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A new study urges trials of MDMA to treat anxiety in autistic adults

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Re: A new study urges trials of MDMA to treat anxiety in autistic adults

#31

Post by WhitneyLand »

ippster wrote: post #24
WhitneyLand wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First, are you saying you had social anxiety previously and that it was improved for the long term, without continued MDMA use? Secondly, what evidence is there that psychedelics cause schizophrenia?

First, yes, I had lots of problems navigating the social sphere, it was like there was some minor detail I just didn't understand, but which was crucial, it felt like it made me look and feel like a idiot. MDMA took all that away, it showed me that no, no one cares, just do your thing and don't bother. I did MDMA a few times during a year period. Second, NO, psychedelics absolutely do NOT cause schizophrenia in my op…

What evidence is there that it can even be a trigger?

Re: A new study urges trials of MDMA to treat anxiety in autistic adults

#32

Post by adrusi »

bitwize wrote: post #26
phaus wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm autistic and I'd rather people call me what I am than have to deal with pretentious, SJW-inspired nonsense like this.

Far more troubling is how "autistic" is approaching "retarded" in the popular consciousness, where it has become synonymous with "overweight, fedora-wearing, scraggly-neckbeard-having, My-Little-Pony-loving buffoon".

What, you mean on /pol/ and /r/cringepics and the other lowest tiers of internet communities? Because that's not the popular consciousness in any way, and I haven't seen it much outside of there. The people who post there are just engaging in edgelord humor, participating in a circlejerk where they delibrately try to offend people to get reactions and then have a giggle. It's immature and probably not entirely harmless (influencing kids and the socially inept into thinking that this is acceptable behavior outside of the roleplay sandbox), but they're not nearly as bigotted as they make themselves out to be.

"Retarded" is (was?) used interchangeably with "stupid". It's used to refer not only to people but to processes and designs that are stupid. Part of the reason its use became so widespread is how practical it is linguistically --- s/stupid/retarded/ for emphasis! Compare that with "autistic" which is, as you said, used to refer to the stereotype of the "overweight, fedora-wearing, scraggly-neckbeard-having, My-Little-Pony-loving buffoon," and less often, to a generally socially inept person. "Autistic" is used to brand people, and a brand will never enter the vernacular to the same extent as a general descriptor.

To be clear I don't condone the use of either word in a derogatory fashion.

Re: A new study urges trials of MDMA to treat anxiety in autistic adults

#33

Post by Zer8 »

sppooo wrote: post #9
Moshe_Silnorin wrote: post #2

I was under the impression that it is quite neurotoxic. Wikipedia seems to be backing me up here. Is this not the case?

I took a fair amount of the stuff back in the 1980s -- at one point I estimated my cumulative total consumption as around 15 grams. (I'm sure there are people far beyond that now.) It is definitely neurotoxic -- I could tell that the first time I took it -- but in my experience, the noticeable effects are temporary, being mostly gone in a couple of weeks and quite undetectable after a couple of months. As a software…

Same experience here. I took 0.1g to close to 1g on several occasions over a couple years.

Doses in the 0.1-0.2g range would leave me fairly slow the next day, but that's it. With heavier doses I'd see after-effects for about a week (like reaching for my phone and pulling a lighter from my pocket, disconnecting in the middle of a conversation, losing track of time)

The only time it took a long time to fully recover (5-6 weeks, progressively) was after taking some twice in 2 consecutive days. Quantities weren't big, maybe 0.5g total, but the effects lasted really long.

Re: A new study urges trials of MDMA to treat anxiety in autistic adults

#36

Post by trendroid »

WhitneyLand wrote: post #31
ippster wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First, yes, I had lots of problems navigating the social sphere, it was like there was some minor detail I just didn't understand, but which was crucial, it felt like it made me look and feel like a idiot. MDMA took all that away, it showed me that no, no one cares, just do your thing and don't bother. I did MDMA a few times during a year period. Second, NO, psychedelics absolutely do NOT cause schizophrenia in my op…

What evidence is there that it can even be a trigger?

