kotshka wrote:
Regarding your question about whether doctors are more or less likely to prescribe drugs to someone with an ASD, I think that it depends on the doctor and their understanding or beliefs about autism. Probably many doctors would ignore the asperger diagnosis when it comes to writing prescriptions. I don't think most doctors consider someone with AS to be more or less likely to abuse drugs. Maybe some would, but by and large I wouldn't expect it to be a big factor.
As for whether people with AS actually do have a higher or lower likelihood to abuse drugs, in my experience it's no different than in NTs. I have a couple of aspie friends and between us we've tried just about every substance imaginable in a recreational manner. One of them (not me, fortunately) even has an addictive personality and history of drug abuse. On the other hand, I have one aspie friend who dismisses drugs as wholly uninteresting. I don't think these things are related to the spectrum at all, just up to individual people.
EDIT: While I have experienced many controlled substances in various contexts, I do have to admit that they always affected me differently than my NT friends. I wouldn't say that they are stronger or weaker, but the effect was simply different. So perhaps the neurological difference is a factor in how the drugs work in the system (or maybe I'm just weird), but I don't think enough research has been done on the subject for any doctor to base their decision of whether to write a prescription solely on AS. Again, whether they would be influenced by that fact or not is up to each doctor and their own opinions.
thank you that is exactly what i was asking about! i figured doctors wouldn't expect drug seeking behavior from an aspie as much, so maybe they would be more likely to prescribe, figuring the aspie is not trying to manipulate them. (run on i know)
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