cons to both sides so I would have to really think it through. And I feel like it would make me a very different person if I did so I don't know if I would like that so much.

YES!

Because Autism is so complicated it seems daunting to impossible that there can be a cure for it. But I have seen so many things that were impossible come to fruition it would not shock me to see one even in my lifetime.

I am pro choice in the matter but I do fear a cure for the reasons lenini056 mentioned. We are seen as weird and oddballs now. The act of refusing a cure will be seen as an act of insanity. It will be seen as deliberately choosing to not have friends and a career and further burdening people. This will be incomprehensible to most non autistic s so it will anger them. Health insurance rates for refusenicks may skyrocket, those that refuse may be denied jobs and services and will be victims of hate crimes. It would not surprise me if laws are passed mandating you must take the cure. Beyond a cure if research finds a way to predict who will be born autistic like with down syndrome currently, most autistic fetuses will be aborted and in some countries this will be mandated.

Despite my fears I am for people getting a cure if they want it. It would hypocritical for me to ask for a choice to refuse a cure while not being in favor of giving a choice of those who want it. I do not have your autism and thus should not judge your choice of what you want to do to your mind and body. And I hopefully will be mistaken in my beliefs about how people who refuse a cure will be treated




As for myself I would refuse a cure for autism. As a pervasive condition a cure would fundamentally alter me in unpredictable ways. Even with “normal” ability to adjust to change that degree of change I would find problematic.

As far as cures for specific parts of my autism it depends. Any cure for the way I think such making me prefer interaction with large groups, small talk I will refuse. While these differences cause me great disadvantage they are not wrong. The world needs alternative thinking now more then ever.

I would have to seriously consider taking a cure for Executive Dysfunction. I understand that hyperfocus is very useful for some but for me it has mostly kept me from doing things I both need to do and want to do. I can always relearn at least some of it. Resistance to change has also done me much more harm then good. I see nothing but negatives in my lack of ability to plan and organize, and multitask.

I would not take a cure for sensory sensitivities. Mine are very mild so it is just not worth the risk.

In the US, I think a cure would be deemed experimental and not covered by insurance or Medicaid or Medicare in most cases.

In a heartbeat.

If that treatment that was mentioned here recently, the one that made us NTish for about a month, was available I'd even jump at that temporary experience. Then at least I'd know what it's like.

Joe, I don't think you are the type of person who is going to just murder little innocent kids. But if you ever feel like you have strange paranoias or urges. like the other poster said, please go immediately to an emergency room or call 911 and get help. I know people on antidepressants who do just fine and never have these issues. But everyone is an individual so if you find that you have stronger reactions to them than is normal do get help right away and don't be afraid to get help. But as far as what I know of you from reading your posts, you don't strike me at all as someone who would hurt a child.

After I am cured of my autism I can start to bully the autistics that refuse the cure.

I do dislike children, particularly toddlers. But I would want to hurt one, and if I saw a toddler running into the road about to get killed or something, my first intention would be to save the child from the freak accident. Like I said, I live right next door to a primary school, and I do have attacks of anger, but the thought of running next door and murdering innocent children never, ever crosses my mind, even if I am really angry. I get a different sort of anger, not the type of anger where I want to hurt people. My mum says she is never scared of leaving a knife out, even when I am having an outburst. So I don't think that murdering is in me at all.

Little kids can definitely be annoying. And I can't imagine anyone who has not had a kid get on his or her nerves. I know I have wanted to pull my hair out around them sometimes. But I know you would never hurt one. And the fact that you have been living next door to a preschool and you haven't lost your mind yet is proof that you should do fine. I think you are probably stronger than you know. But we'll be here for you to support you.

I'd be interested in learning about it, certainly.

I probably would at least try it if it had no, or next to no, side effects, was not cost prohibitive, etc., And would be far less likely to try it if it were expensive and/or did have serious side effects.



Can you define what you mean by a cure? Since I am unable to formulate what exactly a cure for autism would look like, I don't think I can answer this question. Do you mean something that would remove an individual from meeting the DSM 5 definition of autism? If so, I guess it is possible. Possibly even desirable. But I'd need to find out more in the way of specifics before committing myself.





I think it is far more likely that someday something will be discovered akin to the way likelihood of Down Syndrome is presently identified. And that the treatment as such would be to abort. Our "friends" at Autism Speaks sure seem to think that's the way to go, as best I can figure.



For better or worse, this does not apply to me. But I'm a bit confused why it is even included. After all, if someone is "making valuable contributions to society" but is still miserable and lonely most of the time, why shouldn't they look into some sort of cure?

NO WAY IN HELL!! !
1) I like my kidneys and liver just the way they are.
2) Over the years I have somehow surrounded myself with other delightful freakazoids - I would lose currency amongst my peer group if I was cured. It would actually be a social setback for me. I am well regarded by some just on the basis of my idiosyncratic character. When I'm not hating on myself, I often amaze myself with how awesome I can be.
3) My autistic nature gives me an EDGE in my chosen field of art and music. Why would I throw that away??
4) I have a brain that can entertain all kinds of notions, notions I don't even have to agree with. If I was normalised, I'd just be another normal person with normal ideas and opinions, and that stuff is hell boring. I like my place at the tail end of the Bell Curve. The peak is too crowded.