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Psychiatric Medications and Autism

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I have seen an alarming increase in discussion about psychiatric medications "for autism" or for parents' autistic children, as if it is a trivial matter. It is not. As a result, I have written this, which talks about psychiatric... See more » I have seen an alarming increase in discussion about psychiatric medications "for autism" or for parents' autistic children, as if it is a trivial matter. It is not. As a result, I have written this, which talks about psychiatric medications and gives guidelines for their use. My views on this have been discounted as being too extreme or absolute. It is not wrong to have extreme or absolute views, particularly in a matter which affects one personally, and not peripherally (I am autistic; I am not a parent watching an autistic). I have had doctors ask me before, what various psychiatric medications do, and have been consulted with about the use and misuse of such medications. Basically, I have had doctors admit that I know more than they do about the subject. For anyone wondering, here are my "Credentials" for speaking about these things. Note: The terms "meds" and "psych meds" may be used as abbreviations for "medications" and "psychiatric medications" throughout these documents. Since this was originally written directed at parents of autistic children, I have often used the word "child" to apply to the autistic who would be taking the medications. This applies just as well to autistics of any age. One of the important things about psychiatric (in particular) medications is that they should always be the choice of the person taking them, whether to take them or not. They should never be the choice of parents, teachers, or doctors. An important aspect of that choice is it being a free choice -- free of coercion from other people. It is easy for a doctor to continue to bring up the subject of medication, until it sounds like the medication is somehow good for the patient (which may or may not be true). In this way, a patient may give "informed consent" on a medication that a doctor has been assuring them will do them good -- some doctors go even further and say that there is no hope for a patient without the medication. A patient can also be coerced into taking medication "for a trial period", during which time even side-effects of the medication may be taken as signs the patient "needs more", or the "trial period" might end abruptly enough to cause withdrawal, which may "prove" the point that "the patient needs medications." These things can influence a patient to believe it is true, when in fact it is not. It seems to be a common belief right now that it is the parents' choice to put their children on psychiatric medications or not. This belief is common even among doctors. What this means, for parents talking to these doctors (and teachers possibly, as well) is that the parent needs to be aware that it is truly their child's right to take or refuse medication, whether or not it is a currently enforced legal right. If the child is unable to give informed consent, the child should not take psychiatric meds. Also, the reason for the meds, if they are taken at all, should never be that they are because of the difficulty that parents, teachers, or others have with the child's behavior. The only reason that meds should be taken at all, is if the child themself wants the meds, and is reasonably informed about the meds involved. (Note: "Reasonably informed" means actually able to understand the full implications of the medications. It does not mean being told "this medication will make you feel better" or "this class of medication will make you feel better" or any form or degree of coercion on the doctor's part.) Also, certain kinds of medications (specifically, antipsychotics) should never be used "for autism" or at all in a child, or in an autistic. Doctors may say other things on this matter (as a matter of fact, many doctors right now are recommending these meds in autistics), but the truth is that antipsychotics dull cognitive proceses. When a child is developing, they need all the cognitive processes they can get. When a child is autistic and developing, they really need all the cognitive processes they can get, to cope with the world and grow mentally. Note that while some autistics have talked about being helped (for See less »

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asperger's syndrome, autism

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Psychiatric Medications and Autism

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