Benzodiazepines & Autism - a common link with anxiety?

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Just saw this article released earlier this year
http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... at-autism/

I believe that the more social-reclusive aspects of ASD has a similar root to that of anxiety.
I especially believe this because there are several individuals with ASD who are very active socially and lack the anxiety component (which I doubt is a coincidence).
And at the same time, quite a lot of people, who don't have problems with sensory-overload or non-verbal cues, seem to be very reclusive also.

Benzodiazepines [referred to in the article] seem to be quite potent in reducing anxiety behaviours, but then again a lot of people say a tolerance builds up over time. Could people with severe anxiety be the exempt from this tolerance problem?

No.

I take lorazepam to supress panic attacks. It's very effective. I take a very small dose and only when it gets bad. (this means a very small dose less often than once a month--this is highly effective for me) Withdrawal from sustained, regular use can be horrific. Don't mess with the use of benzos in any way that might start creating a tolerance problem.

For general anxiety, meditation and exercise are better than drugs, in my experience.

I Googled "autism and benzos" and depressingly, got a list of hits about how it "lessens the severity" of autism. Well, yes - just like being drunk or stoned would do. God, how dismal - "give them these pills to make them easier to deal with." Vile. I was googling this because I am tapering my benzo dose, after a year in which my more-sensible usage decayed into addiction, due to a break-up. Nine months after the break-up, I realised I had not got much better. Took me only slightly longer to realise the increasing doses of benzos were slowing the healing process. And into the bargain, making me very seriously suicidal.

Now I am coming off and it is very hard. I feel woolly-headed and exhausted and I get rage and insomnia and bad dreams - not all the time but enough to make life pretty grey. And I have all my other mental health stuff to deal with.

Benzos are like magic, when you're anxious - they dissolve you into a warm glow, a haze of peace. All your worries retreat into the distance. Keep taking them, though, and you'll go to pieces. It's awful. It is not worth it. Really, really, really not worth it. I am not anti-pharma but these things are a monkey on your back - a vicious, sadistic, flesh-eating monkey.

Don't. Please. I could have easily killed myself under the influence of these things. Now I have the battle of getting rid of them. Please, please don't start with them.

I am so sorry to hear you are going through this.

I researched them when my doctor proposed using them to treat my panic attacks, and read many accounts of experiences like yours, so I have never taken them as a "maintenance" drug, despite my doctor's advice to take a daily dose.

I take them only when the panic begins to curtail my ability to function, and one pill is usually sufficient to knock down the intense anxiety. So far, no negative side effects from this approach.

I think of them as being in the same category as the powerful steroids (prednisone) I sometimes take to treat my asthma: they are a lifesaver when used appropriately in an emergency context, but potentially lethal over time with horrendous effects.

Good luck coming off the benzos. I have read many accounts from people who have won that battle, though they experienced several years of living hell fighting it.

I take a low dose three times daily, and my ability to function has improved tremendously. Not all my anxiety is autism based, but it reduces sensory issues for me also.

At 0.5 mg, I'm not stoned or feeling sedated at all. I don't take it on my "off" days(staying home), and no withdrawal that I notice.

I took Klonopin a couple times a day years ago for a tremor disorder & after awhile I quit noticing any effects on it. I weaned myself off after being on it for over a year & I had no withdrawal problems. After being off it for years, I started taking it occasionally for anxiety & it helps my anxiety.