Antipsychotic Meds for blunted/flat affect ?

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It seems like to me that I have to force a facial expression; it does not seem to come natural. Thus, I mostly don't make any facial expressions. In psychology, this observed trait is called "blunted affect", and in extreme bluntedness - it is called "flat affect". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blunted_affect

However, I see schizophrenia is identified by "flat affect" and this trait can be treated. Quoted: "Clozapine also can effectively treat the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, such as flat affect". http://www.schizophrenic.com/content/sc ... /clozapine

I have taken Reperdal and Zypexa in the past, and those did nothing for my "flat affect".

I am curious, has anyone taken a drug such as this Clozapine, and it cured your flat affect ? Because it would seem weird to me if there exists a drug that could make me animated.

Thanks.

Never seen cokeheads eh?

Wouldn't the proper question be to ask, "Never seen autistic cokeheads eh"?

The answer is "No", I have not.

However, what is the relevance of "cokeheads"? Are you an autistic cokehead, and did this cure your flat affect ?

OT: LNH: Just actually looked at your avatar and am lmfao.

You're mistaken. It's not the same. Many autistics have a hard time reading facial expressions, but also projecting/showing them. Many of us are hard to read. In blunted affect, there's no facial expression because there's no emotion. We just don't show what's going on inside of us the same way non-autistics do. But that's not blunted or flat affect. That is why medication for blunted/flat affect won't increase autistics' facial expressions.

no doctor woud prescribe anti pyschotics for flat effect by itself either,theyre only prescribed for things that significantly impair a persons life.

I taught myself to show emotion based on the feedback that I seemed snotty, arrogant, spooky and disturbing and that people disliked seeing no emotion, having no idea where I was. Now I'm told I come across easy to read about obvious things. I think I still confuse people when I'm confused, though. But my point was just that I remember teaching myself to smile, it did not come naturally, it was work. But now it's almost no effort. As opposed to eye contact which takes effort to try to do right.

And there's no drug, except maybe oxytocin if that turns out to work, right now that will create the social skill of making facial expressions that communicate effectively. It takes practice, commitment, and it can be learned. But it's a skill and a drug can at best facilitate that. But only if it alleviates another condition.

There's some research going on to find out if it does help.

At the moment, they don't know (mainly because the original trials were based on helping aggressive behavior and agitation in those with an ASD).

Blunted/flat affect can occur in autism, major depression, and schizophrenia (and some neurological disorders). As I understand, antipsychotics only probably help if the cause is schizophrenia, with perhaps some additional supplementary help in major depression.

I took antipsychotics for AS. Actually made me feel dead inside, no emotions. I don't remember them doing anything to make me more animated. I stopped taking them because of all the negative side effects.

Ja. Antipsychotics are probably the riskiest and most heavy-duty psychiatric meds used today. Where they are truly indicated, however, they do usually do their job well.

The only one I could tolerate at a moderate-to-high dose was Zyprexa, and even that made me feel dead inside. The others that I've tried and remember trying at least at a moderate dose gave me nasty side effects like akathisia (which is this tormenting restlessness).

I'm on Seroquel.

I can't say it does anything regarding primary ASD symptoms (though effects such as being overwhelmed and agitated are really helped, which are caused by the ASD). I'm just as asocial and flat as ever.

It helps the mild Schizophrenia induced paranoia, it makes me feel calmer (the overwhelmed feeling of ASDs symptoms), and I can actually sleep now.

As far as me, it's rather innocuous for side-effects and a helpful drug. I guess I need the CNS depressing effects, the adrenaline lowering effects (I forget the exact one), and a little anti-dopamine action.

Antipsychotics do not treat the flat affect of schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia has symptoms grouped roughly into two clusters--the "positive" symptoms and the "negative" symptoms. The positive symptoms are the obvious, really distressing ones that you probably associate with schizophrenia, things like hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, disordered thinking. The negative symptoms are things like flat affect, as well as poor motivation, poor concentration, executive dysfunction.

The antipsychotics are useful for the positive symptoms of schizophrenia. If you have schizophrenia and you take an antipsychotic, and it works, you start to be able to reality-test better; your delusions fade, your hallucinations become less severe and easy to ignore, or even vanish altogether. You find it easier to think logically.

However, the negative symptoms are only affected slightly, or not at all. You may still have problems with motivation, with emotions, with self-regulation. You might have trouble starting and stopping activities. You might not express the emotion you feel, or might not feel emotion strongly. The longer your schizophrenia went untreated, the worse those problems tend to be; quick treatment can sometimes prevent them altogether. But you'll probably need counseling to help you deal with those things, to learn coping skills and get back to your life as you recover from a psychotic episode.

For autistic people with flat affect, I wouldn't think that antipsychotics would be particularly useful. The only thing I've seen them used for with any success among autistic people is essentially as a tranquilizer for people who are so anxious, or so prone to meltdowns, that they are severely impaired. But even then, sometimes the antipsychotic is more of a cover-up than a solution. Both anxiety and meltdowns respond best to therapy that involves figuring out why they happen and how they can be prevented; and anxiety is often better addressed via an antidepressant rather than an antipsychotic. If it really comes down to a choice, the question is: Are the symptoms you're trying to treat worse than the effects of the antipsychotic plus whatever of the symptoms are left over once you start treatment? For autistics, often times the answer is that antipsychotics make life better for your caretakers, but not for you, because they keep you from learning or paying attention nearly as well as without them. And there are other options that don't have such problematic side effects. Those should be tried first, as they're preferable in just about every way to simply sedating yourself with an antipsychotic.

Flat affect, by the way, is probably best treated through therapy--specifically, social skills lessons and lessons in using facial expressions, plus a lot of practice. Facial expressions are just another form of communication, and that's something you can learn, just like you learned to write or speak. It may not come naturally to some of us, but it can be learned explicitly. If you have a tendency to have little or no emotional expression, and you want people to be able to see what you are feeling, you can study facial expressions and learn how to use them.

I notice that I have a flat effect when I'm depressed, lacking emotion or tired. I usually avoid people when I notice I have a flat effect because I know that makes me look like an Aspie.

I was just trying to make a joke, since you said it would be weird if there exists a drug that can make you animated. No offense intended

Callista,

The antipsychotic Clozapine, which was mentioned in the OP, is said to help with flat affect. It is supposedly the most efficacious antipsychotic, but carries the unusual side effect of possibly causing your white blood cell counts to drop to dangerous levels.