Autism and Schizophrenia might part of same disorder
Schizophrenic, am I? Let's see:
"Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (often hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia
I could accuse myself of occasional disorganised thinking but it's more like executive disfunction, and apart from my not being satisfied with the abilities of my own brain there's little evidence to the outside observer of disorganisation. My doctor once said I seemed to have a well-organised mind - I didn't fully agree at the time, but compared with what passes off as coherent thought in most people (as judged by the intellectual quality of the popular media they consume), I can see his point now. As for delusions, hallucinations and psychotic episodes, there's absolutely nothing except one or two hypnapompic hallucinations I once experienced, and as they only happened just after I'd woken up, and I've not had one for decades, well if I'm the best example they've got of a schizophrenic, I feel sorry for them. I'm not saying there's no etymological link between autism and schizophrenia, but even if there is, I don't think it leads to any kind of overlap of symptoms, so what's the use in trying to put them into the same bag?
"The first-line treatment for schizophrenia is an antipsychotic. The first-generation antipsychotics, now called typical antipsychotics, are dopamine antagonists that block D2 receptors, and affect the neurotransmission of dopamine. Those brought out later, the second-generation antipsychotics known as atypical antipsychotics, can also have effect on another neurotransmitter serotonin. Antipsychotics can reduce the symptoms of anxiety within hours of their use but for other symptoms they may take several days or weeks to reach their full effect. They have little effect on negative and cognitive symptoms, which may be helped by additional psychotherapies and medications. There is no single antipsychotic suitable for first-line treatment for everyone, as responses and tolerances vary between people."
Somehow I doubt that drugging an Aspie up to the nines like that would do a lot of good. Clearly the treatments for the two conditions are vastly different.
So, in my opinion, if there is any link between autism and schizophrenia, it's purely theoretical and etymological, and of no practical concern or value to people with ASD.
If autism and schizophrenia can be separate diagnoses, then they are different, regardless if they can also be co-morbid. While people can have both, it would not follow that they originate from the same cause.
The difficulty comes from ASD is diagnosed based on symptoms and not causes. This makes it very messy. But treatment for ASD and schizophrenia are very different. I don't see how combining them would help?
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