Aspergers and Anger... Should I Try Anger Medication?

Page 1 of 1 [ 2 posts ] 

allegrorules
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 23 Jun 2012
Age: 27
Gender: Female
Posts: 54

27 May 2013, 12:57 pm

I have been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. I often have issues with feeling angry.
I suppose I could be considered a perfectionist. I have a vision of how I want something to turn out and I get angry if it doesn't turn out the way I want it to.

This is particularly the case with horse riding. My horse's name is Allegro and I ride him nearly everyday. I started riding my mom's horse to train her. I used to get really angry while riding but I've developed a system where when I start to get mad, I drop the reigns until I regain control and if I am still mad then I get off until I calm down. With my mom's horse, though, this hasn't been helpful. I continued to get mad because the horse was ring sour (she kept wanting to go back to the gait and didn't want to put any effort into her work).

I love horses very much and never want to get angry at them, it just boils up in me and I don't know what to do. Usually, when I get mad, I hit myself and it calms me down quite nicely, but I have a helmet on so that's not an option. I pretty much start feeling mad and then it just keeps getting worse and worse until I either end up dropping the reins and getting off, or yelling at the horse and getting really mad.

I really need to avoid getting mad in the first place because horses can sense when a person is mad.

I also get mad at people. When I have meltdowns, I often get physically violent and have ever since I was very young.

My mom suggested that we talk to my psychologist about trying some anger medications at least for a little while. I am reluctant to try them, but I must admit that it would be nice to ride horses without getting mad every time.

What medications are used to treat anger? Do you think it is a good idea for me to try anger medication? Have you tried anger medication? Has it been helpful?

Thank you very much for the help.



Dox47
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 28 Jan 2008
Gender: Male
Posts: 13,577
Location: Seattle-ish

27 May 2013, 3:03 pm

I've had good luck with benzos for anger, but you need to be pretty self aware when trying them, as certain varieties can lower your inhibition to fight or engage in other destructive behavior. The ones I take, Klonopin for generalized anxiety and Xanax for acute incidents, work well for me, but Valium made me less inhibited across the board, which seemed like a good thing, until someone got in my face one night. Then it wasn't so good.


_________________
“The totally convinced and the totally stupid have too much in common for the resemblance to be accidental.”
-- Robert Anton Wilson