Born 2b me

Can Medication or Therapy Fix Anxiety for Aspies?

16 May 2011 15 Comments

by Bruce (born 2b me) in Asperger's, Asperger's Syndrome, autism, burnout Tags: anxiety, Asperger's, Asperger's Syndrome, autism, Social Anxiety

Sorry, I can’t hear what you are saying!!

Caveat.

I wouldn’t want to undermine anyone’s confidence in their medications or their therapist, so please stick with what works for you. As in my earlier post entitled “Asperger’s without Social Anxiety?” I am only sharing my own preliminary thoughts (hopefully as a conversation starter), and I make no claim to expertise.

Fear of flying.

It seems that if someone has a scary flying experience, or becomes overly aware of some plane crashes, or picks up on the fear of others, they may learn to fear flying. I believe this type of fear can usually be remedied with Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Systematic Desensitization, and medications. There do seem to be good success rates for courses of therapy (and meds) designed to cure fear of flying.

Fear of Socializing.

The same approach (CBT, SD, and meds), should work equally well for simple learned fear of socializing, namely “normal” Social Anxiety. A learned fear of elevators could be similarly treated.

Fear of bumping into trees when blind.

However if a person is blind and has developed a fear of bumping into trees, the above treatment protocol will not restore their sight. It may give them more confidence to go out and risk an encounter with a tree, but it won’t give them any more ability to see the tree. I think you can guess where I’m going with this….

Fears experienced by Aspies/auties.

My layman’s theory is that Aspie/autie brains are wired in a way that causes excessive levels of anxiety. Perhaps even the brain’s biochemical environment is conducive to overactivity. I think our brains are just naturally extremely active, and therefore always more highly stressed and anxious than neurotypical brains.

Also, an overactive, stressed brain will be less able to process incoming information from a social encounter, at the speed of the encounter. Hence, social encounters will be stressful. I often find myself not looking at the person with whom I am interacting because I prefer to gaze on a blank surface while processing the words I have just heard. This reduces the amount of information I need to think about. So I don’t even see the non-verbal signals to begin with.

I also think our brains’ peculiar wiring or chemistry may account for some of the difficulties in reading the non-verbal components that make up seventy-to-ninety-five percent of communication emanating from neurotypicals.

Do therapy and meds work?

I think learning some coping strategies, such as taking breaks from social situations in order to recoup, may be beneficial. And Cognitive Behavioural Therapy may help a person accept their Aspieness, and feel better about themselves, as a result of reframing or countering their negative self-image. It may also help them to give themselves permission to take the needed breaks without feeling bad about it.

My guess is that therapy and meds may have their benefits, but they won’t fix the wiring. They may teach me, or help me, to better navigate through the trees, but will they make my blind eyes see?

Let me “fix” you.

I would be wary of any therapist whose attitude is to dismiss the realities of Asperger’s/autism and whose goal is to “fix” me or make me more “normal.” I no longer want help to be more ”normal.” I may appreciate coaching to be the very best Aspie that I can possibly be. But more “normal”? No thanks, I’d rather be me! (But more about “passing” in my next post in this series.)

My experience with Ativan.

I have tried prescription Ativan for generalized anxiety and social anxiety. It does seem to help me to relax a bit. But I am tapering off Ativan, as I no longer wish to be on it. My doctor says there are better meds for Social Anxiety, but hope to try without meds. If I can’t cope, then I will reconsider meds.

I think it is possible that Ativan may help me to converse more in social situations, and to be less anxious, but I doubt it has any real influence on my ability to send or receive the non-verbal components of communication. In other words, it doesn’t cure Asperger’s!

It is possible that the overall relaxing effect may slow my brain, and therefore let it absorb and process a bit more of the social encounter, but I’m really not sure of this. I asked my wife if she had noticed any “improvement” in my socializing, and she hadn’t noticed any.

So I suspect, for me, the net result from Ativan is that, although I may sometimes talk a little more, I may not communicate any better. I am just not as concerned about my performance. I don’t do as well as I ”should,” but the meds relax me a bit, and help me to feel less bothered by my quality of socializing. However, I can see how, for me, an increase in quantity may well be considered an improvement! (Unless, of course, I am relaxing  with a family member, and I am on a roll with a special interest of mine then they may prefer less!)

(Ativan, aka Lorazepam, impacts memory (anterograde amnesia), and is addictive, so be careful if you are considering it.)

The best “treatment” I know.

Simply accepting my own Aspieness is the most relaxing therapy or “medication” that I know! I learned to do this, in the past few months, by participating in this Aspie/autie blogging community. Discovering that I may well be Aspie, and recognizing and accepting that I need to take breaks from social situations, even from my own family, and doing so without the former guilt and shame, has been a great stress reducer. And it has actually enabled me to do more, and be happier.

Please share your thoughts.

I came to Asperger’s a few months ago at sixty-five years. My experience with meds and therapy is very limited, and I have never undertaken any program to learn social skills. So I’m just expressing my very preliminary thinking here. I would love to hear about your thoughts and experiences.

> next post in this series:>> Passing (as “normal”).