Pros and cons to diagnosis/medication as an adult?

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I'm 25 and have never been diagnosed. I'm happily married with a kid and a good job. I think I probably only have a mild case of Asperger's; my main problems are social situations, 1 on 1 conversation, eye contact, going into unfamiliar or unplanned situations, leaving the house, and so on.

Lately my wife has been bugging me that I should get some "help", i.e. medication. I have mixed feelings about medication, because I like some of my traits, such as the ability to focus on a complex task (computer programming) for long periods of time.

I'm not sure what the ratio of teens to adults is here, but are there any adults out there that have any more info on the pros and cons of getting diagnosed and prescribed something? How does it help, and what does it change about you?

Solstice,

I am not going to answer your question right now but I do have a comment.

Have you discussed with your wife exactly what the issues are. It seems that she may be the only person with issues about you and it may not be advantagous to medicate just to please her. There may be other ways to work around the issues.

It may come out that you may get a diagnosis only to find that there is no way to medicate away the issues. It could be that the medication does not work at all or the medication has such bad side effects that it does not have any theriputic value.

There is also the issue of the medication changing you so much that you are not the person your wife married at all. You said it in your post that there are certain traits that should not be surpressed and sometimes you cannot pick and choose.

With all that said, I would not rule out medication either if it will help the issues without affecting your health or some of the good traits of your personality. That is something that should be discussed with your wife and doctor.

Thanks. My wife does know about all my problems, she is about the only person I can talk to about it. I think she feels I should just be more "normal", she absolutely can't understand what it's like no matter how hard I try to explain it.

I really am wondering if there are any success stories from those that are getting a benefit from medication, and if they can describe what it is like. I would never stay on something if it had bad side effects or changed any of my good traits. I am just not sure if it is worth the trouble of going to a doctor or not.

Asperger's Syndrome is genetic, so you will not be able to cure the underlying cause of most AS traits. Medications exist for things like depression, ADD, and sleeping problems, and various other conditions that are often related to Asperger's Syndrome, though. I believe there may be medications for social anxiety as well, if that is a source of your problems in social situations.

I can't think of any medication that will improve your eye contact. Also, I doubt there's a medication that will instantly improve your communication skills in conversations, although some drugs will possibly make you feel less reserved if that is a problem.

You can't expect for a pill to alter your basic motivations or personality traits. If you like spending time at home, you like spending time at home. If you dislike social situations, you're not suddenly going to be motivated to go out and meet people. If you like to plan things out, a pill isn't likely to make you more whimsical.

The purpose of medications is generally to help you overcome a problem that is having an overtly negative effect on your life and inhibiting your ability to function in some way. They aren't normally used to alter a person's quirks or personality traits that don't significantly inhibit functioning.

[solstice
Butterfly
Joined: Feb 24, 2005
Posts: 14
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

I am just not sure if it is worth
the trouble of going to a doctor or not.]

What I am reading into this is she
is trying rewire what is already wired
for either your own good(AS/HFA is lifelong)
or her own sanity(believeing that a NT can
come from this). But who is she trying
to please?

HMMM?

•herself and your personality is 2nd best?
•You? and looking out for your better
interest?

I don't know much about how you meet.
She sounds like a NT and maybe doesn't
realize the dangers of be "rewired" for
others desires when you have this wiring
lifelong and if she left you, you are still
stuck with yourself and your conscious.

This is all that comes to mind, and please
don't take offense if I seem rude.

Hopefully someone who is on meds will give some insight. I've never taken any type of mental prescription drug so I have no idea what they do to you. I am most certainly leaning away from them.

She is only trying to help and doesn't have any other agenda, she probably thinks it can be fixed by a magic pill since I think she had some good results on anti-depressants years ago.

I'm also curious, if you've been diagnosed what was the reason for going through that hassle? Anyone other than a kid get diagnosed for a reason other than needing meds?

[solstice
Butterfly
Joined: Feb 24, 2005
Posts: 15
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

I'm also curious, if you've been
diagnosed what was the reason
for going through that hassle?
Anyone other than a kid get
diagnosed for a reason other
than needing meds?]