Not sure why you were downvoted. I haven't seen much research on any other drug other than cannabis. Correlation(not causation) between its overuse and psychosis has been documented on several occasions[1][2]. But its good evidence only for people with already some form of genetic predisposition to get diseases like schizophrenia. So its 'triggering' in that sense. Of course more work is needed on such an important topic because there are contradictory studies like this one[3].

[1]http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/09209964940...

[2]http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/17007222

[3]http://schizophreniabulletin.oxfordjournals.org/content/38/2...

Re: A new study urges trials of MDMA to treat anxiety in autistic adults

#37

Post by Hytosys »

spdustin wrote: post #28
Hytosys wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe that the acceptance of neurodiversity will — over a long period of time — phase out the very idea of ASD. In that sense, I see the similarities between the language debate going on here and the debate of "idiot", "moron", etc. My point was not to make an argument that blindly follows known authority, but to let it be known that research finds that the majority of people prefer (consciously and subconsciousl…

No. It won't. "Neurodiverse" individuals do not self-harm or harm others with their outbursts, elope when stressed, and self-stimulate to the point of injury just to deal with the sensory overload. Autism doesn't just mean whip-smart, or socially awkward. It can mean a hell-on-earth existence for the individual with the disorder, as well as those that live and care for them. Imagine living in fear that someone saying…

>"Neurodiverse" individuals do not self-harm or harm others with their outbursts, elope when stressed, and self-stimulate to the point of injury just to deal with the sensory overload.

Actually, they may. That's the whole point of the word. Everyone is neurodiverse.

Besides, my only point was that ASD is just as susceptible as any other term to reclassification. Hell, reclassification has already occurred to Asperger syndrome/autism as per DSM-5. This has been a discussion of language, not of the disorder itself. I do agree with your last sentence.

Re: A new study urges trials of MDMA to treat anxiety in autistic adults

#38

Post by blazespin »

ippster wrote: post #18

I can say, hands down, MDMA cured me from all and any social anxiety, it showed me that no-one gives a fuck, everybody is just the same and wants to be heard. Its so funny, every time links like this gets posted I just nod and think "Poor bastards, they haven't figured it out yet?" It's been 8 years since I did MDMA, so far no negatives as far as I can tell. Obviously, as with any strong drug/psychedelic, you will be…

Maybe I am overly sensitive to these things but I recall really embarrassing things people have done and have a hard time not associating those actions with the person.

I think the reason people are socially anxious is not because they think people 'give a fuck' but rather because they're confused by social signals / body language / verbal cues and that sort of thing. They don't know how to mesh and mingle properly with a crowd.

From what I read is that MDMA will help the autistic increase their emotional IQ and "fit in" better. Not because it will help them ignore what other people think of them.

Re: A new study urges trials of MDMA to treat anxiety in autistic adults

#39

Post by jsprogrammer »

blazespin wrote: post #38
ippster wrote: post #18

I can say, hands down, MDMA cured me from all and any social anxiety, it showed me that no-one gives a fuck, everybody is just the same and wants to be heard. Its so funny, every time links like this gets posted I just nod and think "Poor bastards, they haven't figured it out yet?" It's been 8 years since I did MDMA, so far no negatives as far as I can tell. Obviously, as with any strong drug/psychedelic, you will be…

Maybe I am overly sensitive to these things but I recall really embarrassing things people have done and have a hard time not associating those actions with the person. I think the reason people are socially anxious is not because they think people 'give a fuck' but rather because they're confused by social signals / body language / verbal cues and that sort of thing. They don't know how to mesh and mingle properly w…

There is no 'proper' way to mesh and mingle with a crowd.

Re: A new study urges trials of MDMA to treat anxiety in autistic adults

#40

Post by darkmighty »

trendroid wrote: post #36
WhitneyLand wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What evidence is there that it can even be a trigger?

Not sure why you were downvoted. I haven't seen much research on any other drug other than cannabis. Correlation(not causation) between its overuse and psychosis has been documented on several occasions[1][2]. But its good evidence only for people with already some form of genetic predisposition to get diseases like schizophrenia. So its 'triggering' in that sense. Of course more work is needed on such an important t…

Note that [3] seems to be using historical data from patients correlating episodes with cannabis use (doesn't seem to include trials), so it's of course very susceptible to "correlation vs causaution" problems.
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