The point of a adult diagnoses is
for the adult to understand how
they interact. This is of course
my opionion.

With childern and adolesence,
it is to possibly save them from
20+ more years of mystery in
who they are and how & why
they behave.

It is the Pharmacudical companies
supporting doctors so they have
future clientel. Autism is lifelong
wiring, not depression(though
that becomes one of it's side effects
being I-Physically isolated from others).
Awareness is always key, and catching
it early is for the betterment of the young.
and wisdom for the older.

Sincerely,
Ghosthunter

Negatives to dx are things like a permanent public record as 'defective'. It differs from country to country, but can exclude you from some employment fields, particularly armed services/police, could possibly affect health insurance cover. Since it's genetic, it's possible some of your kids may have it, so it can stigmatise your children, if it becomes known. It's a bit like being gay, sometimes it can be to your advantage to keep it quiet and just let people think you're unusual.

You could try your GP, they should be able to prescribe the more commonly used antidepressants and 'stress' pills, in this country anyway, I don't know about the US.

I only tried one, (due to family pressure) "can't you just take a pill, or something?", which was Zoloft (a common antidepressant, like Prozac) and it made me manic, also made my heart race, so I stopped it immediately. My family seemed to like me better but I felt it was dangerous to continue. I tried 'Wellbutrin" to stop smoking (an older-style antidepressant) but it gave me chronic insomnia and paranoiia, ugh, so I don't think I can use meds. They all have side effects = there's some very good meds user sites around where people post comments/feedback on various pharmaceuticals.

I am in the process of beeing diagnosed. It will help me understand the past, so i'll be able to go forward in my life. I've been medicated for depression and i tried several AD. As some other said here, no medication will change the basic personality you have, it will work on specific colateral things like depression, social anxiety etc...

But even that said, i found some AD (celexa) were a bit too 'intrusive'. When i started to take that, it change the way i reacted to external stimuli, it changed the way i compute thoughts, it was like if someone else was moving in, in my head. That was the main reason i stop it. I was no longer myself but the initial problems were still there (and some other new ).

In my case, AD had changed my personality, but not in the way she seems to expect (AS -> NT). On medication, i was someone else, but still autistic, still a social wreck, and still depressive (because i was still on the looser side). This may not apply to you but don't expect you'll become an NT with those pills. However, they may still help you in some specific area. Temple Grandin, for exemple, found a lot of benefit in Prozac.

Just so you know... I'm 31, and didn't knew about AS until about 8 or 9 months ago. However everything I've read and researched about AS since then has taught me I have finally found the root cause to my childhood / adolescence / adult problems in life. I have yet to get an official diagnosis but I have mixed feelings about that, specially if that means being told what I already know about myself.

I've never been dependent on drugs (other than coffee and tea), and it is a common motto on my family that pills don't solve mind problems. So I've never taken Prozac, Zoloft or any of those pills just to get by, and I don't think I need them (now, if there was a pill to inhibit shyness to declare yourself to girls... now there's a market)

I must admit my mother has been a strong influence on me - she has helped me a lot on my (frequent) weak moments with lots of advice and conversation, and has become an AS connoisseur along with yours truly. I think that kind of support in life is much better than any drug you can find. Were it not for her, I don't know where I would be right now... I'd still be skeptical of medications, though.

I guess it depends on the medication and who is taking it. Sometimes it helps, sometimes not. Right now I am going the "increased physical activity route" because it's natural.

I always grew immune to the drugs and had to deal with the side effects.
Just get comfortable in your skin.

dont, they are evil, they will shredd your mind body and its an instant trip to the nut house. you will not be believed about any side effects or adverse reactions or know will be told about withdrawal or tolerance withdrawal. They can destroy your identity and leave your bereft of the slightest facaculty. You want help for some issue see a qualified naturopath/homeopath/traditional chinese medical practioncinor and a as qualified therapist..
Natural methods work, petrochemical sludge brings death.